College Football Cheat Sheet: Week 8

Another big college football weekend has arrived. A big October rolls on with a Saturday filled with its fair share of marquee games.

KSR’s College Football Cheat Sheet is back to set the table. Full schedule, top games, matchups to watch, and much more.

Let’s football.

The Slate

Florida State at Duke	7:00pm ET (Friday)	ESPN2
No. 2 Oregon at Purdue	8:00pm ET (Friday)	FOX
Oklahoma State at No. 13 BYU	10:15pm ET (Friday)	ESPN
Fresno State at Nevada	10:30pm ET (Friday)	CBS Sports Network
East Carolina at No. 23 Army	Noon ET	ESPN2
Nebraska at No. 16 Indiana	Noon ET	FOX
UCLA at Rutgers	Noon ET	FS1
Louisiana at Coastal Carolina	Noon ET	ESPNU
Arizona State at Cincinnati	Noon ET	ESPN+
Virginia at No. 10 Clemson	Noon ET	ACC Network
Wisconsin at Northwestern	Noon ET	Big Ten Network
Wake Forest at UConn	Noon ET	CBS Sports Network
No. 6 Miami at Louisville	Noon ET	ABC
Auburn at No. 19 Missouri	Noon ET	ESPN
South Carolina at Oklahoma	12:45pm ET	SEC Network
Tulsa at Temple	2:00pm ET	ESPN+
Central Michigan at Eastern Michigan	2:00pm ET	ESPN+
NC State at California	3:30pm ET	ACC Network
Hawaii at Washington State	3:30pm ET	The CW
Toledo at Northern Illinois	3:30pm ET	ESPN+
UAB at South Florida	3:30pm ET	ESPN+
Kent State at Bowling Green	3:30pm ET	ESPN+
Houston at Kansas	3:30pm ET	ESPN+
Florida Atlantic at UTSA	3:30pm ET	ESPN+
No. 24 Michigan at No. 22 Illinois	3:30pm ET	CBS
Western Michigan at Buffalo	3:30pm ET	ESPN+
Charlotte at No. 25 Navy	3:30pm ET	CBS Sports Network
Rice at Tulane	3:30pm ET	ESPN+
No. 7 Alabama at No. 11 Tennessee	3:30pm ET	ABC
No. 12 Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech (Mercedez-Benz Stadium)	3:30pm ET	ESPN
Texas State at Old Dominion	3:30pm ET	ESPN+
Ohio at Miami (Ohio)	3:30pm ET	ESPN+
Colorado at Arizona	4:00pm ET	FOX
New Mexico at Utah State	4:00pm ET	TruTV
James Madison at Georgia Southern	4:00pm ET	ESPN+
Wyoming at San Jose State	4:00pm ET	Mountain West Network
USC at Maryland	4:00pm ET	FS1
Baylor at Texas Tech	4:00pm ET	ESPN2
No. 14 Texas A&M at Mississippi State	4:15pm ET	SEC Network
Arkansas State at Southern Miss	7:00pm ET	ESPN+
No. 8 LSU at Arkansas	7:00pm ET	ESPN
Ball State at Vanderbilt	7:00pm ET	ESPN+
UCF at No. 9 Iowa State	7:30pm ET	FS1
No. 17 Kansas State at West Virginia	7:30pm ET	FOX
North Texas at Memphis	7:30pm ET	ESPNU
No. 5 Georgia at No. 1 Texas	7:30pm ET	ABC
Iowa at Michigan State	7:30pm ET	NBC
Kentucky at Florida	7:45pm ET	SEC Network
No. 21 SMU at Stanford	8:00pm ET	ACC Network
Colorado State at Air Force	8:00pm ET	CBS Sports Network
UNLV at Oregon State	10:00pm ET	The CW
TCU at Utah	10:30pm ET	ESPN

Top Games

1. No. 5 Georgia at No. 1 Texas
2. No. 7 Alabama at No. 11 Tennessee
3. No. 6 Miami at Louisville
4. Nebraska at No. 16 Indiana
5. No. 8 LSU at Arkansas
6. No. 24 Michigan at No. 22 Illinois
7. No. 12 Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech
8. No. 17 Kansas State at West Virginia
9. Auburn at No. 19 Missouri
10. Arizona State at Cincinnati

College Football Gambling Corner

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A showdown in Austin

Texas is undefeated and hasn’t really been tested yet. That will change on Saturday night in Austin with No. 5 Georgia rolling into town. The Bulldogs and Longhorns both feel that they are national championship contenders and we will get to see two of the sport’s best got at it in Week 8.

The game is much bigger for Georgia who has already taken a loss to Alabama and could enter the playoff danger zone with another loss. UGA could leave the SEC title race in mid-October if they don’t leave Texas with a win.

A big game with stakes. Welcome to the SEC, Texas.

Third Saturday in October

Alabama and Tennessee will meet for the 107th time on Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium. The Vols are hopeful that the post-Nick Saban era will bring more wins for the Big Orange.

Bama is 16-1 in this rivalry series since 2007 with 14 wins by double-digits. Josh Heupel delivered the big win in 2022 but has lost the two other meetings against the Tide by at least two touchdowns. There’s also the playoff race angle to consider.

Alabama and Tennessee both suffered surprising Week 6 road losses as a double-digit road favorite. Both have difficult remaining games. Adding a second loss in Week 8 would create no wiggle room on the at-large resume for each. The winner will be sitting in a position to make a run at an SEC Championship Game appearance. Something Tennessee has not been to since 2007.

Big game on Rocky Top.

Will Miami mess around again?

Mario Cristobal‘s team is off to a 6-0 (2-0) start and a playoff bid is getting close to lay-up territory. The Hurricanes rank inside the top five in net success rate, yards per play, and EPA/play. All signs point to this being a legitimate top-five team but The U messed around and nearly got beat the last two times out.

Louisville has played in three consecutive one-possession games and has a dynamic passing game (No. 12 in passing EPA/play). The Cards are better than Virginia Tech and California. If Miami does not play well in front of a sold-out road crowd that undefeated start to the season could end.

A big game in the ACC title hunt.

Indiana’s Big Stage

Indiana is undefeated and FOX’s “Big Noon Saturday” will be live from Bloomington. The Hoosiers are a couple of wins away from the playoff bid conversation becoming a real thing. We should learn a lot about Curt Cignetti‘s team on Saturday afternoon.

Indiana has not played a top-50 team yet. That will change when Nebraska takes the field on Saturday. These are two top-25 caliber teams playing in a big game in the Big Ten. I’m not sure anyone saw this coming.

The QB battle between Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola could give us some fireworks.

Can Arkansas do it again?

Sam Pittman has been one of the best underdogs in college football since he took over at Arkansas. The Hogs delivered a big home win their last time out against top-10 Tennessee. Could another top-10 win arrive on Saturday night?

LSU is coming to Fayetteville fresh off an emotional home win. The Tigers have major defensive issues and struggle to run the football but Garrett Nussmeier looks like the real deal at quarterback. Could Arkansas take advantage of a flawed team?

The Hogs could quickly become one of the best stories in the SEC if they record another top-10 conference win in Week 8.

Degenerate Under: Iowa at Michigan State Under 39.5

Old faithful is back again. Iowa somehow beat Washington 40-16 last week in a game where the Hawkeyes only passed for 108 yards but this is just what they do. The Huskies outgained Iowa and still got housed.

Now Iowa’s top-five defense will hit the road to face a Michigan State offense that has only scored more than 20 points once against power conference competition this season. Iowa’s offense should not need to do much in East Lansing to leave with a road victory.

The rest of the college football card

— Arizona State at Cincinnati is quietly an important game in the Big 12 race. The Sun Devils are hitting the road for an early kickoff on the East Coast and will not have starting quarterback Sam Leavitt. This is a big opportunity for Scott Satterfield‘s team. Indiana quarterback transfer Brendan Sorbsy is having a big season and this team has a chance to play in some games that matter in November after a rough year one.

— Don’t look now but the Wisconsin spread offense might be finding itself. The Badgers have scored 94 combined points the last two weeks and could have another big day against Northwestern in the noon window. An impressive win would set up a big game at Camp Randall against Penn State next weekend.

— Hugh Freeze is starting to feel some heat and needs some wins. Missouri was embarrassed by Texas A&M and another SEC loss will turn a season with playoff expectations into disappointment in CoMo. We’ve got some angst at play in the noon window at Faurot Field.

— There will be a swing game in Norman when former Oklahoma assistant Shane Beamer returns to Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Expect both defenses to trade haymakers in this SEC matchup. The loser will leave this contest feeling like the season is slipping away. The winner will see a path to a good finish in November.

— A surprising ranked matchup will occur in Champaign when Michigan hosts Illinois. The Wolverines have passing game problems but that might not matter against an iffy Illinois run defense. This is a huge opportunity for Bret Bielema to deliver a helmet logo win in a big spot.

— Notre Dame’s schedule is extremely soft. One of the biggest remaining challenges is this week in Atlanta. The Irish are laying 9.5 points against Georgia Tech as the status of quarterback Haynes King is up in the air. The Yellow Jackets have been an excellent dog under Brent Key but it certainly seems like Notre Dame is drawing Georgia Tech at the perfect time.

— There is another important game in the Big 12 race taking place in Morgantown this weekend. West Virginia will host Kansas State in a game with two excellent running games and a couple of high-ceiling and low-floor quarterbacks. We could get some fireworks.