College Football Playoff Bracket Week 8 Live Projections: Miami Drops After Upset

Week 8 got off to a strong start Friday and has major College Football Playoff implications all this weekend. Throughout Saturday’s slate, Sports Illustrated will give an updated look at the playoff seeding and matchups. Here’s everything you need to know about the current CFP race:

Update at 11:30 p.m. ET Friday:

A sign of things to come this weekend? There were a slew of college football games kicking off on Friday night and several sure had a significant impact on the CFP race with Louisville pulling the upset at Miami and Nebraska looking lifeless on the road at Minnesota (denying several Big Ten teams another Top 25 win). The loss to the Cardinals doesn’t wreck the Hurricanes’ chances at making the CFP by any stretch, but it sure knocks them out of a potential bye—which would be a home game at the Orange Bowl—and would set up a likely quarterfinal against an SEC team instead of a more favorable draw.

Meanwhile, the Big Ten will likely need a few more upsets in order to get another team (Illinois, Michigan or Washington being most likely) back into the Top 25 for the purposes of having another quality win on the schedule for the league. Three teams remain inside the top 10, but right now it’s looking like an uphill climb to secure four bids, which opens the door for the SEC to snag as many as five spots in the playoff.

Live Week 8 College Football Playoff Bracket

Ohio State
Indiana
Texas A&M
Alabama
Miami
Texas Tech
Georgia
Oregon
Mississippi
Oklahoma
Georgia Tech
South Florida

First Round

No. 12 South Florida at No. 5 Miami
No. 11 Georgia Tech at No. 6 Texas Tech
No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 7 Georgia
No. 9 Mississippi at No. 8 Oregon

Quarterfinals

Orange Bowl: No. 4 Alabama vs. winner of No. 12 South Florida at No. 5 Miami
Sugar Bowl: No. 3 Texas A&M vs. winner of No. 11 Georgia Tech at No. 6 Texas Tech
Cotton Bowl: No. 2 Indiana vs. winner of No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 7 Georgia
Rose Bowl: No. 1 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 9 Mississippi at No. 8 Oregon

No. 12 South Florida at No. 5 Miami

These two teams played earlier in the season, but the stakes would be much higher for a second meeting with all the CFP branding at Hard Rock Stadium. The Hurricanes still have a strong résumé and very favorable schedule to win out the rest of the way, but they better hope that the ACC tiebreakers don’t cost them a trip to Charlotte for the conference title game.

No. 11 Georgia Tech at No. 6 Texas Tech

Both the Yellow Jackets and Red Raiders have tricky road games this weekend that could be one of their last chances to get a quality win. If they wind up meeting in Lubbock, the tortillas would certainly go flying in a meeting of two really good teams in the trenches.

No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 7 Georgia

The selection committee will probably give the Sooners a pass for the loss to Texas given John Mateer’s injury, but they need to bounce back against South Carolina and look like the team they were earlier this season. There’s still a bit of a mystery over how good the Bulldogs are, but they’ll have a great chance to boost the résumé with Mississippi coming between the hedges on Saturday.

No. 9 Mississippi at No. 8 Oregon

Was the game against Washington State just a sign of the Rebels trying to keep things close to the vest with that game at Georgia in their sights or a sign of troubles ahead? Lane Kiffin’s team can still make the CFP with a loss, but it’s certainly best to avoid it given the growing middle pack in the SEC without much separation between contenders.

Orange Bowl: No. 4 Alabama

The loss to Florida State looks more suspect by the week, but that’s being more than outweighed by all the wins the Tide are racking up in league play. If they top Tennessee at home on Saturday night, that would be four top-20 wins in a row—easily the best résumé of anybody in the country.

Sugar Bowl: No. 3 Texas A&M

The Aggies are in a tricky spot with three straight road games—two against ranked opponents—in the coming weeks, but that also represents a chance to keep stacking the résumé with quality victories. You would like to see a bit more from Marcel Reed and the offense against Arkansas on Saturday, but with the way A&M is playing on defense, especially on third down, it might not matter until next week.

Cotton Bowl: No. 2 Indiana

Life is good for the Hoosiers and their head coach Curt Cignetti this week. Will that fuel them against Michigan State and maybe allow Indiana to ascend to No. 2 in the country?

Rose Bowl: No. 1 Ohio State

A sneaky next two games for the Buckeyes that will be key not just for them to win, but to look impressive in doing so. There may be just one more ranked opponent left on the docket for the reigning national champions so the more style points, the better.