Pamela Maldonado Oct 21, 2026, 07:00 AM ET

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Pamela Maldonado is a sports betting analyst for ESPN.

No. 7 Ole Miss is 5-1, sitting third in the SEC and heading to Austin to face a Texas team that feels like it's one more bad Saturday away from a full-blown crisis. The Longhorns dropped 12 spots to No. 19 after back-to-back losses to Oklahoma and Florida .

We've heard every version of the same argument: Is it Arch Manning ? Is it Steve Sarkisian? Where is the run game?

The defense has been holding Texas together as best it can and now Colin Simmons is expected to be out with an ankle injury. Great, another problem for a team that hasn't solved the others.

Texas can't afford a third loss and Ole Miss doesn't want to find out what a second would do to its playoff chances. The SEC keeps beating itself up, and neither team can afford to be this week's casualty.

It's a huge game for both.…