Week 8 kept the college football chaos flowing, and the biggest victims were the teams sitting closest to the top. No.
2 BYU, No. 8 Texas Tech and No.
15 Iowa all went down in upset losses, while No. 6 Indiana and No.
13 Alabama barely escaped with their lives. By the time the night games arrived, only No.
1 Miami, No. 9 UCLA and No.
10 Utah were still unbeaten.
That kind of carnage has made for a strange season. The last time three or fewer undefeated major college football teams were still standing through Oct. 24 was 1977, when Texas, Louisiana Tech and Colgate (!)
were all perfect. It’s also the first time since 2007 that an AP Top-2 team has lost to an unranked opponent in three straight weeks.
The wreckage hit the Big 12 hardest.
The league had spent the week with a golden opportunity in front of it, one that could have put it in real position for three College Football Playoff bids if the top teams simply held serve. Instead, the window cracked wide open.
BYU, still riding the high of last week’s upset of Notre Dame, was dragged into double overtime and fell 39-31 to UCF. Texas Tech joined the list of fallen powers after Cincinnati knocked off the Red Raiders 37-24.
When the new rankings arrive Sunday, the conference is likely to be looking at only two teams in the top 12 and none in the AP top five. One week was enough to squander the edge.
Miami, meanwhile, is doing exactly what the sport’s other heavyweights keep failing to do: handle business.
The Hurricanes flattened Pittsburgh 52-23 to improve to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in ACC play, continuing a stretch where they have simply overwhelmed lesser opponents. Darian Mensah threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns, but Malachi Toney stole the show with 194 yards and three scores on 16 catches. Miami earned its first AP No. 1 ranking since 2002 this week, and the results are backing it up.
South Carolina also came away looking far better than it did a few weeks ago.
Shane Beamer’s team opened the year in ugly fashion, but the Gamecocks have now strung together a second straight ranked win. This one was dramatic: a 27-24 upset of No.
11 Tennessee at the buzzer. LaNorris Sellers gave South Carolina the balance it needed, passing for 210 yards, rushing for 96 more and accounting for three total touchdowns.
The defense made its biggest plays late, including a sack from Dylan Stewart. South Carolina now has just one AP Top 25 opponent left on the schedule: No.
5 Georgia on Nov. 21.
The question now is whether eight wins is in reach.
Minnesota added its own statement win in the afternoon slate.
The Gophers beat No. 15 Iowa 13-10 on a game-winning field goal, and the result gave them wins over Iowa and Michigan in the same season for the first time since 2014.
The schedule tightens quickly from here with No. 6 Indiana and No.
9 UCLA ahead, but PJ Fleck has Minnesota in a strong position.
Not every loss was just a bad night. For Baylor, it looked a lot more like the end.
Dave Aranda’s team had already raised eyebrows with last week’s loss to TCU, but Saturday’s 25-24 defeat against Kansas felt much more final. Baylor had owned the Jayhawks in a 14-game winning streak dating back to the 2007 season, a run that survived even through miserable 2-7 and 1-11 campaigns.
That streak ended in brutal fashion. The Bears led 21-10 going into the fourth quarter before the offense fell apart, and Kansas sealed it by blocking a potential 45-yard game-winning field goal.
Baylor gave up more than 200 yards through the air and on the ground. The program has not fired a coach for on-field reasons since 2007, but the source of the damage is no longer in doubt.
James Madison also suffered a crushing setback in the Group of Six race.
The Dukes entered the day in great shape for a run at the Group of Six’s College Football Playoff spot, but rival Appalachian State ripped that away, winning 34-31 in overtime. The loss dropped James Madison to 7-1 and complicated its path to the Sun Belt title game.
The offense never found much traction on the ground, managing just 92 rushing yards on 30 carries. Even if the Dukes get control of the Sun Belt race again, their schedule leaves far less margin for error than some of the other contenders.
And with the primetime games still ahead, the week wasn’t close to finished. No.
19 Texas was set for a critical prove-it game against No. 7 Ole Miss, No.
10 Utah and No. 14 Houston were lined up for a late-night battle for control of the Big 12 race, and No.
16 USC still had to deal with a surging Wisconsin team.
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