Sam Houston
Troy
11:00 PM · Veterans Memorial Stadium (AL)

Sam Houston travels to Troy, with Troy favored by 16.5.

What’s at stake

Troy

  • Troy hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent since 2017.

Sam Houston

  • A win would be one of Sam Houston’s biggest of the season — a 123-spot gap in the power ratings.

See this week’s biggest postseason implications ›

Face-off

What each fanbase carries into this one.

Sam Houston

The chip

Bearkat fans don't carry a grudge so much as a quiet 'we were just there' — a 2020 ring and a 2024 bowl trophy that no 2-10 season can take back. They know what this program is capable of because they watched it happen.

What this game touches

Keeler leaves, and the bottom drops out. K.C. Keeler took the Bearkats from FCS champions (2020) to a 10-3 FBS season and the program's first bowl win (Georgia Southern, New Orleans Bowl, 2024) — then left for Temple. First-year successor Phil Longo went 2-10 (1-7 Conference USA) amid a public culture crisis. The fanbase learned, fast, how much of the rocket ride was one man.

Troy

The chip · vs the blue bloods

Troy's whole self-image is built on one thing: walking into an SEC stadium as a heavy underdog and winning. Fans believe the big Alabama programs and the national media see Troy as a paycheck opponent, and there is nothing they enjoy more than proving otherwise on a Saturday in Baton Rouge or Athens.

What this game touches

One step short in 2025. Gerad Parker engineered a four-win improvement and a Sun Belt West title in 2025, then Troy lost the conference championship to James Madison 31-14 and dropped its bowl to Jacksonville State 17-13 — a strong year that stopped just short of the trophy Troy measures itself by.

Best players

Troy

  • Jordan Stringer (LB) · 2025: 123 tackles
  • Devin Lafayette (S) · 2025: 113 tackles
  • Justin Powe (S) · 2025: 75 tackles

Sam Houston

  • Antavious Fish (LB) · 2025: 78 tackles
  • CJ Brown (DB) · 2025: 64 tackles
  • Tyler Bailey (DB) · 2025: 45 tackles

The line, and the room

Troy fans are feeling it more than most fanbases this week (98th percentile) — the mood matches the numbers.

  • Model · 77%
  • Market · 91%
  • Troy fans · 98th
  • Sam Houston fans · 77th

Home −16.5 · O/U 53.5

Conditions

81°F · 4 mph wind · Cloudy

Home-field advantage: Above-Average

Troy is 67% at home, 51% on the road since 2018 (33-16 home, 25-24 away).