College Football Rankings 2015: Week 8 Conference Standings and Top 25 Polls
With another week in the books that proved once again how unpredictable the college football season truly is, voters still tried to take their best stab at the impossible task of ranking the Top 25 entering Week 8 action.
Put Michigan's last-second gaffe that cost the Wolverines a huge win over Michigan State aside, and the weekend that was produced telling results for teams in the College Football Playoff conversation. LSU distanced itself as the lone remaining SEC unbeaten by dispatching Florida, while Alabama showed its championship grit by stomping Texas A&M.
It's anyone's guess as to who the nation's best team is at this point, and the votes reflect that—a whopping six teams in the Associated Press poll received a first-place vote. More answers are on the way this weekend, so let's take a look at the polls before targeting a marquee game of the weekend.
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Week 8 Top 25 Game to Watch
No. 3 Utah at USC
It's role reversal in the most obvious of ways in Saturday's top game. Utah will head to Los Angeles to face the USC Trojans in a battle that is sure to shape the CFP conversation in the Pac-12, but not in the way many thought some two months ago.
No, it's safe to say nobody could have envisioned this program sitting at 3-3 without a head coach. Even the most pessimistic Trojan supporter couldn't see this coming, a team with true championship aspirations falling apart so quickly.
USC hung in there against Notre Dame last weekend, but the slate doesn't get any easier, as Ryan Abraham of USCFootball.com noted:
Turmoil at USC is nothing new, but the real shock comes with the team they welcome to Southern California. The Utah Utes have transformed from a team on the outside of the Top 25 outlook into the Pac-12's lone unbeaten and one of the nation's marquee teams.
Stiff tests have continued to come the Utes' way as they are asked to prove their championship qualifications, and they've passed them all. Amid tough slugfests against California and Arizona State, Utah came out on top.
A big reason why is the impact rushing of Devontae Booker, who is averaging 130 yards per game and also leads the Utes in receptions. Even with a trip to USC proving to be a tough one, Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports wondered if Booker would dominate:
An ability to establish the run should be paramount in this showdown. USC's run defense hasn't been terrible, ranking seventh in the Pac-12 while allowing 170.7 yards per game, but the Trojans let up around the 200-yard mark against both Stanford and Notre Dame this year.
USC's offense runs through quarterback Cody Kessler much more than its run game, but his aerial attack shouldn't scare off Utah's defense too much. The secondary is fresh off facing some of the most potent passing attacks in the Pac-12.
With that being said, Utah is in the midst of a Pac-12 murderer's row, and for the first time teams are coming at them like they're a national powerhouse. Don't think the Trojans haven't heard about Utah's ascent, and that should have them fired up to have a shot at dethroning the Utes.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
