Week 8 is a dangerous time to be a ranked college football team.
After last week’s chaotic results, teams remaining in this week’s AP Top 25 will face heavy scrutiny.
Here are thoughts and college football odds for all 17 games featuring a ranked team in Week 8.
No. 1 Miami vs. Pittsburgh
Miami likely won’t be sleepwalking through this game after scraping out a win against Florida State, and Pittsburgh hasn’t won since its starting quarterback tore his ACL in Week 5 at Virginia Tech. This one has major blowout potential.
Michigan vs. No. 6 Indiana
Will this Michigan team score anything against a Cignetti/Haines defense? The Wolverines are 5-1 to the under this season, and I’m not sure I’d jump off the under train this week.
Cincinnati vs. No. 8 Texas Tech
Cincinnati has lost two games in a row after opening 4-0. Texas Tech has won nine straight games against conference opponents.
Auburn vs. No. 18 LSU
How much are you willing to believe in Auburn after last week’s program-shifting win at No. 1 Georgia? Auburn is a modest dog here, but Auburn has yet to win a road game this year.
No. 23 SMU vs. California
Cal has made some changes to its coaching staff in recent weeks, but you sure couldn’t tell in last week’s 41-7 home loss to Wake Forest.
No. 24 Northwestern vs. Rutgers
A blowout here could be the final nail in Greg Schiano’s head coaching coffin. Northwestern has won all three of its home games against P4 opponents by at least 21 points.
UCF vs. No. 2 BYU
After last week’s herculean effort to beat Notre Dame, BYU is in the mother of all letdown spots here, playing UCF in Orlando with a 3:30 ET kick. The market agrees, since the line has moved from BYU -10 to BYU -6.5.
No. 9 UCLA vs. Michigan State
UCLA avoided the upset bug against Wisconsin last week and remains one of the last remaining undefeated college football teams.
South Carolina vs. No. 11 Tennessee
Coming off its season-defining win against Alabama, the Vols are an eye-catching road dog at South Carolina. Bet carefully.
No. 13 Alabama vs. Texas A&M
Alabama is nearly a two-touchdown favorite against Texas A&M after losing two in a row and falling near the brink of playoff elimination. The market clearly expects a bounceback.
Minnesota vs. No. 15 Iowa
I was mildly shocked to see that the total for this game started with a 4.
Washington State vs. No. 21 Boise State
Wazzou has yet to beat an FBS team all year, but Boise is strangely positioned as a 13-point favorite in Pullman on Saturday. I would expect this number to be a little higher, given the circumstances.
No. 19 Texas vs. No. 7 Ole Miss
Texas can’t seem to play offense, and Arch Manning might get benched. But on Saturday, the Longhorns play what looks like the most effortless offensive team in the conference. Is the right team even favored here?
No. 12 Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt
At some point, we’re going to have to start taking Kentucky seriously as a top-20 team. Against last-place Vanderbilt, I’m not sure this point spread market is all the way there yet.
Wisconsin vs. No. 16 USC
If USC wants to be taken seriously as a playoff team, it has to win a Midwestern road game like this.
In my opinion, the clean -3 makes this look like a Wisconsin number. But I felt that way about the Badgers last week, too, and they never had a chance at a cover against UCLA.
No. 25 Arizona vs. Iowa State
Iowa State has played Top 25 teams pretty closely this year, losing by three to Iowa and 14 to both Utah and BYU. A 10-point spread could end up being a big advantage to give a Cyclones team that may be playing up to its level of competition.
No. 10 Utah vs. No. 14 Houston
This will be a fun contrast of styles and one of the best games of the day – a worthy choice for the College GameDay schedule.
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