USA TODAY Sports college football staff picks

It's natural to have a lull after the never-ending buildup to the Alabama-Texas A&M showdown, a game that lived up to the hype. And that's, unfortunately, what we have this week.

Only two matchups between ranked teams are on the docket with No. 4 Stanford hosting 23rd-ranked Arizona State and No. 21 Notre Dame renewing its rivalry with No. 23 Michigan State.

The visit by the Sun Devils will be the first big test for the Cardinal, who have been under the radar among national title contenders.

ASU amazingly escaped against Wisconsin last week thanks to a major officiating error. It will take more than that to win on The Farm, however.

The Irish are facing a Big Ten opponent for the third consecutive week and need a win to build momentum and keep their BCS hopes alive with games against Oklahoma, Arizona State and USC upcoming.

The Spartans seem to have settled on sophomore Connor Cook as their quarterback after three games. But he is making his first road start on one of college football's biggest stages.

Elsewhere, there are two big games in the SEC with No. 7 LSU facing unbeaten Auburn and Tennessee traveling to No. 18 Florida.

So there's still hope of drama when we least expect it.

	PAUL MYERBERG	GEORGE SCHROEDER	ERICK SMITH	EDDIE TIMANUS	DAN UTHMAN	DAN WOLKEN
No. 1 Alabama vs. Colorado State	Alabama	Alabama	Alabama	Alabama	Alabama	Alabama
No. 3 Ohio State vs. Florida A&M	Ohio State	Ohio State	Ohio State	Ohio State	Ohio State	Ohio State
No. 4 Clemson at N.C. State	Clemson	Clemson	Clemson	Clemson	Clemson	Clemson
No. 5 Stanford vs. No. 23 Ariz. State	Stanford	Stanford	Stanford	Stanford	Stanford	Stanford
No. 6 Louisville vs. Fla. International	Louisville	Louisville	Louisville	Louisville	Louisville	Louisville
No. 7 LSU vs. Auburn	LSU	LSU	LSU	LSU	LSU	LSU
No. 8 Florida State vs. Beth.-Cookman	Florida State	Florida State	Florida State	Florida State	Florida State	Florida State
No. 9 Texas A&M vs. SMU	Texas A&M	Texas A&M	Texas A&M	Texas A&M	Texas A&M	Texas A&M
No. 10 Georgia vs. North Texas	Georgia	Georgia	Georgia	Georgia	Georgia	Georgia
No. 14 Michigan at Connecticut	Michigan	Michigan	Michigan	Michigan	Michigan	Michigan
No. 15 UCLA vs. New Mexico State	UCLA	UCLA	UCLA	UCLA	UCLA	UCLA
No. 16 Northwestern vs. Maine	N'western	N'western	N'western	N'western	N'western	N'western
No. 17 Miami (Fla.) vs. Savannah State	Miami	Miami	Miami	Miami	Miami	Miami
No. 18 Florida vs. Tennessee	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida
No. 19 Baylor vs. Louisiana-Monroe	Baylor	Baylor	Baylor	Baylor	Baylor	Baylor
No. 20 Washington vs. Idaho State	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington
No. 21 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Notre Dame
No. 25 Fresno State vs. Boise State	Boise State	Boise State	Fresno State	Fresno State	Fresno State	Fresno State
Last week	14-4	16-2	15-3	18-0	17-1	16-2
2013 record	48-10	52-6	50-8	50-8	53-5	49-9
Note: Picks are made straight up, not against the spread.