This Weekend in College Football: Week 8

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Clemson @ Miami (ABC): Miami probably isn't as bad as most people think. Will that be good enough to pull the (according to Vegas, minor) upset over the Tigers? I also suspect that with a noon kick in Miami it'll probably be mostly Clemson fans, as well. I additionally suspect that Clemson will continue hurtling toward their clash against Florida State in two weeks.
• Iowa State @ Baylor (ESPN): Well, TCU did struggle in the first half before... okay yeah, I can't do it.
• Northwestern @ Nebraska (ESPN2): So it turns out that Northwestern's offense is still kind of terrible, but I confess to not know what happened to the defense. Sure, giving up 38 to Michigan kinda-sorta makes sense, but 40 to Iowa? Where did that come from? I don't feel comfortable about it, but I'm going with Nebraska here.
• Kansas State @ Texas (FS1): Bill Synder has, thus far, been unable to pull off another trick, but as the Big 12's resident wizard, there could still be some magic left. Also, it fits in with the way things have been going for Texas this year.
• Pittsburgh @ Syracuse (ESPNU): Syracuse is terrible, Pitt should roll.
• Houston @ Central Florida (ESPNEWS): And speaking of rolling... goodness me this could get bad. Real bad.
• Auburn @ Arkansas (SEC): Auburn could well lose this game, but I find it difficult to pick Arkansas nonetheless.
• North Carolina State @ Wake Forest (ACC/RSN): NC State is probably less awful than Wake? It's close, though.

12:30: Boston College @ Louisville (ACC):
Dear Boston College Eagles,
    You lost a game to Wake Forest 3-0. I cannot, in good conscience, pick you in any of your remaining contests.

Sincerely,
ASimPerson

1:00: Tulane @ Navy (CBSS): While Tulane does have the advantage of having already played a team with a substantially similar offense so far this season, the 55 point margin does not bode well for their chances.

3:30:

• Tennessee @ Alabama (CBS): There's not a lot of suggest that the Vols, revamped as they may be, are ready for this.
• Indiana @ Michigan State (ABC/ESPN2): A week after the best/worst play in the history of college football, Sparty gets to play a team that just gave up 55 points to Rutgers. Yeah, I don't think they're going to need any botched punts in this one.
• Texas Tech @ Oklahoma (ABC/ESPN2): The Sooners vented their frustrations onto K-State last week, pitching a 55-0 shutout. (This is the third time in this post 55 has shown up, what gives? Too bad this isn't a sport where I could drop 88 a lot.) That said, the Red Raiders can score some points of their own, and there's little to suggest so far that Oklahoma are as good as TCU or Baylor. I think it'll be close, but the Sooners will escape.
• Pennsylvania State vs. Maryland (@Baltimore, MD; ESPN): I don't get the idea that Randy Edsall had beat Ohio State it would've saved his job. I mean, really? It's not like beating Ohio State after losing 45-6 to WVU and 28-0 to Michigan magically shows that everything is A-OK and that the program isn't a dumpster fire anymore. The situation in College Park seems to bad from the outside that I most agree with EDSBS's assessment that Maryland was doing Edsall a favor by firing him.
• Kansas @ Oklahoma State (FS1): Yeah, this week is a bit short on interesting matchups, why do you ask? Cowboys roll.
• Duke @ Virginia Tech (ESPNU): It still feels weird to type this, but: Duke should win this one.
• Wisconsin @ Illinois (BTN): While there's still plenty of time for the Illini to finish 4-8, they still have to be the most surprising team this year, right? I don't think they'll beat the Badgers, but still.
• Virginia @ North Carolina (ACC/RSN): I guess the nicest thing you can say about our performance against the Tar Heels is that we're one of only two teams that scored more than 14 against them so far this season? Seriously, in their four wins they've held all their opponents to exactly 14 points. Bizarre. That said, it's likely that UVA will score somewhere around that amount, while Carolina score more than enough.

4:00:

• Southern Methodist @ South Florida (ESPNEWS): It sounds odd to say this about a 3-3 team, but USF is clearly better than SMU.
• Missouri @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Two terrible offenses and at least one strong defense. I'm predicting Mizzou 12, Vandy 6.
• Washington State @ Arizona (Pac12): Don't look, but Wazzou is on a nice little run right now. Is it enough to beat Arizona? Probably not.

4:30: Connecticut @ Cincinnati (CBSS): Cincy isn't great or anything, but UConn is terrible.

7:00:

• Texas A&M @ Mississippi (ESPN): I'm still not buying what TAMU is selling. Going with Ole Miss here.
• Florida State @ Georgia Tech (ESPN2): I may have audibly exhaled before starting on this bit. What else is there to say about this season? Last week, I already talked about the injury and experience situation. I'm not sure what else to say at this point.
• Western Kentucky @ Louisiana State (ESPNU): This is how dire Week 8 is: these teams have the best combined record of any matchup this week. LSU is still going to win, but I'm hoping WKU makes then earn it.

7:30:

• Utah @ Southern California (FOX): Meanwhile, I am buying what the Utes are selling. I currently don't have them losing again.
• Kentucky @ Mississippi State (SEC): Both these teams only have two losses, but that's about where the similarities end. The Bulldogs should roll.

8:00: Ohio State @ Rutgers (ABC): Speaking of rolling, with a settled starter at QB, will the Buckeye offense get back on track? Considering they just gave up 52 to Indiana, against Rutgers it was probably a good bet either way.

10:15: Wyoming @ Boise State (ESPN2): Boise got beat bad by Utah State last week, which is to say, I would not want to Wyoming right now.

10:30:

• Washington @ Stanford (ESPN): Losing by 6 to this year's edition to Oregon is not quite as meaningful as it was in the recent past. Meanwhile, Stanford figures to continue their quest to be the college football equivalent of a steamroller.
• Colorado @ Oregon State (Pac12): I'd say the odds are looking pretty good for the Beavers to pick up their first Pac-12 win of the season.