Dan Mullen makes six Week 5 picks, including 2 upsets

Ahead of an exciting Week 5 slate, ESPN’s Dan Mullen is locking in his predictions for the weekend.

Some fascinating showdowns will be all over our televisions in Week 5, and the former Florida Gators and Mississippi State Bulldogs leader is choosing his sides. On Friday, Mullen made six predictions for Saturday’s slate, including two upsets. 

Here’s who the former SEC coach turned ESPN analyst is riding with this weekend, as College Football Playoff hopes hang in the balance for many squads.

Dan Mullen’s Week 5 Picks:

Week 5 picks are in starting tonight. pic.twitter.com/QNJQvueFR3

— Dan Mullen (@CoachDanMullen) September 29, 2023

• No. 10 Utah Utes (+3) over No. 19 Oregon State Beavers
• No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners (-20) over Iowa State Cyclones
• No. 13 LSU Tigers (-3) over No. 20 Ole Miss Rebels
• No. 17 Duke Blue Devils (+5.5) over Notre Dame Fighting Irish
• No. 3 Texas Longhorns (-17) over No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks
• Clemson Tigers (-7) over Syracuse Orange

First off, Mullen’s two upset picks for the weekend are Utah and Duke, believing they’ll cover the spread on Saturday.

It may be surprising to some to see the Utes and the Blue Devils as underdogs entering the weekend, as both squads are undefeated with some pretty impressive wins on the season. Regardless, Mullen is a believer in both squads to hang strong on Saturday.

Elsewhere, the former SEC leader made his prediction for an all-important game within the conference between LSU and Ole Miss. Evidently, Mullen is a believer in Brian Kelly and the Tigers to hand Lane Kiffin and the Rebels their second consecutive loss, as he’s picking LSU to cover the three-point spread against Ole Miss.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma has looked phenomenal thus far in 2023, a far cry from the way Brent Venables and company finished last season. Mullen is confident the Sooners will keep rolling into next weekend’s game against Texas, predicting Oklahoma to cover a 20-point spread against Iowa State.

Continuing, the aforementioned Longhorns have a difficult showdown with the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, and the winner will be in tremendous shape in the Big 12. It’s one of the more underrated games of Week 5, and Mullen believes Texas will cover a huge 17-point spread on their way to a win.

Finally, Syracuse has had a great start to the season, and Clemson is coming off a demoralizing loss to Florida State. Mullen believes Dabo Swinney gets the boys back on track this weekend, predicting the Tigers to win and cover the touchdown-spread on Saturday.

Alas, an exciting Week 5 is about to take off, and we can’t wait to watch. We’ll see if Dan Mullen cashes in on his picks this weekend.