The Top 10 College Football Matchups to Track in Week 8

Weekends in college football do not get much better than what we just experienced in Week 7. From Salt Lake City to Fort Worth to Knoxville we saw three incredible games with high stakes and great results and phenomenal postgame scenes. It’ll be hard to top that this week, but mind your couch anyway, because you never know when an exciting week can strike.

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Noon

Kansas at Baylor (-7.5)

The jockeying in the messy middle of the Big 12 continues as the Power 5’s most parity-filled league continues its weekly ups and downs. The Bears host the Jayhawks, and are trying to put the taste of a mistake-filled loss to West Virginia in their rearview. Kansas has now dropped two straight since their hot start and are looking to get on the good side of the win/loss ledger once more.

Matchup to watch: Both quarterbacks vs. the injury report. Nobody’s 100% at this point in the season, but the health of Kansas’ Jalon Daniels and Baylor’s Blake Shapen is a big storyline throughout the week as both try to battle back. Daniels has a hurt shoulder, and Shapen is working his way through concussion protocol. Both teams are different without their main guys, although Kansas has proven it can still score plenty of points with backup Jason Bean at the wheel.

Syracuse at Clemson (-13.5)

It’s been something of a dream season so far for Syracuse, who have started 6-0 for the first time since the 1980s. Now they go to Clemson, an opponent that—for a time—the Orange under Dino Babers actually handled pretty well, beating the Tigers at home in 2017 and taking them to the wire in Death Valley in 2018. Clemson is again where they’re used to being: the driver’s seat in the ACC, but the Orange are upset-minded once more.

Matchup to watch: Clemson’s pass rush vs. Syracuse’s offensive line. The Orange allow QB Garrett Schrader to be sacked by opponents at a bit higher rate than you’d like. They’ll need to keep him upright, because the Tigers defense is not the one to fall behind the chains against.

Cincinnati (-3.5) at SMU

The Bearcats struggled with USF their last time out and will be looking to put that performance behind them. Cincy continues to win after a Week 1 loss against Arkansas, but a look at their opponents shows a schedule filled with teams that aren’t very good. SMU is nobody’s playoff pick, but they will be the best team the Bearcats have faced since Week 1 by a wide margin.

Matchup to watch: Cincinnati’s offense vs. third down. The positive is that the Bearcats don’t really face third down much from a raw attempts perspective. The negative is that when they are in third down, things don’t typically go too well, with a roughly average conversion rate nationally. Staying out of those high leverage downs could be key to beating SMU.

Midday

Ole Miss at LSU (-2), 3:30 p.m.

With a varied and unique rushing attack, Ole Miss is an absolute bear to stop. Not only do Quinshon Judkins and Zach Evans provide a backfield tandem difficult to stop, but when QB Jaxon Dart gets involved, this team has a ground game that’s as good as any in the country—particularly in how it messes with the math of the defense as the QB gets involved. They use misdirection and multiple pullers and motion to confuse the eyes of defenses, and if the Tigers aren’t ready for it, they may be in for a long day.

Matchup to watch: LSU’s offensive line vs. Ole Miss defensive line. QB Jayden Daniels is still one of the most pressured in the country, and Ole Miss’ defense is not the much maligned unit it has been in the past.

Texas (-6.5) at Oklahoma State, 3:30 p.m.

It was a good start for The Pokes, but the last two games have looked shaky for OSU. In comes Texas and hot Quinn Ewers looking like they’re ready to really put some points up. Iowa State held the Horns in check last week and arguably should have won that game, but Texas was able to pull it out which is more than can be said for the program in the recent past.

Matchup to watch: Oklahoma State’s defense vs. the explosive play. The Cowboys are 88th in the country in passing plays allowed over 20 yards, and among the 56 teams that have only played six games, OSU is 49th. In steps Texas, with Ewers who has a serious penchant for the deep ball. Look out.

UCLA at Oregon (-6), 3:30 p.m.

Welcome to the Chip Bowl. Chip Kelly returns to the place where he made his name for the first time since arriving at UCLA. He brings in a seasoned Bruins team that is chock full of experience. They should be ready to handle the atmosphere in Autzen stadium as QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson is playing easily the best football of his career so far with a talented trio of receivers. This game was electric last year in the Rose Bowl, and hopefully this year’s version lives up to that one.

Matchup to watch: Bo Nix vs. Bo Nix. The Ducks need good Bo in this game from the enigmatic signal caller. The Bruins are too solid and too consistent on offense. If Nix is turning the ball over, then Oregon could get boat raced quickly.

Memphis at Tulane (-7), 3:30 p.m.

Don’t look now, but Tulane is 6-1 and ranked. Head coach Willie Fritz has been consistent at a place that has needed just that. The Green Wave are winning with efficient defense this year, however, limiting big plays and complimenting an offense that doesn’t exactly produce fireworks.

Matchup to watch: Tulane vs. turnovers. The Tigers are not very good on defense, and even that is propped up by a 13 takeaways and a +7 margin overall. If you don’t give Memphis the ball, they look even worse than they actually are.

Purdue at Wisconsin (-2.5). 3:30 p.m.

The Boilermakers are quietly putting together an impressive season with two losses each by one possession. Wisconsin’s just trying to hold on at this point with Jim Leonhard as interim coach and a program dealing with some transfers out and significant flux.

Matchup to watch: Jim Leonhard vs. Jeff Brohm. Two interesting schematic minds go at it in this game. But this is not exactly the suffocating defense of old in Madison, and the Badgers do not have the firepower on offense to keep up if Purdue pulls out in front.

Night

Boise State at Air Force (-2.5), 7 p.m.

Ok, someone is going to have to win each Mountain West division. Boise has an early 3-0 record and Air Force has fallen off from what looked like one of the G5’s best teams to start the season. These aren’t the Broncos of old, but they are still plenty formidable on defense.

Matchup to watch: Boise State’s passing offense vs. Air Force’s defense. It has been nothing short of a slog for the Broncos to do much of anything through the air. There are only 10 worse passing games in FBS from a yards per game perspective and eight worse from a yards per attempt perspective. Their defense is great, but if Air Force is able to get out to a lead and Boise has to chase at all, you shouldn’t like their chances.

Kansas State at TCU (-3.5), 8 p.m.

Not exactly the matchup we thought we may get twice this season when all is said and done, because both of these teams are at the top of the Big 12 and could meet again in the conference title game. The Horned Frogs are a surprise undefeated, but here they sit unblemished after a serious scare against Oklahoma State at home last weekend. Kansas State has managed to get the best out of quarterback Adrian Martinez, which is a credit to the coaching staff in Manhattan. They’ll need him to be at the peak of his powers in what could end up being a shootout against a great TCU offense.

Matchup to watch: Quentin Johnston vs. everybody. The gifted wide receiver is having a breakout so far this season. Sometimes offense is as simple as get that guy the ball and watch what happens and Johnston has proven in the last couple weeks that if you do just that, he’ll deliver. The long-armed target is exceptional with the ball in his hands.