#1 OHIO STATE at #5 TEXAS; 7:30 PM ET; ABC … In many ways the ‘real’ college football season gets started this weekend with a couple of huge SEC-Big 10 matchups on Saturday. The biggest has #1 Ohio State travelling south to face #5 Texas in a game that has all kinds of national implications. It also has all kinds of implications for the 2027 draft as both teams are loaded with future NFL prospects; indeed, the Longhorns and Buckeyes were rated 1st and 3rd respectively in our pre-season ranking of the top 15 classes for the upcoming draft. Both teams, for example, have QBs with top 5-10 potential in Arch Manning (#16, 6-4, 225) of Texas and OSU’s Julian Sayin (#10, 6-1, 215). In fact it almost goes without saying that Manning will be one of, if not THE most scrutinized prospect in the country as NFL teams figure out whether his lofty ranking is the real deal or more a product of famous family as he had his share of ups and downs last fall. Both teams also have top 5-10 WRs in the Buckeyes’ Jeremiah Smith (#4, 6-3, 225), who is generally considered to be the best non-QB prospect, if not THE best prospect overall for 2027, and the Longhorns’ Cam Coleman (#8, 6-3, 205), another big fast receiver with big-play potential.
Texas got our pre-season nod as having the deepest 2027 draft class as the Longhorns actually have 4 players with top 10 potential with star DE Colin Simmons and OT Trevor Goosby joining QB Manning and WR Coleman in that grouping. Coleman, in fact, combines with fellow WR Ryan Wingo (#1, 6-2, 215), who could conceivably get some late first-round consideration of his own, to give Manning arguably the top 1-2 WR combo in the country, while LB Rasheem Briles (#3, 6-1, 225), a Pitt transfer, is also among the top 4-5 prospects at his position. and could get some late first round consideration. At the same time, other Longhorns to watch with later round credentials include RB Hollywood Smothers (#2, 5-10, 195), S Jelani McDonald (#4, 6-2, 205), DT Hero Kanu (#93, 6-4, 310), a former Buckeye, and OT Melvin Siani (#71, 6-5, 320).
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes, who had the most players selected on any college program in each of the past two drafts, will certainly be back for more this coming April. Like Texas, Ohio State has several other prospects with either late first or second-day prospects including rising DE Kenyatta Jackson (#2, 6-5, 265), G/T Austin Siereveld (#67, 6-4, 330), WR Devin McCuin (#3, 6-0, 190) and CB Jermaine Matthews, while OG Luke Montgomery (#51, 6-4, 315), C Carson Hinzman (#75, 6-4, 310), S Earl Little (#1, 6-0, 205) and WR/KR Brandon Inniss (#0, 6-0, 200) are later round possibilities.
#11 OKLAHOMA at MICHIGAN; Noon PM ET; FOX … The other big matchup between the two big conferences almost came to naught before it started last weekend when Michigan came within 1 controversial second of losing their home opener to a 4-TD underdog MAC team. However ugly, the Wolverines survived but now face a much more accomplished opponent in the 11th ranked Sooners. And like the Texas-Ohio State contest this one starts with QBs who will both be under a ton scrutiny, although for different reasons. In fact, OU’s John Mateer (#10, 6-1, 225) stands to be one of the more interesting prospects this year. He’s a true gunslinger who was arguably the best player in the country through the first month of the 2025 campaign when he started to generate some serious Heisman talk along with some first-round buzz, but he just wasn’t the same in the back half of the season after missing several games with an injury. If healthy, though, Mateer is a proven performer with a live arm and quick feet. And whether or not Mateer regains his early season form from last year, the Sooners do have at least one legitimate opening round candidate in rising DT David Stone (#0, 6-3, 315), a freakish athlete for the position with some real pass-rush potential, although he is yet to put up big numbers in that facet of the game. Stone anchors a front unit that also includes a couple of intriguing ERs in Taylor Wien (#44, 6-4, 265) and AP Adebawore (#34, 6-4, 265). The Sooners defence also features a quality duo at LB in Kip Lewis (#10, 6-1, 230) and Owen Heinicke (#38, 6-1, 230), while CB Eli Bowen (#23, 5-9, 190) is another rising prospect in the secondary. The offence doesn’t have quite the same number of prospects, but WR Isaac Satenga (#1, 5-10, 185) does give Mateer at least one proven receiver, while PK Tate Sandell (#29, 5-9, 185) is arguably the top kicker in this year’s draft class.
While Oklahoma’s Mateer will be under pressure in this game, it ain’t nothing like what Michigan’s Bryce Underwood (#19, 6-3, 230), who was downright ugly in the Wolverines’ almost loss to Western Michigan, is facing just to keep his job. However, he won’t have to worry about how all this impacts his draft hopes as he’s just a true sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining. Pro scouts, though, will be watching DE DE John Henry Daley (#90, 6-5, 255), an All-American at Utah last fall who followed new Wolverines head coach Kyle Whittingham to Ann Arbor this winter. If healthy Daley is a legitimate top 10 prospect who had 11.5 sacks last fall, but is coming off a ruptured Achilles’ tendon suffered late last season. Daley will anchor a defence that also includes one of the deepest CB rooms in the country featuring Jyaire Hill #0, 6-1, 190), who was thought to have first-round potential at this time last year, along with Zeke Berry (#10, 5-10, 190) and Smith Snowden (#3, 5-10, 190), while Rod Moore (#1, 5-10, 190), a quality 6th year veteran who has battled injuries much of his UM tenure, heads the deep patrol. Whether the Wolverines can contend for conference or national honors this fall, though, could depend on whether QB Underwood and the young UM offence can step up its game, although it does have a couple of nice building blocks in RB Jordan Marshall (#23, 5-10, 220) and LT Andrew Sprague (#54, 6-6, 310).
Bonus coverage: So what are you going to do between the time the Oklahoma-Michigan, which kicks off at noon, ends and the Texas-Ohio State classic gets going at 7:30 ET? Well, turns out there’s at least a third SEC-Big Ten matchup Saturday as Minnesota hosts Mississippi State in a 3:30 PM ET KO on CBS in a game that features a couple of potential first rounders in DE Anthony Smith (#0, 6-6, 285) of the Gophers and CB Kelley Jones (#1, 6-3, 205) of the Bulldogs, while Minnesota also has a very good OG with second-day potential in Greg Johnson (#65, 6-5, 325).
