2017 Week 8 Preview

Week 7 brought us 7 top-25 upsets! The biggest being Syracuse taking down #2 Clemson (#Clemsoning?). LSU continued to impress by beating 10th ranked Auburn and 5th ranked Washington lost to Arizona State in a defensive battle (in what universe was that predicted?). Cal beat 8Washington State 37-3 and I don’t want to talk about it because it makes me very sad (#Coug’dIt). Alabama continued to look great (unfortunately for me and my Hogs). Miami, Oklahoma and USC each survived their unranked opponents. Week 8 brings us two ranked vs. ranked matchups, but there are still plenty of upset opportunities. Here’s to more upsets! (Or just to Arkansas upsetting Auburn!)

How I fared: 6-1 last week (darn you, Navy/Memphis!), 31-12 overall

Notable Games
19Michigan at 2Penn State
I’m looking forward to this game because we should find out if Penn State is #2 because they are good or because of last year’s success and that the people in front of them kept losing. Listen, Saquon Barkley is a great player and a definite Heisman contender and I think Penn State is a good team. But they haven’t played anyone. The only test they have had is against Iowa. Michigan is struggling on offense, and Penn State is very good at defense. This should be a relatively low scoring game. A very Big 10 game, which isn’t my favorite kind of game.
I am picking Penn State

11USC at 13Notre Dame
Uggghhhhhh. USC and Notre Dame? Can they both lose? Notre Dame has yet to prove themselves. Yes, they only lost by one to Georgia, but that was forever ago. They also have a win over Michigan State which does look good now. That being said, I feel like half of the reason they are ranked 13th is because they are Notre Dame. They were first ranked 22 in week 5 after beating Michigan State, and since then they jumped 9 spots, five of those spots came after beating one-win North Carolina. USC has scraped by. They are winning games but not by a ton. Darnold needs to better. He will need to have a great game to beat this supposedly good Notre Dame team. It should be a really fun game.
I am picking USC

20UCF at Navy
Memphis surprised me last week by beating Navy. UCF continued their total dominance of their schedule. They also blew out Memphis earlier this season. UCF is very, very good. They put up a ton of points and they hold their opponents to a small amount of points. UCF and USF are the teams to watch from the G5 schools now that my beloved San Diego State Aztecs lost to Boise State. Navy has given up a lot of points over the last couple weeks and that is not a great strategy. I hope it’s an entertaining game, but this could be a blowout.
I am picking UCF

Louisville at Florida State
First of all: HAHAHAHAHAHA. These two teams are a combined 6-6 with a 3-5 ACC record. I love it so much. Louisville also lost a shootout to Boston College. Beautiful. Louisville has a good offense. No one is disputing Lamar Jackson can play football (responsible for 5 TDs last week). Florida State has been playing alright defense, but their offense isn’t doing great. I don’t think they will be able to outscore Lamar Jackson. I still expect a lot of points from this game. It does bring me joy that this game means nothing to the playoff. So much joy.
I am picking Louisville

Boston College at Virginia
Boston College got a big win over Louisville last week in a shootout. Virginia is very quietly 5-1 and is coming off a win over North Carolina. Virginia is one win away from being bowl eligible. Let that sink in. That’s a big deal. BC is 3-4 but has a little bit of momentum that could make this a very good game. UVA has a strong defense, but this will be one of the better offenses that they have faced. Getting a win this week would be huge for the Cavaliers. I’m looking forward to seeing how this game plays out.
I am picking Virginia

Kentucky at Mississippi State
Kentucky’s only loss of the season is Florida. But they haven’t really played anyone else. (They do have a win over SCAR, which looks better now.) All of their games have been close ones. Mississippi State has yet to play a close game. They either blow out their opponent or get blown out. The Bulldogs are coming off a good 35-10 win over BYU and Kentucky is coming off a bye. I think Mississippi State’s offense is going to be too much for Kentucky. I think it will be a relatively close one for most of the game, but the final score might not reflect that.
I am picking Mississippi State

21Auburn at Arkansas
I was pleasantly surprised by Arkansas against Bama. Yes, they lost 9-41, but there were a ton of positives. Freshman QB Cole Kelley looked good in his first ever start. He needs to get a little more comfortable and maybe tuck it and run a couple more times, but overall, I was happy. Alabama didn’t cover the 37.5 point spread. We successfully kicked a FG. No one got very hurt. We won the turnover battle. Auburn blew an early 20-0 lead over LSU and they are probably coming into this game angry. Auburn is a very good team, and I think their offense is going to be present for this game. Arkansas will have to play very well in this game just to score. It might be another tough one for the Hogs, but who knows? Maybe they found something last weekend.

Top 25
Tennessee at 1Alabama
19Michigan at 2Penn State
3Georgia BYE
Kansas at 4TCU
Maryland at 5Wisconsin
6Ohio State BYE
7Clemson BYE
Syracuse at 8Miami
9Oklahoma at Kansas State
10Oklahoma State at Texas
11USC at 13Notre Dame
12Washington BYE
North Carolina at 14Virginia Tech
Colorado at 15Washington State
16South Florida at Tulane
16NC State BYE
Indiana at 18Michigan State
20UCF at Navy
21Auburn at Arkansas
22Stanford BYE
23West Virginia at Baylor
24LSU at Ole Miss
25Memphis at Houston (Thursday)

Other Games
Louisiana at Arkansas State (Thursday)
Arizona State at Utah (Friday)
Utah State at UNLV
Iowa State at Texas Tech
Oregon at UCLA
Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech
Wyoming at Boise State