College Football Top 25: Week 8

My top 25 for week 8 and who can all still contend for the playoffs:

1. Texas Longhorns 6-0: vs 5 Georgia
2. Oregon Ducks 6-0: at Purdue
3. Ohio State Buckeyes 5-1: BYE
4. Alabama Crimson Tide 5-1: at 8 Tennessee
5. Georgia Bulldogs 5-1: at 1 Texas
6. Miami Hurricanes 6-0: at Louisville
7. Penn State Nittany Lions 6-0: BYE
8. Tennessee Volunteers 5-1: vs 4 Alabama
9. Clemson Tigers 5-1: vs Virginia
10. LSU Tigers 5-1: at 23 Arkansas
11. Ole Miss Rebels 5-2: BYE
12. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 5-1: at Georgia Tech
13. Texas A&M Aggies 5-1: at Mississippi State
14. BYU Cougars 6-0: vs Oklahoma State
15. Boise State Broncos 5-1: BYE
16. Kansas State Wildcats 5-1: at West Virginia
17. Indiana Hoosiers 6-0: vs Nebraska
18. Iowa State Cyclones 6-0: vs UCF
19. Missouri Tigers 5-1: vs Auburn
20. Pittsburgh Panthers 6-0: BYE
21. Tulane Green Wave 4-2: vs Rice
22. SMU Mustangs 5-1: at Stanford
23. Arkansas Razorbacks 4-2: vs 10 LSU
24. Vanderbilt Commodores 4-2: vs Ball State
25. Texas Tech Red Raiders 5-1: vs Baylor

Dropped Out

#15 Kentucky Wildcats

#17 Utah Utes

#22 Oklahoma Sooners

Just Missed

• Arizona State Sun Devils
• Army Black Knights
• Navy Midshipmen
• Oklahoma Sooners
• Nebraska Corn Huskers

Conference Comparison

SEC: 10 (1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 19, 23, 24)

Big Ten: 4 (2, 3, 7, 17)

ACC: 4 (6, 9, 20, 22)

Big 12: 4 (14, 16, 18, 25)

Independent: 1 (12)

Mountain West: 1 (15)

American: 1 (21)

Playoff Contenders

SEC

Texas

The Longhorns have been dominant in every game so far this season, and they are probably the best team in the country. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be some tests along the way. Georgia is one of the best teams in the country, and will be a huge test this week. Then they must play Vanderbilt, Florida, Arkansas, and Kentucky, who have all won or been close to winning games against top-10 teams this year. Finally, the Longhorns have to play TAMU to end the season, which will be a huge game with a lot of stakes as their rivalry is renewed. With all that being said, Texas is the best team in the country, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they won all of their remaining games by double digits.

Alabama

Alabama has some serious problems, especially on defense. They got the big win against Georgia, but that Vandy loss is really bad. They almost lost to South Carolina, and the schedule just gets tougher from here. Tennessee is a must win for the Tide, as they must play LSU this season as well.

Georgia

Georgia has already played against two top 10 teams, and they still have 3 left (Ole Miss is technically no. 11, but close enough). They are perfectly capable, but this is a tall task. I expect the Bulldogs to get their second loss this week, and then they may have to be perfect for the rest of the season to make the playoffs. A tough road for the Dogs, but not an impossible one.

Tennessee

Tennessee has struggled, much like Alabama, except they don’t have the top-10 win. The road is tough ahead as they must play Bama and Georgia still. Alabama is a must win this week, or else I don’t like their chances.

LSU

LSU’s path just got a lot easier by beating Ole Miss. LSU’s schedule is still tough though. Given the strength of their opponents, they might be able to afford 2 more losses, but a 10-2 finish would almost guarantee them a spot. The obvious threats left are Alabama and Texas A&M, but they also have tough games against Arkansas, Florida, Vanderbilt, and Oklahoma. You really don’t get a break in the SEC.

Ole Miss

Ole Miss is teetering on the edge of elimination. I’m gonna say, Ole Miss probably should have beat Kentucky and LSU, but, alas, they didn’t. They still have a game against Georgia, as well as a road trip to Arkansas. They may very well go 9-3 with a loss to Georgia, but they could still make it with some chaos.

Texas A&M

A&M is much improved since the beginning of the season, and their remaining schedule is much easier than many of the other contenders in the conference. They still must play LSU and Texas, but even just winning one of those games could get them in the playoffs, and possibly the SEC championship. It is just impertinent that they don’t trop up against South Carolina or Auburn.

Big Ten

Oregon

Oregon just about sealed their ticket into the playoffs by beating Ohio State. The Ducks don’t really have any challenges left for the rest if the season. Illinois and Michigan are alright, but that’s about it.

Ohio State

Despite losing to Oregon, the Buckeyes don’t have much to worry about going forward. They will have to play against Penn State, but even a loss their puts them at 10-2 with some decent wins over Michigan and Indiana.

Penn State

Penn State also has a pretty easy schedule ahead with only one big challenge ahead in Ohio State. I doubt they’ll lose against anyone else, but even if they do, they’d still just be 10-2.

ACC

Miami and Clemson

The ACC is pretty bad, and these two teams have easy schedules as a result. I’d imagine that both of these teams will reach the ACC championship as 11-1 teams (Miami will probably slip up once). Whoever wins that game is automatically in, but I’m curious how the committee will treat the loser. If you look at past playoffs, they don’t really have any obvious patterns for punishing losers of conference championships. These teams might have a chance of making in at large, but their SOS will be really bad in comparison to SEC and Big Ten teams.

Big 12

BYU, Iowa State, and Kansas State

None of these teams are good enough for an at-large bid in my opinion, but they all of a shot at the automatic bid by winning the conference.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame is playing a lot better than they did earlier in the season when they lost to NIU, and their win over Texas A&M is aging well. The rest of the schedule is pretty easy too. They have three games that could be tricky. USC is the obvious one at the end of the year, but Army and Navy will be harder than initially expected as well. I do think Notre Dame will win out though, so the committee will have a tough decision given how poor Notre Dame’s strength of schedule is.

Group of 5

Boise State, Tulane, Navy, and Army

I think it will be as simple as this: if Boise State wins out, they’re in; if Boise State loses, then the winner of the American is in.

Playoffs

Here is my prediction for the playoff seeding now that we are halfway through the season: (this is a prediction, not entirely based on my rankings)

1 Texas

2 Oregon

3 Miami

4 BYU

5 Ohio State

6 Alabama

7 Georgia

8 Penn State

9 LSU

10 Notre Dame

11 Clemson

12 Boise State