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College Football Week 8 Overreactions: Alabama, Texas Exposed?

Posted on by Kennedy
College Football Week 8 Overreactions: Alabama, Texas Exposed?

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Say what you want about the current state of college sports in the United States of America. But it is undeniable that there are few other sporting activities that evoke a similar level of emotion from fans, be they positive or negative.

That was evident on the final weekend of college football, which featured everything from jubilant field rushes to angry throwing of debris. With such passion, overreactions are inevitable. We're here once again to go over some of the most popular programs and hopefully provide an overview of the bigger picture.

Here are the five most common overreactions from Week 8.

Alabama's playoff chances are high

It's true that the Crimson Tide's SEC Championship hopes are likely gone with a loss in the second division. However, there could still be a path to the expanded 12-team playoffs.

Alabama's last three games in November are winnable. One of those is a matchup against Championship Subdivision member Mercer, and the final two league contests are against Oklahoma and Auburn, teams that are in even greater disarray at the time of this writing.

It's the two games over the next three weekends that will make the difference for Alabama – a home game against Missouri next Saturday and a trip to LSU on November 9th. Should the Tide win both games, they'll have a pretty clear path to 10-2 with the win against Georgia, a record that would almost certainly be considered playoff-worthy. A split between these two teams and a 9-3 result would leave things in a much more unclear area.

Whether Alabama could actually win the title should it be added to the at-large pool is a discussion for another day, but for now we'll have to wait and see where things stand in a few weeks. We understand that patience isn't a great trait for many fan bases, but don't write off Tide just yet.

Texas is back – to mediocrity.

It didn't take long for the college football universe to go from naming the Longhorns title favorites to loudly questioning whether they weren't ready for this new conference after all. As with many discussions of this nature, the truth probably lies somewhere between these extremes.

As previously mentioned, the foundation upon which the Longhorns' No. 1 ranking was built was not as solid as we might have believed given the ongoing struggles at Oklahoma and Michigan (more on the Wolverines below). However, it is equally true that Texas is not the first team to be humbled by facing a motivated Georgia squad. Remember how post-mortems were written for Clemson after Week 1?

In short, we'll wait and see how Texas responds to its first adversity, starting next week with a visit to suddenly perky Vanderbilt.

Misery index: Oklahoma is the poorest fan base after Week 8

Ups and downs: Georgia, Alabama are the winners and losers of week eight

Indiana will win the Big Ten

Most people probably didn't believe Curt Cignetti when he made that bold statement when he accepted the head coaching job in Bloomington. But lo and behold, the Hoosiers steamrolled everything in their path en route to a 7-0 start that now has everyone's attention.

However, there is just one tiny problem. The second-to-last week of the season includes a trip to Ohio State. We are by no means saying that winning in Columbus is not possible. However, if the Hoosiers come up short there, they would lose a head-to-head tiebreaker with the Buckeyes for a spot in the conference title game, assuming both teams win the rest of their games. Indiana's schedule does not include Penn State or Oregon, which is a plus since all other contests are winnable, but a minus since there is no way to offset a potential loss to the Buckeyes.

With all that said, the Hoosiers overall have a good shot at making the playoffs should they finish at 11-1. That may seem overly ambitious for a program that has had limited success in its history, but we shouldn't be surprised now if it comes to fruition.

Michigan could miss a bowl

At the other end of the Big Ten expectations bar we find the Wolverines, the defending national champions, who are only now struggling to find any offensive identity.

Aside from a home date with Northwestern, Michigan's November schedule is a killer one in the new-look conference. The Wolverines will be heavy underdogs against Oregon, Indiana and Ohio State, even with the Ducks and Buckeyes coming to Ann Arbor. This practically makes next week's rivalry game against Michigan State a must-win if the Wolverines hope to reach the six-win threshold for bowl eligibility. Of course, the Spartans likely won't be particularly sympathetic given their own challenging second-half schedule. But Michigan State has made strides in recent weeks under coach Jonathan Smith, and the Spartans will come into the Big House with confidence after showing they can solve a difficult defense like Iowa's. It won't be at the top of next week's must-watch list, but it's a game to keep an eye on, especially if you're the organizer of a bowl game with a connection to the Big Ten.

The Cougar Conundrum

30 for 30 Vote: What if I told you that there's a team that doesn't currently have an affiliation with the FBS conference that has an excellent chance to go 11-1 – and it's not Notre Dame? Sure, the Fighting Irish could do it too. But there is another independent team that could provide the CFP with an interesting test case.

Washington State, the former Pac-12, moved to 6-1, with its only error coming against Boise State. This would be the same Broncos squad that came within a field goal of the current No. 1 team. In addition to a hard-fought Apple Cup win against former league opponent Washington, the Cougars also have another Power Five win against Texas Tech.

But now comes the bad news for the Cougars. That Texas Tech result lost some of its value over the weekend when the Red Raiders were beaten at home by Baylor and suffered their first Big 12 loss. None of Washington State's remaining opponents are expected to significantly improve their schedule strength calculations. It would help the Cougars' cause if Boise State made the playoffs, but that might require help from Notre Dame by knocking both Navy and Army out of the undefeated ranks. These results would, in turn, bolster the Fighting Irish's credibility as an overall contender, at the expense of the Cougars and others.

As things stand, Washington State would need a whole series of breaks to find its way and get noticed. But complete chaos always seems to be imminent in this sport, so fans on the Palouse should stay tuned.

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