College football did what college football always does in Week 8: it blew up the script.
The biggest jolt came in the Big 12, where No. 2 BYU went on the road and lost to UCF in double overtime just one week after beating Notre Dame.
That wasn’t even the only shock of the weekend. It was just the latest reminder that this season has been living on a knife’s edge, with upset after upset reshaping the national picture.
A week after five of the top seven teams in the AP poll were beaten, and a week after then-No. 1 Texas lost to an unranked opponent, the chaos kept rolling.
Saturday’s results made the turbulence even more striking. It guaranteed that there will be three or fewer unbeaten Football Bowl Subdivision teams through the end of October for the sixth time in the past 50 seasons. It also marked the first time in AP Top 25 history that three top-15 Big 12 teams lost on the same day.
And yes, that brings us back to the conference everyone loves to call a grind.
The Big 12 took another hit, and the results only deepened that reputation. If upsets happen there, people call it a weekly bruiser.
If they happen elsewhere, the labels tend to change. Funny how that works.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, keeps rewriting its own script. Luke Fickell entered the season with his seat hot, but the Badgers are suddenly making the kind of run that changes the conversation fast.
After the win over USC - and the field storm that came with it - the ceiling looks a lot higher than it did a month ago. A road trip to Iowa City still stands as the biggest hurdle left, but Wisconsin should be favored the rest of the way in the regular season.
Ten wins? Nine at worst?
That’s now on the table.
Fickell’s tenure had been defined by frustration entering this year. Through three full seasons, he was 17-21 overall and 10-17 in Big Ten play, with only one win over a ranked opponent, and Washington was No. 23 in the AP poll at the time.
But Wisconsin is 5-2 now, with both losses coming against teams currently ranked in the top 10. The defense has turned into one of the country’s nastiest units, and it held USC to -17 rushing yards Saturday night.
The offense brings a punishing run game, and the whole team is playing in sync.
In other words, this looks like the version of Wisconsin Fickell has been trying to build all along. The quarterback situation has stayed stable.
The defense is deeper than it has been at any point in his time there. And after all the speculation, the decision to stick with him for a fourth season is looking like a smart one.
For USC, the loss in Madison was a hard reset. The Trojans were supposed to be tougher.
They were supposed to be more physical. They were supposed to show they could handle road games in the Big Ten.
None of that showed up at Camp Randall.
The offense, which is supposed to be Lincoln Riley’s strong suit, managed only seven points - the fewest any of his teams have scored with him as head coach. USC finished with negative rushing yardage and lost to a quarterback who threw for just 58 yards. That’s a rough night by any measure.
And the schedule does not get easier. Ohio State is headed to the Coliseum next.
Texas Tech also walked away from the weekend with some uncomfortable questions. The Red Raiders may still reach Dallas for the Big 12 title game, since they avoid both BYU and Utah in the regular season, but the team does not look like the force many expected. Cincinnati handed Texas Tech a 37-point loss, the most points the Red Raiders have surrendered in a game since 2024.
The offense has been stuck in the bottom half of the Big 12 in most major categories, and the reason Texas Tech pushed so hard to try to get former Bearcat Brendan Sorsby eligible makes more sense now. Will Hammond’s arm limits what the attack can do.
But the defense is not carrying its end of the bargain either, especially compared to last season. The departures of Jacob Rodriguez and David Bailey loom large.
Some of the cracks had been hidden by pick-sixes, and Texas Tech leads FBS with five of them this season. Those scores helped make a few wins look more comfortable than they really were. Right now, though, the Red Raiders do not look like the best team in a loaded Big 12.
There were offensive signs worth noting elsewhere, too. Sam Leavitt appears to be settling in as a passer.
And at LSU, the offense is starting to resemble the version people expected to see with Lane Kiffin in charge. Over the past two games, Leavitt has completed 76 percent of his passes for 676 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions.
Then there’s Kentucky, sitting alone atop the SEC standings at 5-1 in league play. Yes, really. Will Stein is on the shortlist for all the National Coach of the Year awards for a reason.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Has A Stake In The Big 12's Next Decision
After Cincinnatis upset win over Texas Tech, the postgame scene at Nippert Stadium quickly became part of the story as fans poured onto the field. Now the Big 12 is reviewing whether the Bearcats should be hit with a $50,000 fine under its field-storming policy, a familiar conference issue whenever a home crowd rushes the turf after a big win.
For Texas Tech, the result on the scoreboard is already in the books, but the leagues next decision still matters because it will examine whether security created a safe path for the visiting team and officials through the chaos. The Big 12 usually moves quickly on these situations, so a ruling should come within days, and Tech has a clear interest in how the conference judges what happened after the final whistle. [Read more 🡒]
Cody Campbells Texas Tech Blast Says Everything About New Expectations
Texas Techs first loss of the season brought a jolt that went beyond the scoreboard, with the Red Raiders falling 37-24 to Cincinnati after opening 6-0 and climbing to No. 8 in the rankings. The defeat was the kind that tends to reset the tone around a program in a hurry, especially for a team that has spent the fall building belief and drawing attention with its early surge.
Cody Campbells reaction on social media underscored just how much those expectations have changed. The former Red Raiders player and major donor made clear he saw no excuse for the outcome and wanted better from a team that has benefited from significant investment, a reminder that Texas Tech is no longer being viewed through the old lens of simply being happy to contend. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Techs QB Problem Just Changed The Big 12 Picture
The loss to Cincinnati did more than ding Texas Tech in the standings, it exposed just how fragile the Red Raiders offense can look when the quarterback situation is unsettled. Will Hammond threw for 227 yards, but the night also included an interception and a fumble, and too many drives stalled once Texas Tech got near the red zone. Against a Cincinnati team adjusting to its own quarterback situation, the Red Raiders still could not take advantage of the moment.
Defensively, Texas Tech had its own trouble getting the game under control, giving up 257 rushing yards and watching Cole Tabb pile up 173 of them. The larger Big 12 ripple comes from how quickly a single absence can reshape a matchup, with Brendan Sorsby sidelined by eligibility issues tied to gambling allegations and the door opening for a different kind of game than many expected. For Texas Tech, the result was a reminder that the path in this league can change fast, and not always in the way a playoff hopeful wants. [Read more 🡒]