UK & Ireland Top 25 College Football Rankings: Week 8
By Simon Carroll
If the AP and the College Football Playoff committee can’t get it right, then perhaps we can!
Some huge ranked matchups defined Week 8, and has started to whittle down the frontrunners in the ACC, Pac-12, Big Ten and SEC. But how have they affected the Top 25 this side of the pond? Read on to find out!
25-21
25
Tennessee
24
UCLA
23
Duke
22
Liberty
21
Tulane
The Vols blew it. Leading by a good margin at halftime, Tennessee thought they would be lighting the cigars after back to back victories over ‘Bama. But the Tide rolled in the second half, grabbed back the momentum, and never looked back. Heupel’s team are still worthy of a ranking, but only just – another ‘what if’ season in Knoxville.
The Group of Five is well represented in this weeks’ rankings, and Tulane maintained their place with a win over North Texas. Liberty join the party having beaten Middle Tennessee State – the Flames’ seventh win on the bounce. Life after Hugh Freeze is seemingly fine.
UCLA’s comfortable win over Stanford keeps them relevant, whilst Duke’s brave fight against FSU didn’t go unnoticed – losing an already ailing Riley Leonard made holding on to a slender halftime lead almost impossible. The Blue Devils are an incredibly well coached team under Mike Elko.
20-16
20
LSU
19
North Carolina
18
Missouri
17
Notre Dame
16
Louisville
Louisville & Notre Dame enjoyed an empty schedule in Week 8, and remain in the same bracket as a result. The same cannot be said for North Carolina, who had a direct line to the ACC Championship Game and perhaps playoff football before succumbing to Virginia on Saturday. That’s the first time The Cavaliers have EVER beaten a top 10 team on the road – a real poor loss for the Tar Heels. Still very much alive in their conference, a whole lot would have to go right if they were to gatecrash the top four by the end of the year.
A pair of SEC Tigers rounds out this group, both with impressive wins. LSU seems to have righted the ship, whilst Missouri might be the biggest surprise in any Power 5 conference this season – just one loss to the aforementioned Bayou Bengals, and a close one at that. Mizzou are also rampant on the recruiting trail – could Eli Drinkwitz be a candidate for Coach of the Year?
15-11
15
James Madison
14
Air Force
13
Utah
12
Ole Miss
11
Oregon State
What a time to be alive.
Not one, but TWO Group of Five teams in the top fifteen! And rightly so too, as both JMU and Air Force took their records to 7-0 with wins last week. As mentioned last week, the Falcons might be this year’s version of Tulane should the stars align the rest of the way, with a Mountain West Championship and New Years Six bowl very much attainable. The Dukes are still technically ineligible for postseason play after their move up from the FCS – UNLESS there aren’t enough 6-win teams to fill the Bowl Season schedule. If there was any justice…
Ole Miss squeak by Auburn, and potentially represent ‘the best of the rest’ this year. But tell that to Utah and Oregon State, who both look mighty impressive. The Beavers enjoyed a bye, but the Utes destroyed the dreams of Caleb Williams and USC on Saturday. Kyle Whittingham has become the yearly Pac-12 party pooper, beating any team with playoff ambitions. They play Oregon next weekend in what surely is a win or bust scenario for both schools.
10-6
10
Penn State
9
Alabama
8
Texas
7
Oregon
6
Oklahoma
The top ten feel like they’re truly in a league of their own this season. Penn State delivered an insipid performance under the brightest of lights in the Horseshoe on Saturday, and it’s fair to ask if they’ll ever get over the hump in the crowded Big Ten East under James Franklin. They need to beat Michigan and hope Big Blue beat Ohio State to stand a chance in their conference – but after that performance, I’d suggest their National Championship hopes are probably remote.
All the other four schools won unconvincingly; Oregon and Texas focused on getting the result needed to stay relevant and live for another day. Oklahoma somehow came past a frisky UCF team to stay undefeated, whilst Nick Saban delivered an adjustments masterclass to top Tennessee. Alabama football isn’t pretty this year, but it’s effective – you’d wonder how they’d fare against Texas next week, now they’ve found their feet…
5-1
5
Florida State
4
Ohio State
3
Washington
2
Georgia
1
Michigan
It is TIGHT at the top of these rankings. I’ve seen the vote count, and barely anything separates Florida State in fifth from Michigan in first. We’ve discussed this before; separating these programs comes down to recency bias, and how you value close wins over good teams versus blowouts over poor ones. It feels like Michigan and Georgia still have something to prove on that score, but you can still make the case they would be favourites against the trailing trio.
In terms of big wins, both Florida State and Ohio State padded their resume this week, whilst Washington dodged a bullet against Arizona State and Georgia had a bye. Michigan – on the back of MORE serious NCAA allegations – blew out noisy neighbours Michigan State. Jim Harbaugh and his team will no doubt shut out the noise surrounding the program, and the results keep coming in despite questions on the culture in Ann Arbor.
What does Week 9 hold in store for our Top 25? Tune in next week to find out!
This week's UK&I College Football Media Panel's rankings are in.
— Owain Jones (@Owain_Jones_) October 24, 2023
🔹More flip-flopping at the top
🔹@JMUFootball on the rise #GoDukes
🔹@LibertyFootball join the rankings
Week 8 individal player awards in the thread🧵⬇️#CollegeFootball #Top25 #CFB #NCAAF pic.twitter.com/iueRo91BR9
Players of the Week
Offense: Marvin Harrison Jr, WR, Ohio State
Defense: Jalen Green, DL, James Madison
