College Football Picks Week 8: Latest Top 25 Odds and Final-Score Predictions
The changes keep sweeping through college football's top-25 rankings as a fresh crop of teams get ready to continue their rise toward the top of the polls.
Of the seven teams ranked last week that lost, only three of them fell out of the rankings as we take a look at the updated polls headed into Week 8.
| Rank | Team | Record | Week 7 Rank |
| 1 | Ohio State | 7-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Baylor | 6-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Utah | 6-0 | 4 |
| 4 | TCU | 7-0 | 3 |
| 5 | LSU | 6-0 | 6 |
| 6 | Clemson | 6-0 | 5 |
| 7 | Michigan State | 7-0 | 7 |
| 8 | Alabama | 6-1 | 10 |
| 9 | Florida State | 6-0 | 11 |
| 10 | Stanford | 5-1 | 15 |
| 11 | Notre Dame | 6-1 | 14 |
| 12 | Iowa | 7-0 | 17 |
| 13 | Florida | 6-1 | 8 |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | 6-0 | 16 |
| 15 | Michigan | 5-2 | 12 |
| 15 | Texas A&M | 5-1 | 9 |
| 17 | Oklahoma | 5-1 | 19 |
| 18 | Memphis | 6-0 | Unranked |
| 19 | Toledo | 6-0 | 22 |
| 20 | California | 5-1 | 23 |
| 21 | Houston | 6-0 | 24 |
| 22 | Temple | 6-0 | Unranked |
| 23 | Duke | 5-1 | 25 |
| 24 | Ole Miss | 5-2 | 13 |
| 25 | Pittsburgh | 5-1 | Unranked |
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
I'm not sure how many of you had the likes of Temple, Toledo and Memphis in the top-25 entering Week 8, but sure enough, a trio of less prestigious football schools are making their way up the ranks of college football.
They look to be in pretty good shape this week, too, as they take on teams with a combined 8-11 record.
Among the top of the rankings, a pair of top-5 teams went down despite winning. TCU went from No. 3 to No. 4 after defeating Iowa State by 24, and Clemson dropped from No. 5 to No. 6 after beating Boston College by 17.
They have a chance to regain those lost spots this week, as you can see below the upcoming schedule, latest odds and my predictions for the upcoming games. All odds are courtesy of OddsShark.com.
| Friday, Oct. 23 | |||
| No. 18 Memphis at Tulsa | 8 p.m. | Memphis -11.5 | Memphis 38-17 |
| Saturday, Oct. 24 | |||
| No. 21 Houston at Central Florida | 12 p.m. | Houston -18.5 | Houston 42-21 |
| No. 25 Pittsburgh at Syracuse | 12 p.m. | Pitt -6.5 | Pitt 23-17 |
| Iowa State at No. 2 Baylor | 12 p.m. | Baylor -37 | Baylor 55-17 |
| No. 6 Clemson at Miami (FL) | 12 p.m. | Clemson -3.5 | Clemson 31-20 |
| No. 19 Toledo at UMass | 3 p.m. | Toledo -9.5 | Toledo 21-7 |
| Indiana at No. 7 Michigan State | 3:30 p.m. | MSU -17 | Michigan State 41-14 |
| No. 23 Duke at Virginia Tech | 3:30 p.m. | VT -6 | Duke 23-17 |
| Tennessee at No. 8 Alabama | 3:30 p.m. | Alabama -14.5 | Alabama 33-10 |
| Texas Tech at No. 17 Oklahoma | 3:30 p.m. | OU -14.5 | Oklahoma 38-31 |
| Kansas at No. 14 Oklahoma State | 3:30 p.m. | OK St. -35 | Oklahoma St. 52-6 |
| No. 9 Florida State at Georgia Tech | 7 p.m. | FSU -6.5 | Georgia Tech 28-27 |
| No. 15 Texas A&M at No. 24 Ole Miss | 7 p.m. | Ole Miss -6 | A&M 45-42 |
| Western Kentucky at No. 5 LSU | 7 p.m. | LSU -17 | LSU 41-10 |
| No. 3 Utah at USC | 7:30 p.m. | USC -3 | Utah 38-35 |
| No. 1 Ohio State at Rutgers | 8 p.m. | OSU -20.5 | Ohio State 38-14 |
| Washington at No. 10 Stanford | 10:30 p.m. | N/A | Stanford 28-7 |
Game of the Week
No. 9 Florida State at Georgia Tech
I know what you're thinking. It doesn't look like an attractive matchup on paper. An undefeated Florida State, ranked ninth in the nation, is meeting a Georgia Tech team that has struggled mightily to a 2-5 record.
After winning their first two games against Alcorn State and Tulane, Georgia Tech has lost five-straight games, four of them to teams currently ranked in the top-25.
They are reliant on their rushing attack, which averages a little over 285 yards per game. They have three rushers that have over 300 yards on the ground, led by Marcus Marshall, who is averaging over 10 yards per carry this season.
His presence in the backfield is a welcome sight for Yellow Jackets quarterback Justin Thomas, as he spoke with Ken Sugiura of AJC.com.
"It’s fun," said Thomas. "Just a guy who you can hand the ball off to and he can break (big plays). It makes your job easier."
Their flexbone offense features three running backs on the field at the same time, and Georgia Tech runs the ball over 50 times per game.
Florida State's run defense, which gives up around 110 yards per game, needs to hold Georgia Tech's rushing attack to around that mark if it wants to win comfortably.
They know they'll be busy, too, as Seminoles cornerback Marquez White told Brendan Sonnone of the Orlando Sentinel:
"They’re really good at what they do. [They've] got really elusive players. They do a lot of things that you’re not normally used to seeing, but it’s football. [You’ve] gotta be able to adapt and like I said, I’m looking forward to the challenge. Just coming up, just playing physical.
"
Florida State is going to want to avoid a shootout here. Georgia Tech hasn't scored under 30 points all season, including two games over 60. The Seminoles, on the other hand, have been held under 30 in three of the past four weeks.
If they let Georgia Tech run rampant on Saturday, this is going to be a very close game. It could even be the biggest upset of the week.
Stats courtesy of ESPN.com
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
