The first season of the new College Football Playoff format continues to be a ton of fun to watch, with the drive to be one of the Final Four creating week-to-week tension at an earlier time than has ever been experienced. This season is a joy to behold. Last week’s LWOS Staff #1 team is again this week’s #1 team, doing the only thing possible to be sure to avoid losing: taking the week off. There will be fantastic conference division races from coast-to-coast, from the PAC-12 South, to the ACC Coastal, to the best of all, the SEC West. Fasten your seat belts, folks, and enjoy the rest of this historic college football season.
LWOS Week 8 College Football Rankings
| 1 |
Mississippi State (9) |
Mississippi State stays on top after the bye weekend. They continue to work their way through the SEC schedule this week, visiting a surprising Kentucky team. – Mike Loveall | |
| 2 |
Florida State (3) |
Florida State proved themselves in an absolute classic over Notre Dame. Their schedule may not stack up against an SEC or Pac-12 resume, but no one can still claim that they are untested against top competition. – Yesh Ginsburg | |
| 3 |
Mississippi (1) |
Ole Miss followed up its victories over Alabama and Texas A&M by taking care of business at home against Tennessee. The Rebels are 3rd in the polls and their fate will be decided over the next few weeks when they play Auburn, LSU, and Mississippi State. – Charlie Taylor | |
| 4 | Auburn | The Tigers enjoyed a week off after their disappointing loss to Mississippi State, but they are still in the thick of the SEC West race. They host South Carolina next Saturday and will look to get back on track. – Matthew Atkinson | |
| 5 | Oregon | Oregon handled Washington impressively at home and kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive. An easy road game against Cal is next on the schedule. – Al Preziosi | |
| 6 | Alabama | Alabama sits at 6-1 after a dominant performance over Texas A&M. We will find out if they are true contenders later in the season when they play Mississippi State and Auburn. – Elijah Klein | |
| 7 | Michigan State | Michigan State eased past Indiana in a 56-17 domination on Saturday. The Spartans remain undefeated in the Big 10. The Spartans have a test coming up with a home series against Michigan and Ohio State. If they make it through this stretch, it will be tough for them to lose until the Big 10 championship game. – Kaden Kotinek | |
| 8 | Georgia | The Bulldogs looked good without Todd Gurley, who has been suspended indefinitely. Their remaining schedule looks relatively easy besides a November 14 game against Auburn. – Elijah Klein | |
| 9 | Notre Dame | After a penalty nullified a touchdown that would have added to the legend of Notre Dame, costing them their undefeated season, the Irish will have a week off to recover from the emotional roller coaster that was the FSU game before facing Navy. – Anthony Murphy | |
| 10 | TCU | The Horned Frogs have surprised many people this season, winning as frequently as they have and beating those top-tier Big 12 teams. They’d be in the top 4 if Big 12 officiating didn’t catch up with them against Baylor. – Connor Ferguson | |
| 11 | Kansas State | KSU has been impressive this year and the win over Oklahoma turned them into a legitimate top three Big 12 team instead of a 4th-6th team. – Connor Ferguson | |
| 12 | Ohio State | J.T. Barrett is getting better with each passing week, as evidenced by his performance in the Buckeyes 56-17 rout of Rutgers, in which he accounted for five total touchdowns. They travel to Penn State next week and look to keep rolling towards the potential instant classic with MSU on November 8th. – John Bava | |
| 13 | Baylor | Baylor – which was averaging nearly 53 points per game – was held to just 27 in a loss to West Virginia, even though Baylor had a +3 turnover margin. Art Briles’ team will look to bounce back at home against Kansas following the Week 9 bye week. – Michael Gray | |
| 14 | Arizona State | After a dominating win against Stanford, Arizona State continues to control their own destiny in the Pac-12 South. They travel to Washington next to take on the Huskies in what should be a good game. – Al Preziosi | |
| 15 | Arizona | Fresh off a bye following that heartbreaking loss to USC, Arizona heads to the Palouse to take on Wazzu. The Wildcats can set themselves up well for the PAC-12 South division stretch run if they can take care of business in the Pacific Northwest. – Donald King | |
| 16 | Utah | The Utes have a gritty, physical team that eked out a double OT win over Oregon State. Next, they host USC in a PAC-12 South elimination game in Week 9. – Donald King | |
| 17 | Nebraska | Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah has 16 total touchdowns in 7 games and has the Cornhuskers in a great position to win the Big 10 West. The deciding game will likely be at home vs. Minnesota on November 22. – Michael Gray | |
| 18 | Oklahoma | Major problems with kicking field goals and extra points cost the Sooners dearly in a home loss to Kansas State. They now have to rely on results elsewhere if they are to win the Big 12 this year, but their hopes of making the new final four playoff look bleak. – Matthew Atkinson | |
| 19 | East Carolina | ECU is flying a bit under the radar. Their loss to South Carolina doesn’t look as strong, but that win over North Carolina just got a bit better. They’re still neck-and-neck with Marshall for the Group of 5 bid to a New Year’s Day bowl. – Yesh Ginsburg | |
| 20 | Clemson | Clemson has been like a cockroach this season that seems to survive just about everything. After early season competitive losses to Georgia and Florida State, the Tigers have gotten back on track and pulled out an ugly defensive contest against Boston College this past weekend. At 5-2, they are looking to close the season strong and reach double-digit wins under Dabo Sweeney yet again. – Charlie Taylor | |
| 21 | Marshall | In Saturday’s 45-13 win over FIU, Thundering Herd quarterback Rakeem Cato threw a touchdown pass for the 39th consecutive game, setting an FBS record. They won’t make the CFP even if they do go undefeated, but Cato’s story is an inspiring rise from adversity that I suggest you read about if you haven’t done so. – John Bava | |
| 22 | USC | Have yourself a day, Cody Kessler. USC’s junior quarterback threw for 7 touchdowns in the win over Colorado. Moving forward, after giving up more than 400 yards this week, USC will need to shore things up on the defensive side of the ball as they head into Utah for a pivotal Pac-12 South game next Saturday night. – Michael Gray | |
| 23 | LSU | LSU sneaks back into the Top 25 with a strong performance against an improved Kentucky team. They might not be here long as a visit from #3 Ole Miss awaits them this week. – Mike Loveall | |
| 24 | Duke | Last year’s surprise winnner of the ACC Coastal Division continues to show they are not a one-year wonder. With back-to-back wins against two underrated ACC schools, the Blue Devils now turn their eyes on Pitt, who they lost to in a shootout last season. – Anthony Murphy | |
| 25 | UCLA | The Bruins escaped on Saturday with a 36-34 win over Cal. The game was won in the final seconds off of a controversial interception made by UCLA cornerback Alex Rios. It was the Bruins first win at Cal since 1998. This key win helps UCLA rebound off of back-to-back losses, and keeps them in contention for the South. The Bruins face off against the Colorado Buffaloes next Saturday. – Kaden Kotinek | |
| Others receiving votes: West Virginia (7), Oklahoma State (5), Minnesota (5), Louisville (2), Maryland (1) | |||
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