College Football Picks Week 8: Predictions and Odds for Top 25 Schedule

The 2014 college football season has undergone twists and turns galore, and there is no sign of things returning to normalcy as we gear up for Week 8.

The early-season expectations that Alabama and Auburn would remain the SEC heavyweights are a distant memory. Mississippi State took sole position of the No. 1 overall ranking with a convincing victory over the SEC champion Tigers, while Ole Miss posted its second straight big win in a road thumping of Texas A&M to move to No. 3.

The emergence of Mississippi teams has stalemated Florida State's status as the top team in the land, but that could change in Week 8, as the Seminoles will face their biggest test of the season in Notre Dame.

Without further ado, here's an early look at the Week 8 schedule, odds and predictions for the Top 25.

Matchup	Spread	Prediction
No. 20 Utah at Oregon State	Utah -1.5	OSU 31-24
No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 2 Florida State	FSU -11.5	FSU 35-24
Tennessee at No. 3 Ole Miss	OM -17	OM 30-17
No. 4 Baylor at West Virginia	BU -9.5	BU 48-40
No. 21 Texas A&M at No. 7 Alabama	UA -12.5	UA 38-20
No. 8 Michigan State at Indiana	MSU -14.5	MSU 31-10
Washington at No. 9 Oregon	UO -21	UO 40-17
No. 10 Georgia at Arkansas	UGA -3.5	UGA 20-17
No. 14 Kansas State at No. 11 Oklahoma	OU -9.5	OU 38-24
No. 15 Oklahoma State at No. 12 TCU	TCU -9	TCU 49-42
Rutgers at No. 13 Ohio State	OSU -18.5	OSU 44-27
No. 23 Stanford at No. 17 Arizona State	STAN -3.5	ASU 27-24
No. 19 Nebraska at Northwestern	NEB -7	NEB 31-17
Colorado at No. 22 USC	USC -19.5	USC 41-17
No. 24 Clemson at Boston College	CLE -7.5	CLE 28-20
No. 25 Marshall at FIU	MAR -21.5	MAR 48-7

Note: All odds courtesy of Odds Shark, last updated Oct. 13 at midnight ET.

No. 21 Texas A&M at No. 9 Alabama

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After the past two weeks Alabama has endured, it's safe to say a home game against the struggling Texas A&M Aggies couldn't have come at a better time.

Nick Saban's squad was knocked from its perch with a road loss to Ole Miss and nearly suffered a crushing blow to Arkansas in Week 7 before pulling out a 14-13 win on the road. Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen had chance after chance to lead his team to a win, but he couldn't get past the Crimson Tide defense.

Texas A&M is becoming desperate to get back into the win column after defeats the last two weekends—first to Mississippi State and then to Ole Miss, both in distasteful fashion.

The Crimson Tide have struggled mightily in recent weeks, but that didn't stop them from entering this one as big favorites, as Bleacher Report's Marc Torrence noted:

Texas A&M has prided itself defensively on getting to the passer and offensively on avoiding turnovers, but neither has been there as of late. The Aggies have turned the ball over three times in each of their last two games.

Meanwhile, it's been a struggle stopping opposing mobile quarterbacks, and that should only continue Saturday. Bo Wallace and Dak Prescott had their way both rushing and passing against the Aggies, making Saturday an easy bet for a bounce-back performance from Alabama quarterback Blake Sims.

Alabama's offense will find its groove, and an improving defense will keep forcing those Kenny Hill turnovers that are starting to become more common than Aggies fans would like.

Prediction: Alabama 38, Texas A&M 20

No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 2 Florida State

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Last year means little to Florida State right now. The Seminoles have finally been leapfrogged in the standings despite avoiding their first loss of the season, and Saturday, they'll emerge against Notre Dame with a huge chip on their shoulder.

After taking care of business against Syracuse last weekend, Jameis Winston's crew will head into its biggest game of the season looking to continue throwing the ball with ease. He tossed three touchdown passes on 317 yards and was sacked only once against the Orange.

The 'Noles figured to face their toughest defensive test of the season, and that may still be true, but many began to wonder after the Irish gave up 43 points to North Carolina last weekend. The Tar Heels threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

As long as Winston suits up, the secondary woes for the Irish should continue. ESPN.com's Josh Moyer reported Sunday that Winston expects to play Saturday despite an upcoming disciplinary hearing.

It will take the game of Everett Golson's life just to keep pace with Florida State, and even that might not be enough to bring the Seminoles their first loss of the season. 

Prediction: Florida State 35, Notre Dame 24

No. 10 Georgia at Arkansas

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The SEC East picture started to get a little clearer with Georgia's dominating Week 7 win over Missouri, but the Bulldogs' conference tests will continue Saturday with a tough road game against Arkansas.

Without Todd Gurley, Georgia didn't skip a beat offensively, and his absence allowed for Nick Chubb to emerge with 143 yards and a touchdown in the Bulldogs' 34-0 shutout of the Tigers. Meanwhile, the Razorbacks suffered heartbreak by coming so close to a program-changing upset of Alabama.

Bret Bielema will pull out all the stops to try to get the Razorbacks in the SEC win column, and he should have success establishing the run game against a Georgia team that gave up at least 100 rushing yards to its first three SEC opponents before limiting Missouri to 50. 

However, with or without Gurley, Georgia has proved able to move the ball with ferocity on offense and put Hutson Mason in position to make positive plays without threading the needle.

A confident Razorbacks defense that just allowed 13 points to Alabama will keep it close, and a stout rushing attack led by Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams should make things interesting. But not enough to get that elusive first SEC win.

Prediction: Georgia 20, Arkansas 17