College Football Picks Week 8: Predictions for Top 25 Games on Upcoming Schedule

A week after going on the road and humiliating a Top 10 foe, top-ranked Alabama will once again be atop college football's marquee Saturday.

The Crimson Tide host sixth-ranked Texas A&M in what is arguably the biggest SEC game of 2016. Kevin Sumlin's Aggies have had a week off to reflect on their double-overtime win against Tennessee, a victory that solidified their status among the nation's best.

One unfortunate thing: Alabama played Tennessee last week. It did not need two overtimes to reach the same result. The Crimson Tide got up early and never looked back in a 49-10 whitewashing of Tennessee in Knoxville. They accounted for 594 yards compared to the Vols' 163 and dominated in every facet.

Alabama rushed for 438 yards and averaged 8.9 yards a clip. It was such a muscle-flexing performance that noted curmudgeon Nick Saban didn't have much bad to say. He told the Times Free Press' David Paschall:

"

We said we wanted a complete game, and we certainly did that. We wanted to make sure that the other team did not gain any momentum in the game and that we wanted to play 60 minutes in the game, and we obviously did that. I think the defense played outstanding, and our ability to run the ball for more than 400 yards took a lot of time off the clock and kept them off the field.

I think our guys just did a really, really good job, and this is as proud of our team as I've been all year long.

"

Date	Away	Home	Pick
Thursday, Oct. 20	BYU	(14) Boise State	Boise State
Saturday, Oct. 22	NC State	(7) Louisville	Louisville
Saturday, Oct. 22	(10) Wisconsin	Iowa	Wisconsin
Saturday, Oct. 22	(22) North Carolina	Virginia	North Carolina
Saturday, Oct. 22	Eastern Michigan	(20) Western Michigan	Western Michigan
Saturday, Oct. 22	(6) Texas A&M	(1) Alabama	Alabama
Saturday, Oct. 22	Illinois	(3) Michigan	Michigan
Saturday, Oct. 22	Purdue	(8) Nebraska	Nebraska
Saturday, Oct. 22	Memphis	(24) Navy	Memphis
Saturday, Oct. 22	TCU	(12) West Virginia	West Virginia
Saturday, Oct. 22	(19) Utah	UCLA	Utah
Saturday, Oct. 22	(17) Arkansas	(21) Auburn	Auburn
Saturday, Oct. 22	Oregon State	(5) Washington	Washington
Saturday, Oct. 22	(11) Houston	SMU	Houston
Saturday, Oct. 22	(2) Ohio State	Penn State	Ohio State
Saturday, Oct. 22	(16) Oklahoma	Texas Tech	Oklahoma
Saturday, Oct. 22	(23) Ole Miss	(25) LSU	Ole Miss

Alabama-Texas A&M is one of just three matchups pitting Top 25 teams against one another. All of them feature SEC teams: No. 17 Arkansas visits No. 21 Auburn, and No. 23 Ole Miss and No. 25 LSU also go head-to-head.

Arkansas is coming off a 34-30 win over the Rebels, while Auburn has won three straight since its 1-2 start. The Tigers' only losses have come to Clemson and Texas A&M—both in competitive games. Arkansas was blown out of the water by both Alabama and A&M.

Ole Miss is the only three-loss team remaining in the rankings. The Rebels have hung around thanks to a trio of so-called "good" losses. Florida State, Alabama and Arkansas defeated Ole Miss by a combined 20 points. 

LSU has won its two games since firing head coach Les Miles by a combined score of 87-17. Granted, the opposition wasn't posing much of a threat, but Ed Orgeron seems to be doing his Coach O thing and taking another man's leftovers and making them a competent football team. Orgeron formerly coached Ole Miss from 2005-07. 

"Whatever happened there happened for a reason and I moved on," Orgeron told reporters (via Ron Higgins of the Times-Picayune). "I don't have many memories of that place that I want to remember, so I kind of just let it go, and I moved forward and I'm glad to be an LSU Tiger, I tell you that."

Second-ranked Ohio State plays perhaps the most intriguing game outside of the SEC when it travels to unranked Penn State. The Nittany Lions have won two straight since their 49-10 embarrassment against Michigan and looked strong in a 38-14 win over Maryland two weeks ago.

Ohio State looked far less than its usual self Saturday, needing overtime to take down Wisconsin. J.T. Barrett and the passing game struggled once again, though the Buckeyes quarterback did account for three touchdowns and more than 300 total yards.

"J.T. Barrett I thought was outstand—was not outstanding, but he's one of the toughest cats I've ever been around," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer told reporters (via Cleveland.com's Bill Landis). "I know who I want behind center in those kind of environments. It's J.T. Barrett."

Penn State will be looking to atone for a 38-10 loss handed to them by Ohio State last season. The Lions took the Buckeyes to two overtimes the last time they visited in 2014. However, they have not defeated Ohio State since 2011—the year the Jerry Sandusky scandal rocked the program to its core.

With a nationally televised game ahead, Penn State might just break the five-year drought and give Saturday its biggest upset.

If not, at least we still have the SEC to look forward to.