What It All Means: Week 8
Okay, so what’s next? Where’s the next curveball going to come from?
Who saw Clemson with three losses before the end of October?
Who saw Penn State losing at home to Illinois in nine overtimes? (Actually, I did say on a national appearance that the Illini over the Nittany Lions was the one big upset to watch out for, but I didn’t really believe it.)
Who saw UTEP and UTSA being bowl eligible before Wisconsin, and Penn State, and Florida?
Who saw DJ Uiagalelei and Spencer Rattler on the sidelines instead of front and center in the Heisman race?
Who saw Washington, and USC, and LSU, and Virginia Tech all needing to worry about even being bowl eligible?
Of course this happens every year – all the twists and turns make this fun – but outside of Clemson, there hasn’t been anything that crazy.
Week 8 Roundup
CFN 1-130 Rankings | Bowl Projections
Week 8 scoreboard, all the predictions
Week 8 opening lines | AP | Coaches
Big Game Reaction: Illinois, Oregon, Pitt, more
Before the season, it was hardly wacky to suggest that Oregon would beat Ohio State and Texas A&M would get past Alabama.
It wasn’t insane to think that Cincinnati would beat Notre Dame and Indiana and roll through the rest of its slate.
Michigan being good was more gettable than you’d think – the preseason polls whiffed badly on that – and it really wasn’t that stunning that the darlings of the bizarre 2020 season – Liberty, Sun Belt teams, Indiana, Northwestern, San Jose State – would be mediocre.
Would it shock you if Florida beat Georgia this Saturday?
Would you be floored if Iowa State really did get past its early issues to be a true player in the Big 12 championship chase?
At this point, would you be stunned if we’re soon arguing about whether or not a one-loss Kentucky – whose lone defeat was at Georgia – should deserve nice things?
The Big Ten East is about to eat itself up, Oregon is probably going to blow it at Utah or against Oregon State, as always in the College Football Playoff era, everything will shake out and it’ll be one dominant SEC team vs. one terrific Power Five team for the national title.
But what if Georgia does lose in the next few weeks and the SEC Championship turns into a College Football Playoff elimination game?
What if Iowa is in the Big Ten championship at 11-1, or Baylor is in the Big 12 championship with one loss, or if these ACC teams are for real, and if Michigan State starts to pick off the good teams on its schedule, and if San Diego State is the Group of Five program we should be talking about instead of Cincinnati, and …
We’re two months into an amazing college football season. It’s not going to slow down now.
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– ACC & CFP: Most Underrated Thing
– Curveballs coming What It All Means, Week 8