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 8 p.m. ET Saturday:
Everywhere you looked in college football during Week 8, carnage appeared.
After starting the weekend with 11 undefeated teams, the sport made it to the prime-time games with only five programs sans a blemish on their records. The chaos was particularly relevant at the top of the sport, with a quartet of Top 10 teams falling from the ranks and at least one in the top 11 guaranteed to join them by the end of the night.
As a result, the playoff picture looks far different from what it did this morning. Can you talk yourself into Diego Pavia trying to go into the Grove to come out with a win and a trip to the Rose Bowl? That’s how wild things are.
Perhaps the most punishing loss was Texas Tech’s loss on the road at Arizona State. While others like Mississippi and Miami can probably survive their losses without too much of a penalty, that was one of the few opportunities the Red Raiders had to go out and get a quality (albeit not a ranked) win in Big 12 play. There were mitigating circumstances with starting quarterback Behren Morton out—which the committee will factor in—but the résumé is thin for a team that simply did not test itself during nonconference play. Joey McGuire’s team still looks like the class of the league but they can’t lose another and expect to make it to Arlington, Texas, at this point and might not be in the running for any kind of at-large as we sneak past the halfway mark of the season.
Update at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday:
Folks, it’s time to start talking about Vanderbilt and its swaggering quarterback Diego Pavia making the College Football Playoff. It speaks to expectations around Nashville that simply becoming bowl eligible with a win over LSU—just the second win over the Tigers in this author’s lifetime—is being glossed over as the team suddenly looks like a real contender for a much more lofty postseason destination in the very near future.
That’s not just a massive thing for Vandy either as its impressive play should continue to further boost the case of several other teams in the league—particularly Alabama but potentially Texas down the road (the Longhorns host the Dores on Nov. 1).
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
- Georgia
- Miami
- Oregon
- Mississippi
- Vanderbilt
- Georgia Tech
- Texas Tech
- South Florida
First Round
- No. 12 South Florida at No. 5 Georgia
- No. 11 Texas Tech at No. 6 Miami
- No. 10 Georgia Tech at No. 7 Oregon
- No. 9 Vanderbilt at No. 8 Mississippi
Quarterfinals
- Orange Bowl: No. 4 Alabama vs. winner of No. 12 South Florida at No. 5 Georgia
- Sugar Bowl: No. 3 Texas A&M vs. winner of No. 11 Texas Tech at No. 6 Miami
- Cotton Bowl: No. 2 Indiana vs. winner of No. 10 Georgia Tech at No. 7 Oregon
- Rose Bowl: No. 1 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 9 Vanderbilt at No. 8 Mississippi
No. 12 South Florida at No. 5 Georgia
The Bulldogs have the potential to finish the regular season with the “best” loss of any team (to Alabama) and could wind up with a rematch against the Crimson Tide if they keep playing like they did in the fourth quarter. Sure the defense doesn’t look championship caliber based on recent vintages of Kirby Smart’s squad but they may be just good enough in this day and age.
No. 11 Texas Tech at No. 6 Miami
The Red Raiders were the biggest losers from Saturday because there just aren’t the opportunities that others have to make big impressions on the committee. They have a great showing at Utah to their name but the loss to Arizona State is enough to crater the chances a Big 12 side has at any sort of quarterfinal bye. Likewise, the Hurricanes won’t get penalized much for the close loss to Louisville but they have to hope that Virginia starts losing so that tiebreakers don’t come into account in the ACC.
No. 10 Georgia Tech at No. 7 Oregon
A road trip to Duke could have represented the last big test in ACC play for Georgia Tech given the caliber of opponents left in league play. They will certainly beware of what happens when you don’t take ACC teams seriously given some of the upsets recently but the path is clear to Charlotte and beyond. If nothing else, the Yellow Jackets have to be excited over the prospect of facing a Georgia defense that seems to like giving up points in bunches against the good teams they play.
No. 9 Vanderbilt at No. 8 Mississippi
Just imagine if Diego Pavia were in the Grove in mid-December, playing for the right to go to the Rose Bowl. If that doesn’t say this season is 2007-esque, not much will. The Rebels looked impressive against Georgia on the road but badly need to secure a win next week at Oklahoma if they want to keep hope for hosting a CFP home game.
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.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Playoff Bracket Week 8 Live Projections: Unbeatens Fall Causing Chaos.