College football kickoff: SEC showdown in Starkville, Top 25 buzz, matchups ...

Here's a look at the big matchups and top storylines from around the nation as we near kickoff on another Saturday of college football:

The Big Buzz: Nation's eyes on Mississippi, again No. 2 Auburn at No. 3 Mississippi State, 3:30 p.m. ET

The college football gods gave us all a gift last weekend, when the nation's elite programs dropped like flies in one of the most memorable Saturdays in recent history. After all the dust settled, it became undeniably clear that it would be a gift that keeps on giving.

What looked like a fun matchup between Baylor and TCU is now a high-stakes battle for Big 12 supremacy. Kenny Trill and Texas A&M will now host the Ole Miss Rebels, who've supplanted the Aggies as America's darlings after celebrating a win over Alabama by taking their goal posts on a scenic tour of Oxford.

The most anticipated fallout from last week, however, is the top-five SEC West clash that pits Auburn against Mississippi State. Looking at the storylines for this game, the dominos couldn't have fallen in more convenient fashion.

There are Heisman Trophy implications. There are SEC implications. There are College Football Playoff implications. Auburn coach Gus Malzahn thinks two SEC West teams will end up in the playoffs. Gary Laney of Advance Digital thinks it could be three. But in the short term, Saturday in Starkville will truly be a case of 'to the victor go the spoils.'

The winner will be in the driver's seat in the nation's best conference and might have the juice to unseat No. 1 Florida State in the polls. With the immediate future of Georgia's Todd Gurley in doubt, the winning quarterback might just have a clear path to Heisman immortality. It's early October, so the loser won't be crippled... but we can't have it all, can we?

Even the tale of the tape is abnormally interesting in this one. Auburn has won 11 of the last 13 in the series, making Dak Prescott and Mississippi State truly the new kids on the block. But Nick Marshall and the Tigers seem to have flown a little bit under the radar this season too, as Kevin Scarbinsky of AL.com argues:

You might have missed it with all the commotion going on one state to the west, but an interest thing happened Saturday that had nothing to do with Mississippi State, Ole Miss or Alabama... Six weeks into the season, as other major players faltered, Auburn identified itself as the best college football team in the country.

Auburn certainly would not have made it that far a season ago had it not beaten the Bulldogs in the final seconds last September. But this afternoon's rematch is in Starkville, where the cowbells reign supreme... at least until the Bulldog faithful abuse them. (via AL.com)

Cowbells or not, Auburn is going to run the football this afternoon. And then they're going to run it some more. But if MSU can slow them down on the ground, as they did in that epic battle last season, we're going to see firsthand how effective Marshall's much-heralded offseason throwing program was, as Lars Anderson of AL.com writes:

For Auburn to win Saturday in Starkville--a game that is viewed by many analysts as the most important in Bulldogs history--Marshall will at some point need to make plays with that right arm. This is why Marshall and his receivers spent so many hours this spring on that front yard in Pineview. Indeed, this is the Saturday we'll find out if the Marshall Plan really worked.

As for Marshall's counterpart, the electric Dak Prescott, Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports had some glowing things to say about the Bulldogs' budding superstar:

He has put a mid-level football program on his back and carried it into terra incognito, the national top five. ... His leadership skills and competitiveness are Tebow-esque, as are his dual-threat playing style, his jersey number and his tutelage under Dan Mullen. If this current 5-0 season continues on the same path, he stands to be one of the transformative figures of the 21st century in college football.

It's been a long year for Mullen, the man who helped Prescott elevate his game to new heights. No one will quite admit that his job was less than secure a year ago, but that doesn't really matter now, writes Chris Low of ESPN.com:

Dan Mullen is the toast of the town right now at Mississippi State, which is bracing for the kind of Saturday they have been dreaming about for as long as they been ringing cowbells. ... As much as anything, Mullen has proven it is possible to dream big at Mississippi State, and those dreams could morph into something much bugger with a win against Auburn.

So could it happen this afternoon for the Bulldogs? Watch Clay Travis of Fox Sports give his take on the Auburn-Mississippi State matchup:

Top games

Here's a look at some of Saturday's other can't-miss matchups involving teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25:

* No. 13 Georgia at No. 23 Missouri, noon ET

* No. 9 TCU at No. 5 Baylor, 3:30 p.m. ET

* No. 12 Oregon at No. 18 UCLA, 3:30 p.m. ET

* No. 7 Alabama at Arkansas, 6 p.m. ET

* No. 3 Mississippi at No. 14 Texas A&M, 9 p.m. ET

* USC at No. 10 Arizona, 10:30 p.m. ET

Headlines

* Georgia tailback and Heisman candidate Todd Gurley has been suspended indefinitely due to allegations that he was paid to sign pieces of memorabilia, the school announced this week. (via ESPN.com)

* The suspension of Florida freshman Treon Harris was lifted Friday, however Jeff Driskel will still get the start at quarterback for the Gators tonight against LSU. (via NOLA.com)

* On the opposite sideline, Les Miles said a decision on LSU's quarterback might not come until game time today -- a week after Anthony Jennings and Brandon Harris combined to complete eight passes against Auburn. (via NOLA.com)

* In the latest development of the AJ McCarron saga, the former Crimson Tide quarterback claims to have misspoke when he said Alabama lacked playmakers and leadership on offense. (via AL.com)

* Top West Virginia cornerback Daryl Worley has been reinstated and will play against Texas Tech today, head coach Dana Holgorsen announced this week. (via CBSSports.com)

* Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson fired back at David Cutcliffe after the Duke frontman claimed the Yellow Jackets' style of offense prevents them from recruiting top receivers. (via CollegeFootballTalk.com)

Who they're picking

* Auburn will make its case for the No. 1 ranking this afternoon, according to ESPN.com's Phil Steele, who has the Tigers by a touchdown over Dak Prescott and host Mississippi State.

* Stewart Mandel and Bruce Feldman of FoxSports.com are both taking Brett Hundley over Marcus Mariota this afternoon, citing UCLA's home field advantage and the porous Oregon defense as the reasons.

* The entire USAToday.com panel has Alabama and Georgia holding serve in two big SEC matchups, while Eddie Timanus is the only staffer that foresees a USC win at Arizona later tonight.

* Coming off an emotional win and entering a hostile environment in College Station will prove too difficult for Ole Miss, says Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports, who expects a motivated Texas A&M group to prevail.

* While all of the Big 12 bloggers at ESPN.com are all taking Baylor at home, they concede that the combination of a stellar defense and a playmaking quarterback in Trevone Boykin should keep TCU close.

What they're saying

* Regardless of the Tide's current top-10 ranking, there is mounting evidence that the Alabama dynasty under Nick Saban is in decline, writes Kevin Scarbinsky of AL.com:

But it's not just what happened in Oxford that could be a chapter in a William Faulkner novel. It's what keeps happening to plague the Crimson Tide that has to raise eyebrows. Problems aren't getting solved, and in some cases, they're carrying over from one season to the next.

* After both teams lost last week, there has been an element of desperation added to this afternoon's Ducks-Bruins matchup in Los Angeles, writes Tyson Alger of OregonLive.com:

On Saturday, Marcus Mariota and Brett Hundley will be playing for college football relevancy. ... When No. 12 Oregon travels south to face No. 18 UCLA, the game won't just feature two teams fighting for their College Football Playoff futures, it'll showcase one of the best quarterback matchups in the country.

* The paths to success for Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze and Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin have been remarkably similar since they took over big-time SEC programs three years ago, as Sam Khan Jr. of ESPN.com points out:

Both programs being in this position at this point might have seemed a bit far-fetched when Freeze and Sumlin set foot on their respective campuses, but each have made it a reality in similar fashion. From their beliefs in up-tempo offense, to recruiting success, to reputations as a 'player's coach,' Freeze and Sumlin are building winners their way.