2018-2019 Week 8 College Football Review

For the second year in a row Ohio State went on the road as double digit favorites and managed to get blown out of the water. This year Purdue beat down Ohio State 49-20. For me this was the death knoll for Ohio State. Surely they cannot make the playoffs after losing to a weaker team by 29 points. It was a fairly ho-hum weekend for college football though Arkansas and Nebraska fans got the finally cheer on a win for their respective teams.

Teams that became bowl eligible this week: Houston, Oklahoma, Iowa, Alabama-Birmingham, Western Michigan, Utah State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Washington, Washington State, Kentucky, Georgia Southern

Playoff Teams

Alabama (8-0)

Defeated Tennessee 58-21

Another yawner for Alabama. Their next game is at LSU in two weeks. That should be Alabama's biggest test to date as LSU has continued to improve after their one loss of the season. However, I just do not see Alabama losing this year. Even on a week where they are not playing their best game they are still just so much better than the rest of the SEC.

Up next: Off

Clemson (7-0)

Defeated #11 North Carolina State 41-7

My gut feeling was right about NC State as Clemson absolutely blew them out of the water. Up next for Clemson is Florida State. FSU is fighting to keep their streak of bowl games and winning seasons intact. Clemson will win the game but it may be closer than the experts expect.

at Florida State

UCF (7-0)

Defeated East Carolina 37-10

UCF continued the nation's current longest winning streak to 20 games, so naturally the coaches decided to award them by dropping them a spot in the poll and placing Ohio State who had just been blown-out by lowly Purdue a spot above them. Makes perfect sense right. The pollsters are trying so hard to keep them away from sniffing distance of the playoff that they have no issue putting teams that have just lost above them. In an era where game margins are not supposed to matter, pollsters continue to hurt UCF because they are not winning by enough.

Up next: Off

Notre Dame (7-0)

Off

Notre Dame had the week off. They get Navy this week in what should be an easy game, but typically ends up being a fight.

Up next: at home against Navy

Next two up:

#1 Oklahoma (6-1)

Defeated TCU 52-27

I know this will be controversial but yes I do have Oklahoma over Texas, the team that beat them. I still believe that Oklahoma is a better team than Texas and their one loss (to the Longhorns) is better than the Texas loss (to Maryland). Two weeks after firing Defensive Coordinator Mike Stoops the Oklahoma D played great for 3 quarters, but the 2nd quarter causes some concern. After going up 28-7, the Oklahoma defense allowed 17 unanswered points. In the 2nd half though, the D allowed one field goal. Oklahoma's next three games will test their defense against high powered offenses but under performing teams Kansas State, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State.

Up next: at home against Kansas State

#2 Texas (6-1)

Off

I will put it simply I am just not sold on Texas, despite their win over Oklahoma. There are still too many questions on offense. Texas had the week off to lick their wounds after nearly blowing it against Baylor. This week they travel to Stillwater to take on a down but still potent Oklahoma State team. OSU has no defense to speak of so the Texas offense should be able to do what they want on Saturday.

Up next: at Oklahoma State

Rest of the Top 20:

3. LSU(7-1): Last week: Defeated Mississippi State 19-3; up next: Off

4. Kentucky(6-1): Last week: Defeated Vanderbilt 14-7; up next: at Missouri

5. South Florida(7-0): Last week: Defeated UConn 38-30; up next: at Houston

6. Florida(6-0): Last week: Off; up next: against #7 Georgia

7. Georgia(6-1): Last week: Off; up next: against #6 Florida

8. Michigan(7-1): Last week: Defeated Michigan State 21-7; up next: Off

9. Washington State(6-1): Last week: Defeated Oregon 38-20; up next: at #19 Stanford

10. Ohio State(7-1): Last week: Lost to Purdue 49-20; up next: Off

11. NC State(5-1): Last week: Lost to Playoff team Clemson 41-7; up next: at #20 Syracuse

12. West Virginia(5-1): Last week: Off; up next: at home against Baylor

13. Iowa(6-1): Last week: Defeated Maryland 23-0; up next: at Penn State

14. Texas A&M(5-2): Last week: Off; up next: at Mississippi State

15. Wisconsin(5-2): Last week: Defeated Illinois 49-20; up next: at Northwestern

16. Army(5-2): Last week: Defeated Miami (OH) 31-30; up next: at Eastern Michigan

17. Texas Tech(5-2): Last week: Defeated Kansas 48-16; up next: at Iowa State

18. Utah(5-2): Last week: Defeated USC 41-28; up next: at UCLA Friday (10/26)

19. Stanford(5-2): Last week: Defeated Arizona State 20-13; up next: at home against #9 Washington State

20. Syracuse(4-2): Last week: Defeated North Carolina 40-37; up next: at home against #11 North Carolina State

Game of the Week I

#6 Florida against #7 Georgia

The Cocktail Party has significance again this year after a quiet period as neither team were national contenders for several years. This is Georgia's chance to get back into the playoff picture after their beatdown at the hands of LSU. This is Florida's chance to get into the playoff picture for the first time in the playoff era. Georgia currently sits at a roughly 70% chance of winning the game.

Game of the Week II

#9 Washington State at #19 Stanford

A week after their first appearance on ESPNs College Gameday Washington State gets another chance to prove that they are for real traveling to Stanford. This should be a good game. Stanford currently stands at a 64% chance of winning the game.

State of Arkansas and Nebraska football

Both teams got off the slide this week. Nebraska picked up it's first win of the season (and first under Scott Frost) and ended a losing streak dating back to last season beating Minnesota 53-28. In the 3rd quarter I am sure Nebraska fans had a feeling of "Here we go again" as Minnesota scored 22 points straight to pull within 28-22 of Nebraska, before Nebraska's offense and defense decided that they still needed to play and finally pulled away from Minnesota. Nebraska SHOULD be able to pick up their second win of the season this week as they play against Bethune-Cookman and currently sit at nearly a 99% chance of winning the game.

Arkansas did something this weekend that they have not done since 2015 when they shut out Tulsa. In 2015 they shut-out two ranked opponents in back to back weekends (LSU and Mississippi State) and after three years they finally did it again with a 23-0 win over Tulsa. The offense looked awful though as Arkansas started it's third quarterback this season. This week they host the worst team in the SEC East Vanderbilt and are actually favored to lose. Currently Vanderbilt has a 51% chance of defeating Arkansas.