BCS Rankings 2011: Bold Predictions for Week 8

There is never a dull week in the college football season, and Week 8 is no exception.

With the BCS rankings now out, games become even more important, as teams jockey for position to get into a BCS Bowl and national championship.

There are three games between ranked opponents, and conference titles are up in the air all across the country.

Some of the nation’s best will face tough tests, while others get to ride on easy street. Here are eight bold predictions for Week 8.

All Games Between Ranked Teams Will Be Closer Than Expected

The three games between ranked opponents have a combined spread of -51, including Stanford getting favored by 20.5 over Washington and LSU by a whopping 22.5 over Auburn.

There is no way any of these games are as big of blowouts as Vegas is predicting.

Stanford has yet to play anyone and Washington has been playing really well, while Auburn’s defense has really stepped up from the beginning of the season and Wisconsin has never played a defense even close Michigan State’s and this will be their first real road test.

Miami Will Beat Georgia Tech

Miami only lost to Paul Johnson’s triple option in the first year he became head coach. Since then, they have beaten the Yellow Jackets by a combined 41 points while putting up 68 points.

Maybe their new defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio will have more trouble with it, but you would have to assume that the players remember how to play against that offense.

And considering how well the Hurricanes have looked the last two weeks, they should get a big win at home.

Northwestern Will Beat Penn State

Dan Persa is back at quarterback and that is all Northwestern really needs to do in order to beat Penn State at home.

The Nittany Lions looked absolutely dreadful against Purdue last week and only beat Temple by four and Indiana by six. They will also be without leading receiver Derek Moye.

The Wildcats are always good for an upset and this is it.

Boise State Struggles with the Triple Option

The Broncos have not faced the triple option offense in at least a decade and that is never good. It needs an entirely different approach to defend than almost any other offensive scheme.

The team that most closely resembles it is Nevada and Boise has given up an astonishingly bad 168 points in the past four meetings.

They should be able to outscore Air Force, but not by the 31 points Vegas is giving them. Also, the 65 total points scored is way too low.

West Virginia Will Be the Only Undefeated Big East Team

As it currently stands, West Virginia, Rutgers and Cincinnati are all undefeated in the Big East. That won’t last past this weekend.

Rutgers plays fantastic, ball-hawking defense but they are really, really bad away from home. South Florida is the same way, losing to Pittsburgh and Connecticut in consecutive road games and escaping Notre Dame to start to the season.

The Mountaineers lost to the Orange last year, but Dana Holgorsen’s offense will blow by them this year.

Oklahoma State vs. Missouri Will Come Down to the Wire

Missouri’s three losses have all come on the road and by a combined 24 points. Oklahoma State has given up 88 points in three road games this season and has never been this highly ranked.

The Tigers pulled the upset last season against then No. 1 Oklahoma at home.

The biggest question is whether or not they have an answer for Justin Blackmon who they’ve never faced before. If they can hold him to under 100 yards, they could pull the upset but a close loss is more likely.