Week 8 Preview

This season is flying by. Week 8 is upon us. We had a few very interesting games last week: Alabama put the hurt on Tennessee, Ohio State needed OT to get by Wisconsin, Clemson needed OT to get by NC State at home (and NC State should’ve won), Arkansas beat Ole Miss in a great game, North Carolina and Syracuse upset Miami and Virginia Tech respectively and Vanderbilt beat Georgia. What a season it’s been so far.

How I’ve fared: 5-1 last week, 29-15 overall

Notable Games
6Texas A&M at 1Alabama Now this should be a great game. Both teams have been playing well on both sides of the ball. The defensive edge, of course, goes to Alabama. That is the reason I believe that the Tide will roll in this one. I do think it will be a close one. Both of these teams can score and I think they will, probably on big plays. I’m expecting a shootout. It is also a very interesting QB matchup. I can’t wait to watch this one. I am picking Alabama.

TCU at 12West Virginia West Virginia has quietly won their way to the 12th ranked team in the country. The Mountaineers held the high-flying Texas Tech offense to just 17 points and under 400 offensive yards (just 34 on the ground). TCU is coming off a bye and before they barely held on to beat Kansas by 1. I think WVU is going to be too much for the Horned Frogs to handle for four quarters. This is a very important Big 12 game. I am picking West Virginia.

23Ole Miss at 25LSU This is an interesting one. I wasn’t extremely impressed with Ole Miss last weekend. There are a lot of holes in their defense. The Rebels gave up 200 yards of rushing to Arkansas (180 to Rawleigh Williams) so expect Derrius Guice and Leonard Fournette to be used heavily in this game. LSU’s defense has been pretty decent and they are playing with a little something extra since Miles was fired. I think this will be a statement game for the Tigers to show everyone they might be down but they aren’t totally out. I am picking LSU.

Memphis at 24Navy Navy has had a strong season and with their win over Houston they are leading the AAC West. Memphis is also undefeated in conference play and their only loss came to Ole Miss. Navy had an unscheduled bye last week because of weather. Memphis is coming off a 24-14 road win over Tulane. I think this will be a good game. Both teams have looked good even though they both had to replace star QBs. I am picking Navy.

Mississippi State at Kentucky Mississippi State has been competitive in all of their losses except Auburn. Last week the Bulldogs lost to BYU in Provo in 2OT. Kentucky is coming off a bye week and before that, a win over Vanderbilt. Neither offense has been very explosive this season and I think that Mississippi State has the better team in this matchup. This game has the potential to turn into a shootout. I am picking Mississippi State.

Washington State at Arizona State Washington State started the season out with two losses, but has run off 3 straight wins against perennial powers Oregon, Stanford and UCLA. Strangely, the Cougar offense has scored 16 passing TDs and 16 rushing TDs. Arizona State got stomped by Colorado last week. Arizona State doesn’t have the defense to hold WSU. Both of these teams can score, but I think Wazzu is the better team. I am picking Washington State.

17Arkansas at 21Auburn I’m worried about this one. I won’t be there to bring good luck to the Hogs. So hopefully my red pants will work through the TV. Auburn’s defense has been impressive this season. They have had trouble scoring on better teams, but have kept those games close. I’m also worried that Arkansas will underestimate the Tigers. Auburn’s top RB was banged up last week, so that’ll be something to keep an eye on. The line for this game opened with Auburn as a 10-point favorite. I don’t think either team will win by that much. I expect this to be a close one. If the Hogs can play strong defense at key times like they did against Ole Miss, I think they will come out on top.

Top 25
2Ohio State at Penn State
Illinois at 3Michigan
4Clemson BYE
Oregon State at 5Washington
North Carolina State at 7Louisville
Purdue at 8Nebraska
9Baylor BYE
10Wisconsin at Iowa
11Houston at SMU
13Florida State BYE
BYU at 14Boise State (Thursday)
15Florida BYE
16Oklahoma at Texas Tech
18Tennessee BYE
19Utah at UCLA
Eastern Michigan at 20Western Michigan
22North Carolina at Virginia

Other Games
Miami at Virginia Tech (Thursday)
Oregon at California (Friday)
Central Michigan at Toledo
Texas at Kansas State
Colorado at Stanford