Straight up massive carnage during Notre Dame’s bye week finally brings our first week of true disagreement over the polls. Now the college football season has really begun! Oh, but hey Alabama is still atop the world. So not too much has changed.

Top 11

1 Alabama (+1, 7-0, 41-9 W vs. Arkansas)

Through 7 games the Tide are a cool +228 in point differential.

2 Georgia (+1, 7-0, 53-28 W vs. Missouri)

The Dawgs now enter the meat of their schedule which includes zero Top 20 teams at the moment.

3 TCU (+1, 6-0, 26-6 W at Kansas State)

Sneaky good win for the Frogs on the road.

4 Penn State (+2, 6-0, Bye)

The next 3 weeks will tell the tale of the Lions season.

5 Miami (+5, 5-0, 25-24 W vs. Georgia Tech)

Another close win vaults the Canes up the rankings due to other falling out.

6 Wisconsin (+5, 6-0, 17-9 W vs. Purdue)

Still no Top 50 wins but a defense that’s allowing 13.3 per game might not lose during the regular season.

7 Clemson (-6, 6-1, 27-24 L at Syracuse)

A terrible loss looks better with an injured quarterback and some good wins to back it up.

8 Ohio State (E, 6-1, 56-14 W at Nebraska)

A bunch of wins no one will get excited about but they have killed teams in recent weeks.

9 USC (+3, 6-1, 28-27 W vs. Utah)

The Trojans do us a favor and guarantee a highly ranked matchup this weekend.

10 Oklahoma (+3, 5-1, 29-24 W vs. Texas)

A nice comeback win gives the Sooners 3 out of the last 4 in this series.

11 Oklahoma State (NR, 5-1, 59-16 W vs. Baylor)

Okie State was back to doing Okie State things with outrageous offensive numbers.

Next 2

Notre Dame (NR, 5-1, Bye)

Here come the Irish!

Virginia Tech (NR, 5-1, Bye)

Another team benefiting handsomely from the bye week.

Dropped out: Washington, Auburn, Washington State

G5 Top 3

1 UCF (E, 5-0, 63-21 W vs. East Carolina)

Here’s the nation’s highest scoring offense.

2 USF (+1, 6-0, 33-3 W vs. Cincinnati)

The Bulls are quietly continue to win but haven’t been in my top spot in quite a while.

3 Memphis (NR, 5-1, 30-27 W vs. Navy)

Knocked off previously undefeated Navy and back in the mix for a major bowl bid.

You Were Bad

Washington State

Blown out on the scoreboard thanks to 7 turnovers versus California.

Troy

Followed up a win at LSU with a home loss to South Alabama.

Baylor

43-point losses hurt even worse when you’re 0-6.

Tennessee

Failed to score in the 2nd half losing to South Carolina and now 0-3 in the SEC.

Illinois

Went out there and lost to Rutgers while playing at home, too.

Louisville

Allowed Boston College to score 45 points, that’s almost a season’s worth for the Eagles.

Vanderbilt

Derek Mason kind of talked a little bit of junk before that Alabama game, Commodores have given up 59, 38, 45, and 57 points in the last 4 games.

North Carolina

Couldn’t muster any first half points and falls to 1-6 overall in a loss to Virginia.

Houston

Lost by 28 points to a team that was blown out by Tulane last weekend.

Week 8 Preview

Enemy Watch

Temple (+6) at Army
Boston College (+7) at Virginia
Buffalo (+3) at Miami (OH)
Syracuse (+16.5) at Miami
North Carolina (+21) at Virginia Tech
Indiana (+6.5) at Michigan State
UCF (-7.5) at Navy
Wake Forest (+6.5) at Georgia Tech

Don’t look now but Army is 5-2, looking pretty solid, with a lot of winnable games remaining.

If we didn’t play Miami I would put their game down below in the next section of “too close for comfort.” Zero home field advantage and a Syracuse team that is frisky and coming off a big win.

Navy did just hang with Memphis but a big win for UCF feels like it’s going to happen. Or, maybe this is the Knights lone loss of the season?

Too Close for Comfort

Tennessee (+34.5) at Alabama

I know, I know this is crazy. This is the largest spread in the long history of the Tennessee-Alabama rivalry. And yet, it doesn’t feel that big. I just think there’s zero reason for the Tide to put their foot on the pedal and we might see a game that isn’t an enormous blowout, maybe something like 35-3?

Upset Pick of the Week

BYU (-5.5) at East Carolina

Both of these teams have been super bad this year–a combined 2-12 so far–and this simply based on BYU coming back east and struggling on offense like perhaps no one else in the country. Bad recipe.

National Spotlight

Memphis (+3) at Houston
Oklahoma State (-7) at Texas
Oklahoma (-13.5) at Kansas State
Michigan (+9.5) at Penn State
Wyoming (+13.5) at Boise State

Outside of 2 big games featuring ranked matchups this is obviously a really poor week for college football fans. More hype and focus on that Notre Dame game!

Memphis and Houston need to sort through some upper half AAC stuff this weekend.

For their sake let’s hope Okie Light doesn’t trip up in Austin. Is that big win for Tom Herman coming at all this year?

TCU came out of Manhattan unscathed can Oklahoma do the same?

I wish we lived in an universe where both Michigan and Penn State could lose this game. It feels terrible.

Wyoming and Boise State may not seem like much of a game right now–both got off to poor starts this year–but they are undefeated in Mountain West play and this could be a big one by the end of the season.