YOUR WEEK 8 VIEWING GUIDE
hat is just now realizing how damn good it could be.
FRIDAY
Memphis at Tulsa (ESPN, 8 p.m.). No. 18 Memphis hits the road after the home upset over Ole Miss, which allowed college football fans/trolls to cynically ask if Memphis could beat Alabama. If the season ended today, Memphis would secure the Group of Five selection to one of the New Year's Six bowl games. This year, that will likely be the Peach Bowl.
Utah State at San Diego State (ESPN2, 10:30 p.m.). These two teams are the last teams undefeated in Mountain West play. Utah State handed Boise State its worst conference loss in several years last week.
SATURDAY
Houston at Central Florida (ESPN News, 12 p.m.). Houston is chasing an undefeated regular season in Tom Herman's first year. Central Florida is still looking for that elusive first win of the season.
Kansas State at Texas (FOX Sports 1, 12 p.m.). Kansas State enters Royal Texas Memorial Stadium on a three-game skid, though it will rue the missed opportunities to beat Texas Christian two weeks earlier. Texas was on a bye last week.
Pittsburgh at Syracuse (ESPNU, 12 p.m.). This might be the year for first-year head coaches. Pitt is 5-1 in Pat Narduzzi's first year, with the lone loss at Iowa on a 57-yard field goal. A win on Saturday would improve Pitt to 4-0 in ACC play.
Northwestern at Nebraska (ESPN2, 12 p.m.). This series turned into one of the hidden gems of the Big Ten when Nebraska joined the league in 2011. Northwestern returns to Lincoln two years after the famous Hail Mary in 2013.
Iowa State at Baylor (ESPN, 12 p.m.). Still wondering when Baylor plays a team with a pulse? It won't be this week. Baylor travels to injury-addled Kansas State in its next game. Thereafter: Oklahoma, at Oklahoma State, at Texas Christian, and Texas.
Auburn at Arkansas (SEC Network, 12 p.m.). Auburn has given us multiple reasons over the course of the season to be uninvested in what was the preseason pick for SEC champion. I think we're just hoping this results in another dust-up between Bert and Gus Malzahn. The relationship between the two head coaches is, well, complicated.
Clemson at Miami (ABC, 12 p.m.). There, legitimately, should be more Clemson fans making this trip from Upstate South Carolina than Miami fans in attendance at this game.
Tulane at Navy (CBS Sports, 1 p.m.). Both teams are middle-of-the-table in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. Everyone's looking up at Houston and Memphis in that division.
Wisconsin at Illinois (BTN, 3:30 p.m.). It's homecoming in Champaign as Illinois looks for its first win over the Badgers since 2007. The Illini have just three wins in the series this century. Actually, it has just three wins in the series since Barry Alvarez's breakthrough 1993 season.
Penn State at Maryland (ESPN, 3:30 p.m.). Penn State hits the road again, this time to play an actual rivalry game. This game will be in Baltimore, though. All eyes will be at midfield for the pre-game coin toss in anticipation of a pre-game handshake, or lack thereof.
Indiana at Michigan State (ABC/ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). No one enjoys playing Indiana, though Michigan State's defense has done well, of late, to contain the damage that Indiana's offense can impose. Last year's game in Bloomington ended in a 56-17 Michigan State victory.
We'll find out if Michigan State has a letdown game in East Lansing. Last week's win in Ann Arbor makes for an all-time classic, but it looked exhausting for a Michigan State team that, honestly, did not lead for a single second of a game it eventually won.
Duke at Virginia Tech (ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.). Virginia Tech is out of sight, out of mind for Ohio State fans who never anticipated the Hokies helping Ohio State's strength of schedule. Michael Brewer returns this week for the first time since Adolphus Washington made him eat his words in the season-opener.
Tennessee at Alabama (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). Tennessee upset Georgia earlier this season to give Butch Jones some semblance of a meaningful victory. However, Georgia isn't what obsesses Tennessee fans. Florida and Alabama do. Tennessee hasn't beaten Florida since 2004 (and lost earlier this season) and has not defeated Alabama since Nick Saban arrived in 2007.
In fact, a 7-win Alabama team that lost to UL Monroe in Saban's first year beat the eventual SEC East champions, 41-17, that year. The 12-10 Alabama win in 2009, in what was Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin's only year in Knoxville, is an outlier in a pattern of brutal dominance. Other Alabama margins of victory beyond those two include 29-9 (2008), 41-10 (2010), 37-6 (2011), 44-13 (2012), 45-10 (2013), and 34-20 (2014).
Texas Tech at Oklahoma (ABC/ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.). Oklahoma has not lost consecutive regular season games since Bob Stoops' first season in Norman in 1999. It rebounded last week with a beatdown of Kansas State in the Little Apple.
Kliff Kingsbury could use a signature win on his résumé and Texas Tech wins over Oklahoma are hard to get. Bob Stoops is 11-5 against Texas Tech.
Kansas at Oklahoma State (FOX Sports 1, 3:30 p.m.). First-year Kansas head coach David Beaty is still looking for his first win in Lawrence. It likely will not come at no. 14 Oklahoma State.
In fact, it may not come at all this season. Kansas hosts Oklahoma in its next game and finishes at Texas, at Texas Christian, and against West Virginia and Kansas State. Kansas fans will already be in basketball mode by season's end, if they are not already.
Washington State at Arizona (Pac-12, 4 p.m.). Last week's win over Oregon State gave Washington State its first home league win in two years. A win at Arizona would be three league wins in a row. The last time that happened was in 2003.
Missouri at Vanderbilt (SEC Network, 4 p.m.). Both teams are a combined 1-6 in the SEC. Missouri has that one win (over, naturally, South Carolina). You can skip this game.
Connecticut at Cincinnati (CBS Sports, 4:30 p.m.). Cincinnati returns to Nippert after a second half rout in Provo. The Bearcats let a 17-3 first half lead in Provo become a 38-24 loss after BYU outscored Cincinnati 28-7 in the second half.
Florida State at Georgia Tech (ESPN2, 7 p.m.). This will be a rematch of last year's ACC Championship Game, though without any of the hype. The defending Orange Bowl champions have lost five straight games after starting the year 2-0.
Florida State is only a touchdown favorite, though.
Texas A&M at Ole Miss (ESPN, 7 p.m.). This is the only game of the week featuring two ranked teams, though I've already expressed my incredulity that Ole Miss is still ranked.
Western Kentucky at LSU (ESPNU, 7 p.m.). LSU steps out conference play to host the Hilltoppers on Saturday night. LSU is a 17-point favorite, but don't lose sight of WKU's quality. The Hilltoppers are 6-1 this season. The lone loss was a three-point defeat at Indiana.
Kentucky at Mississippi State (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.). These two teams play each other every year as one of those protected cross-divisional games in the SEC you forget about. Fans remember Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia, and Florida-LSU are protected, but forget about classic rivalries like Ole Miss-Vanderbilt and Kentucky-Mississippi State.
Utah at USC (FOX, 7:30 p.m.). Depending on which odds maker you poll, this might be a game where a coach meets his future team. Kyle Whittingham is a trendy pick to take the full-time coaching job at USC next year.
That's background chatter, but USC, notwithstanding its issues, is an explosive football team. The defense wilted last week, as did the offense when it was needed most, but USC did have a 31-24 fourth quarter lead over Notre Dame before the Irish scored the game's final 17 points.
This could be a trap game for Utah.
Ohio State at Rutgers (ABC, 8 p.m.). Speaking of trap games, this is your personal game of the week. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for comprehensive coverage of this game before the 8 p.m. telecast begins.
Wyoming at Boise State (ESPN2, 10:15 p.m.). This game is available, but Boise State's second loss of the year means you no longer have to care about the Broncos' fate this season. The Group of Five spot is going to a team in the American Athletic Conference this year.
Colorado at Oregon State (Pac-12, 10:30 p.m.). It's hard for the Pac-12 to bargain with providers, notably DirectTV, when its West Coast primetime game features the two last-place teams in the conference.
Washington at Stanford (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.). Washington missed an opportunity to build on the upset win against the Trojans in the Coliseum with its first win over Oregon since 2004. It travels to the Farm on Saturday night to play a Stanford team t
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