SEC elimination games, tests for new top 2 and 26 other things to watch in Week 8
After the wildest week in AP poll history, Week 8 brings SEC elimination games for Ole Miss, Tennessee and LSU, plus road tests for new No. 1 Miami and No. 2 BYU.
Week 8 of college football has a nearly impossible act to follow: last week saw five of the AP's top seven teams lose, something that had never happened before. But ESPN's Bill Connelly argues the drama can still be ratcheted up — starting with what amounts to SEC elimination day.
The carnage among the SEC's top four SP+ favorites leaves Georgia (48%) as the conference favorite, but three contenders face defining road tests. No. 7 Ole Miss visits No. 19 Texas (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC), where Trinidad Chambliss — riding four straight starts with a Total QBR above 80 — meets a Longhorns defense missing injured edge star Colin Simmons, and an Arch Manning whose play and confidence have cratered: 78th in Total QBR since Week 1, with 13 sacks and three interceptions in recent weeks. Texas is favored by 3.5. No. 11 Tennessee heads to South Carolina (3:30 p.m., ESPN) with George MacIntyre now settled at quarterback after replacing Faizon Brandon, fresh off a 26-10 win over Alabama; the line has flipped to South Carolina -2.5. And No. 18 LSU visits Auburn (noon, ABC), where the Tigers' pass rush — second nationally in sack rate without blitzing much, led by Princewill Umanmielen's eight sacks — faces an Auburn team that stunned Georgia a week ago despite being pummeled statistically.
Then come the tests for the new top two. No. 1 Miami hosts Pitt (noon, ESPN) as a 19.5-point favorite, with quarterback Darian Mensah and receiver Malachi Toney both sitting among the top Heisman favorites. No. 2 BYU travels to UCF (3:30 p.m., Fox), where the Cougars' continuity — quarterback Bear Bachmeier and back Preston Rex — is favored by 6.5 on the road.
Other ranked favorites face tricky road trips: No. 6 Indiana at Michigan, where Kyle Whittingham's switch to freshman Tommy Carr sparked a second-half rally against Penn State; No. 15 Iowa at Minnesota in the battle for the pig; and No. 16 USC at Wisconsin. The late window belongs to No. 14 Houston at No. 10 Utah (10:15 p.m., ESPN), pitting the nation's top success-rate offense against steady Devon Dampier and the unbeaten Utes, who lay 6.5.
Source: ESPN — Top Headlines — TrendWire reports stories in its own words; facts should be confirmed against the original source.