Four of the top 11 teams in the AP Top 25 just dropped games on Saturday, and Week 8 picked up right where Week 7 left off. This season is feeling exactly like 2007, where you just can’t count anyone safe. Absolute chaos. Here’s how the playoff picture is shaking out after all that madness: Miami, Georgia, Ohio State, and Utah are projected as my P4 Champions. Boise State is the G6 leader, and the At-Larges are a tight race with Indiana, Notre Dame, UCLA, BYU, Kentucky, Alabama, and Texas all in the mix. Ole Miss, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, LSU, and Tennessee are outside looking in, but with this kind of season, who even knows for how long?
Big Ten Blues and a G6 Team on Cruise Control
The Big Ten right now is a complete disaster. Only two teams, UCLA and Ohio State, are still undefeated in conference play, and get this: *both* are on their backup quarterbacks. Indiana’s got its own set of problems with offensive concerns and a banged-up Josh Hoover, but they’ve got a super favorable schedule ahead, which might just be their saving grace. Meanwhile, James Madison basically kissed their G6 race chances goodbye with a loss to Appalachian State. Boise State, though? They are absolutely in the driver’s seat for that G6 berth. They’re the only G6 team in the AP poll and they crushed Washington State 31-10 on the road. Boise controls its own destiny, plain and simple, even with New Mexico lurking with 41 votes.
Kentucky Rising, BYU Holding On, and the SEC Bias Is Wild
Kentucky has to be the biggest beneficiary of all this Week 8 insanity. The Wildcats jumped three spots after taking down Vanderbilt. They’ve got a Halloween bye week to get ready for some brutal road games against Tennessee and Missouri, plus a home game against Florida. BYU, on the other hand, lost some serious breathing room with their 39-31 road loss to UCF. That win over Notre Dame is still a huge chip in their pocket, but their upcoming game against Arizona State this Saturday, what they call the Holy War, feels like a must-win in a way it definitely didn’t just a week ago. Don’t sleep on Wake Forest, either. They’re quietly sitting at 6-1, with their only loss coming to Miami. They’ve got Virginia and Merrimack at home for the next two weeks before a huge road game against SMU on November 14. Seriously, we might be talking about Wake Forest as an at-large team by Thanksgiving.
But let’s be real, the bias towards the SEC is as huge as ever. Houston is the highest-ranked two-loss team *not* from the SEC, sitting at No. 18. Six of the seven two-loss SEC teams are ranked *higher* than that! If you’re Texas Tech, Wake Forest, SMU, Northwestern, BYU, or even unbeaten Utah and UCLA, you need those two-loss SEC teams to pick up another L, and fast. Winning isn’t enough; you gotta have fewer losses than this ridiculous logjam of SEC teams.
What’s Next for the Playoff Grinders?
This college football season is an absolute grinder, and Week 9 is going to be no different. BYU needs to absolutely bring it against Arizona State to keep their at-large hopes alive. Kentucky is heading into a bye, but then it’s straight into the SEC gauntlet. Wake Forest has a couple of warm-up games before that massive clash with SMU that could define their season. Every single snap matters more than ever, especially with that SEC favoritism lurking in the background. It’s win or go home, folks, even when you’ve already got a great record!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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