College football’s Week 8 was not as chaotic as last week’s wild slate of games, but there were plenty of surprises and upsets.
Friday night gave us our first major coach firing in the FBS, as NC State fired longtime head coach Dave Doeren on Saturday after the Wolfpack fell 31-28 on the road to Stanford. Here’s Bill Bender on the top candidates to replace him.
In the early slate on Saturday, Indiana got gritty to survive in overtime against Michigan on the road, and Miami steamrolled past Pitt 52-23 as Canes receiver Malachi Toney had himself a monster game. The Big 12 also had a poor day, as top-ranked teams in BYU and Texas Tech lost to UCF and Cincinnati, respectively. BYU’s overtime loss to the Knights was wild, as a questionable roughing the kicker penalty helped UCF pull the upset.
USC dropped its second loss of the season, falling 24-7 to an unranked Wisconsin on the road. Tennessee also went down on the road, losing 27-24 to South Carolina. Also in the SEC, Texas and Arch Manning barely held off a furious second-half rally from Trinidad Chambliss and Ole Miss, winning 34-27. Now, there are a whopping seven two-loss teams inside the SEC that can all make cases for the CFP as the season reaches its back stretch.
Now that Week 8 is in the books, let’s take a look at where things stand with the latest rankings.
MORE: Why is Pat McAfee beefing with the Utah fan base?
College football rankings for Week 8
Coaches Poll
| Rank | Team | Record | Points (No. 1 Votes) |
| 1. | Miami | 7-0 | 1,839 (67) |
| 2. | Ohio State | 6-1 | 1,767 (6) |
| 3. | Georgia | 6-1 | 1,646 |
| 4. | Indiana | 7-1 | 1,578 |
| 5. | Utah | 7-0 | 1,459 |
| 6. | Notre Dame | 6-1 | 1,452 |
| 7. | UCLA | 7-0 | 1,446 |
| 8. | Kentucky | 7-1 | 1,318 |
| 9. | BYU | 6-1 | 1,244 |
| 10. | Alabama | 6-2 | 1,092 |
| 11. | Texas | 5-2 | 1,002 |
| 12. | Ole Miss | 5-2 | 941 |
| 13. | LSU | 6-2 | 895 |
| 14. | Texas Tech | 6-1 | 864 |
| 15. | Wake Forest | 6-1 | 749 |
| 16. | SMU | 6-1 | 690 |
| 17. | Tennessee | 6-2 | 650 |
| 18. | Northwestern | 6-1 | 545 |
| 19. | Houston | 6-2 | 435 |
| 20. | Florida | 5-2 | 417 |
| 21. | Arizona | 6-1 | 399 |
| 22. | Boise State | 6-1 | 396 |
| 23. | Missouri | 5-2 | 376 |
| 24. | Iowa | 5-2 | 225 |
| 25. | USC | 6-2 | 132 |
Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State 120; Wisconsin 114; Cincinnati 49; New Mexico 43; Minnesota 35; UTSA 34; Nebraska 27; Virginia Tech 16; Oregon State 15; South Carolina 12; Duke 12; Oregon 5; Auburn 4; North Texas 2; Michigan 2; UCF 1; Oklahoma 1; James Madison 1
AP Poll
| Rank | Team | Record | Points (No. 1 Votes) |
Others receiving votes:
