All college football fans know that chaos often strikes when a weekend of games doesn’t appear to be the most attractive.

So, no, there may not be a blockbuster matchup in Week 9, but it doesn’t mean there’s not plenty worth watching — including three ranked SEC matchups in Missouri at Vanderbilt, Ole Miss at Oklahoma and Texas A&M at LSU. Plus, we’ll be on upset alert all day.

What do you need to know ahead of kickoff? Here’s our Week 9 trivia challenge, plus essential reads from the week:

Pregame reads

• No. 15 Missouri at No. 10 Vanderbilt (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) is the third matchup of two AP-ranked teams involving Vanderbilt this season — something that previously happened only in 1947. That’s also the last time the Commodores were ranked in the top 10. Led by quarterback Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt’s roster has been built by coach Clark Lea and general manager Barton Simmons, a longtime recruiting analyst for Rivals and 247Sports. Vandy inserted itself into the Playoff conversation by beating LSU last week, so why is our Playoff projections model still so low on the Commodores, who entered Saturday with just an 8 percent chance? David Ubben and Austin Mock talked it through in this week’s Bubble Watch.

If Vandy is to pull off another win against a ranked team, it will have to slow down standout Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy, a former zero-star recruit who began his college career at Louisiana Monroe.

• When No. 3 Texas A&M visits No. 20 LSU (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC), the Aggies will be dealing with the always-difficult environment of a prime-time game at Tiger Stadium, which came in at No. 1 in The Athletic’s staff vote for the best college football stadiums. (Notre Dame Stadium topped our fan vote.) Texas A&M and LSU both have stadiums that seat more than 100,000 people. Have you ever wondered why college football has most of the world’s largest stadiums?

• No. 25 Michigan at Michigan State (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC) can’t help but be interesting, even when flying under the radar. It’s a crucial game for the approval ratings of second-year coaches Sherrone Moore and Jonathan Smith, and as Austin Meek wrote in 2023, the rivalry has often gotten toxic in recent years. It ranked No. 16 in Scott Dochterman’s top 100 rivalries in July.

• Before undefeated No. 11 BYU plays at Iowa State (3:30 p.m. ET Fox) in a big game in the Big 12 race, read Christopher Kamrani’s feature on the unique leadership style of Cougars coach Kalani Sitake.

• No. 8 Ole Miss at No. 13 Oklahoma (noon ET, ABC) feels like an SEC title elimination game with both owning one conference defeat following the Rebels’ loss to Georgia last week and the Sooners’ loss to Texas two weeks ago. Ole Miss will again be leaning on Division II transfer quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who’s gone from leading Ferris State to a national title to trying to lead the Rebels to the Playoff. Meanwhile, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin might find himself at the center of the coaching carousel, as Seth Emerson isn’t the only one who believes Florida needs to go get Kiffin (or Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz).

In case you missed it

• Underfunded Group of 5 teams face big hurdles in modern college football, especially with their top players open to transfer portal interest after every season. Sam Khan spent some time inside the North Texas program for a look at how the Mean Green are punching above their weight.

• Next up in North Carolina’s messy first season under Bill Belichick: Surprise team Virginia, which has its highest ranking since 2007 behind quarterback Chandler Morris, whose father, Chad, is “living and dying on every snap.” Speaking of Belichick: David Ubben has the story behind the viral Halloween decorations.

• Six undefeated teams remain, including some unexpected teams: BYU, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Navy, Ohio State and Texas A&M. How long will the perfection last?

• There have been plenty of disappointing teams through the first eight weeks of the season. What roster-building lessons can be learned from the struggles of Penn State, Clemson, Texas and more?

• How has quarterback play impacted the College Football Playoff race? Not in the way anyone expected, with Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia among the leaders of our Heisman Trophy straw poll.

• Ohio State, which is off this week, has the best odds to win the national championship at 22 percent, according to Austin Mock’s Playoff projections. Cameron Teague Robinson breaks down reasons for and against an Ohio State repeat, while Stewart Mandel wonders if we should be more skeptical of the Buckeyes.

• Florida was the latest team to fire its coach, parting ways with Billy Napier despite beating Mississippi State last Saturday. Matt Baker says Florida coaches are out of excuses moving forward, Bruce Feldman breaks down the candidates to replace Napier and Chris Vannini has the pluses and minuses of the job. Joe Rexrode decided to rank the 16 SEC teams in terms of job appeal and ended up with Florida at No. 5.

• Will Leitch writes that fan emotions drive the coaching carousel. So which fan bases are most desperate to win a championship?

• Indiana, Ohio State and Texas A&M topped The Athletic 136 after Week 8.

• Tortilla tossing is banned at Texas Tech, giving us this perfect college football quote from AD Kirby Hocutt: “The stakes are too high and we need to help, not risk, penalizing our team again for throwing tortillas.”