Week 8 of the college football season exceeded expectations, with Friday’s stunner of the Miami Hurricanes losing to the Louisville Cardinals clearly serving as an appetizer for what came on Saturday. Following a weekend that saw multiple undefeated top-10 teams go down, there’s a shakeup in the Week 9 college football rankings as Saturday’s action draws to a close.
Let’s dive into the latest top 25 rankings after Week 8, evaluating the best college football teams right now.
1. Ohio State Buckeyes (1)
The Ohio State Buckeyes are leaving no doubt about who is the best team in college football. What’s really standing out about this program, though, is just how well Julian Sayin has played in his first season as a starter. He’s been on a tear since late September, posting 1,094 passing yards with an 11-0 TD-INT ratio, and he’s completing over 72 percent of his passes in that four-game span. Oh, for good measure, Ohio State held another opponent under 200 total yards on Saturday.
2. Indiana Hoosiers (3)
For a very brief moment, it looked like the Indiana Hoosiers would join the list of undefeated college football teams taken down in Week 8. Then Curt Cignetti demonstrated why he’s arguably the best coach in college football right now and why the Hoosiers are a dominant force. While the offense continues to be highlighted, we’ll put the spotlight on an Indiana defense that allowed just 3 points and 163 total yards on its final six drives.
3. Texas A&M Aggies (5)
Saturday is a reminder that at this point in the season, it’s purely about survival for the best college football teams right now. The Razorbacks’ record (2-5) isn’t impressive, but this team is playing much better football since making a coaching change. The Texas A&M Aggies went into Arkansas, fought off a Razorbacks’ rally and emerged with the undefeated record still in tact. Maybe LSU will be a bit motivated next Saturday, but the Aggies should be favored to win in Death Valley as the superior team.
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (6)
Make it four consecutive ranked victories for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Quite frankly, it’s a bit absurd to think the Tide would stop rolling in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd versus Tennessee. Ty Simpson’s Heisman Trophy odds keep climbing, with the Alabama quarterback delivering a level of play at the position that we haven’t seen in years from this program. South Carolina certainly isn’t slowing the Crimson Tide down next week.
5. Georgia Bulldogs (8)
The Georgia Bulldogs found themselves in a hole entering the fourth quarter, needing both the defense to wake up and for Gunner Stockton to deliver some late-game heroics. Kirby Smart got both. Mississippi was shut out in the fourth quarter, netting just 13 total yards on three drives, and Stockton sealed his brilliant performance with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. We’re still a bit concerned by this Bulldogs’ defense, but Stockton entered the Heisman conversation on Saturday night.
Related: Winners, Losers from Georgia Bulldogs’ Victory over Ole Miss
6. Oregon Ducks (10)
The Oregon Ducks bounced back on Saturday night, and while blowing the doors off the Scarlet Knights isn’t a signature win, it’s noteworthy that this team made the cross-country trip to New Jersey and immediately put up 42 first-half points. Plus, with a few undefeated teams losing, Oregon gets a bigger jump in the top 25 college football rankings after Week 8.
7. Ole Miss Rebels (4)
That one’s going to sting for a little while for Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels. Mississippi blew a 35-26 lead in the fourth quarter, and everyone is to blame. Ole Miss’ inability to run the football, setting up third-and-longs, was certainly part of the problem. Just as damaging was a Rebels defense that couldn’t generate a single stop outside of the end of the half and the final kneel down. Still, Mississippi comes out of this one with a 6-1 record and a realistic shot to take down a top-25 team (Oklahoma) next Saturday on the road.
8. Miami Hurricanes (3)
The Miami Hurricanes have largely been winning games this season with quarterback Carson Beck and head coach Mario Cristobal, not because of them. Friday night’s Week 8 loss to Louisville is because of Beck and Cristobal. After Beck’s fourth interception was nullified by a questionable roughing-the-passer penalty, Miami got the football to the 31-yard line, and Cristobal opted to have Beck throw on first down with 31 seconds left in a three-point game. The decision backfired. Beck has now thrown seven interceptions in the last four games, with Miami’s investment in him already backfiring.
9. Oklahoma Sooners (9)
Look at what happens when John Mateer is a bit closer to 100 percent and the Oklahoma Sooners can effectively run the football. The standout on Saturday, of course, is a Sooners defense that held South Carolina to a 1.4 yards-per-carry average with a sub-20 percent completion rate. This team also deserves credit for not letting its loss to Texas carry over into a road game—that’s not always a given (Penn State). With that said, Mateer would need to play at an All-American form and this defense will need to put on a clinic for Oklahoma to come out of its next three games — vs. Ole Miss, at Tennessee, and at Alabama — with a winning record.
10. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (12)
Week 8 provided the latest example of how difficult it is to remain undefeated two months into the season. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets survived on the road against Duke on Saturday afternoon, with Haynes King leading the team to 17 fourth-quarter points to give Georgia Tech a 17-point lead until the Blue Devils made it a little closer in garbage time. With Syracuse down its quarterback, the Yellow Jackets’ defense should be able to respond next week at home with a better performance in the team’s eighth consecutive win.
11. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (15)
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish imposed their will on USC’s defense on Saturday night. To see Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price put up 360 scrimmage yards combined, truly doing whatever they wanted with the Fighting Irish utterly controlling this game from the line of scrimmage. This has been a season full of upsets, but the explosion from Notre Dame’s ground game paves a path to this team winning out through November.
12. BYU Cougars (14)
Winning the Holy War is never easy, but the BYU Cougars took out their hated rival in a game where Utah was desperate to end their undefeated season. BYU’s defense ensured that wasn’t going to happen. The biggest knock on the Cougars’ resume coming into tonight was the absence of a big win. They just added a victory over a ranked opponent to their resume, and a top-10 spot in the rankings feels imminent.
13. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7)
Without their starting quarterback, two things came back to cost the Texas Tech Red Raiders their undefeated record. First, an interception early in the third quarter that put Arizona State in the red zone immediately and set up a critical touchdown two plays later. Second, a defense without Skyler Gill-Howard allowed the Sun Devils to march 75 yards down the field in 86 seconds for a go-ahead touchdown with 34 seconds left. It’s a heartbreaking loss for Texas Tech, but they can rebound as long as Behren Morton returns before the BYU game on Nov. 1.
14. Vanderbilt Commodores (18)
The Vanderbilt Commodores fans didn’t rush the field on Saturday because the victory over LSU was expected. That should tell you everything you need to know about the level this program is playing at now. To that point, Vanderbilt has six wins before November for the first time since 1915. The Commodores are for real; they were the better team in Week 8 and Diego Pavia absolutely can beat Mizzou at home next Saturday.
15. Missouri Tigers (16)
On a night when Ahmad Hardy was held under 60 yards, Beau Pribula turned it over twice and Robert Meyer missed a game-winning field goal in the first OT, the Missouri Tigers still came out of Auburn with a victory. All of the credit rests squarely on the shoulders of Mizzou’s defense, which allowde just 10 points after Auburn’s game-opening touchdown drive. Good teams find ways to win, even if it’s sloppy, and Mizzou did just that on Saturday night.
16. Tennessee Volunteers (11)
The pick-six to close out the first half made the final score not quite as close as the actual game. With that said, the Tennessee Volunteers lost to a better football team on Saturday night. It’s the little things, like inexperience in critical moments and a few mistakes, that have cost Tennessee in its two losses this season. Still, given where the expectations for this program were in the weeks after Nico Iamaleava transferred out, the Volunteers are having a great season. Tennessee will rebound versus Kentucky.
17. South Florida Bulls (19)
Alex Golesh’s South Florida Bulls keep on rolling. Byrum Brown delivered another excellent performance on the ground, with USF using its matchup against FAU as an opportunity to refine things before next week’s trip to Memphis. The Bulls still have that victory in The Swamp as a ‘signature’ win this year, and another could be looming on the road if they beat the Tigers.
18. Virginia Cavaliers (17)
The Virgnia Cavaliers found a way to survive on Saturday night, with a 12-point fourth quarter saving the day. Credit really belongs to the defense, which limited Washington State to just one scoring drive (3 points and 50 yards on 12 plays) in the second half, while recording a safety and allowing just 71 total yards in the final five drives. Now, after this scare, the Cavaliers have a chance to take it out on Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels in Week 9.
19. Louisville Cardinals (Unranked)
Jeff Brohm is the opposite of James Franklin. Put the Louisville Cardinals‘ head coach against top-10 teams abd he’ll usually deliver the victory. Louisville put its lone loss of the season, an OT defeat against Virginia, behind it and delivered one of the biggest upsets of the season. Friday night’s win is the performance that will get the Cardinals the national attention Brohm’s football program has earned.
20. Cincinnati Bearcats (24)
The Cincinnati Bearcats have now made it a six-game winning streak, suddenly putting themselves firmly in the mix to win the Big 12 Conference after Texas Tech went down on Saturday. Cincinnati took care of business on the road against Oklahoma State on Saturday, and it should feel fairly comfortable about its chances heading back home to face Baylor. The real test, with huge conference ramifications, will come in November with matchups against BYU and Utah.
21. LSU Tigers (13)
The LSU Tigers shouldn’t have been ranked 10th in the AP Top 25 college football rankings coming into Week 8. They won’t be any longer. LSU was decimated on the ground Saturday, being outgained 240-100 by Vanderbilt, who also held a massive time-of-possession edge (36:31 to 23:29). The season-opening win over Clemson lost its meaning weeks ago. LSU is a fringe top-25 program right now, and it’s probable Brian Kelly’s team makes it a three-game losing streak with Texas A&M and Alabama up next on the schedule.
22. Illinois Fighting Illini (Unranked)
Coming out of the Week 8 bye, Bret Bielema can feel pretty good about the fact that its two losses this season have come against the two programs sitting first and second in the top 25 college football rankings. The Fighting Illini have demonstrated that they don’t play down to beatable teams, with the talent on both sides of the ball to come out on top of the ‘winnable’ games. Where things get interesting is next week with a trip to Washington to take on the Huskies, as the two programs look pretty evenly matched.
23. Arizona State Sun Devils (Unranked)
Sam Leavitt returned to the field in Week 8 and the Arizona State Sun Devils upset Texas Tech and got to rush the field. It makes you wonder what would’ve happened if they had their star quarterback against Utah. Given the Sun Devils have two ranked wins this season, that’s a strong enough resume to move back into the top 25.
24. Michigan Wolverines (Unranked)
A week after a rough performance in Southern California, the Michigan Wolverines defense rebounded nicely at home with 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and 3 takeaways. It’s the big plays that resulted in Michigan possessing the football for nearly 38 minutes of action and outgaining Washington 417-249. This is a nice win, and there’s hope that continued improvement from Bryce Underwood can help Big Blue turn this into a lengthy winning streak in November.
25. Texas Longhorns (23)
There are top 25 college football teams winning because of their quarterback and with their quarterback this season. The Texas Longhorns are the only one winning despite him. Texas needed overtime on Saturday night to beat Kentucky, a team that got blown out by South Carolina just a few weeks ago. The Longhorns are losing to Vanderbilt (Nov. 1) and Georgia (Nov. 15). Quite frankly, we wouldn’t rule out Manning’s Longhorns finding a way to lose at Mississippi State next week.
