A fall crisp is in the air and college football powerhouses are devouring one another just in time to begin the playoff conversation. The SEC, still in line to get three or four programs into the 12-team field, is full of good one-loss teams. The Big Ten may have just provided us with a title game preview. Realignment may have its detractors, but there’s no denying that the onslaught of high-profile games is constant—and that’s the case again in Week 8.
Apart from last week’s snoozer of a Red River Rivalry (thanks for playing Oklahoma), the watchability picks delivered, headlined by thrillers in Eugene, Baton Rouge and Los Angeles. Let’s hope for more of that college football magic as teams enter the back half of their 2024 regular-season schedules.
Honorable Mention: Louisville vs. No. 6 Miami, Arkansas vs. No. 8 LSU, West Virginia vs. No. 17 Kansas State
6. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4–2) vs. No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5–1)
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN; at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
A couple of the honorable mention games rival this mid-afternoon clash but I’m giving this matchup the nod, primarily because it’s the toughest non-service academy game left for the Irish. If Notre Dame wins, there’s far more wiggle room to play around with in the fight for an at-large playoff bid. A loss would be catastrophic, with trips to the New York area for games against Navy and Army still on the schedule.
This particular game offers plenty from an entertainment standpoint, including two savvy, dual-threat quarterbacks in the Irish’s Riley Leonard and the Yellow Jackets’ Haynes King, who have both played well this season. Leonard in particular has hit his stride after the debacle against Northern Illinois, accounting for 13 total touchdowns (six passing, seven rushing), in four games since the loss.
Player/Matchup to Watch: Notre Dame’s secondary
The Irish have been menacing this season on defense, allowing more than 20 points just once and ranking eighth in the country in points allowed per game (11.67). However, Marcus Freeman just revealed early this week that projected first-round cornerback and captain Benjamin Morrison will miss the rest of the season with a hip injury. It’s a massive blow for an already injury-riddled Irish team, who will need a tenacious pass rush to get to King and cover up for an inexperienced secondary.
5. Memphis Tigers (5–1) at North Texas Mean Green (5–1)
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU
In the Group of 5 game of the week, the Mean Green take their high-powered offense on the road to take on the Tigers. Apart from Army and Navy, these programs are the top contenders to win the American Athletic Conference, and with it a possible spot in the playoff. With the service academies still forced to each play Notre Dame and each other (at least once), there’s a real chance a one-loss Memphis or North Texas could slip into the conference championship game through the backdoor.
Mean Green quarterback Chandler Morris can light up games in a hurry and if you haven’t watched him play yet, you’re missing out. The junior is tied with Miami quarterback Cam Ward for the most passing touchdowns in the country (20 in six games) and has thrown for an average of 329.8 yards per contest (seventh in FBS). Coupled with a deep running back room, North Texas is one of the more entertaining offenses to watch in college football this season.
Player/Matchup to Watch: North Texas offense vs. Memphis defense
Defense is optional, but points are easy to come by for the Mean Green. The Tigers, however, have ground teams—at least those not named Navy—into a pulp with their defense. There’s reason to expect this game will still be high-scoring, but if the Memphis defense can keep Morris & Co. in check just enough, the Tigers can continue their march forward while the lights will dim on North Texas’s hopes for a conference title.
4. No. 24 Michigan Wolverines (4–2) at No. 22 Illinois Fighting Illini (5–1)
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+
The battle for the best of the rest in the Big Ten is as crowded as ever, though schools like Washington and Rutgers can likely see their way out after blowout losses last weekend. The Illini and the Wolverines are still candidates for a fringe playoff spot but are hanging on by a thread—one that will get snipped with a loss this weekend.
Illinois nearly got caught out last weekend at home against Purdue, needing a 50-piece, overtime and a hold on a two-point conversion in said overtime to outlast the Boilermakers. Luke Altmyer has been a revelation this season (14 touchdowns to one interception), but a talented Michigan defense awaits. The Wolverines haven’t been completely suffocating like last season’s national championship squad, but Sherrone Moore had a bye week to get his group back up to speed.
Player/Matchup to Watch: Michigan ground game vs. Illinois run defense
When the Illini took down Nebraska in overtime earlier this season, they limited the Huskers to a measly 48 yards on the ground. What followed was a disaster for Bret Bielema’s program, which allowed exactly 239 rushing yards in each game against Penn State and Purdue. Michigan’s issue of throwing a forward pass this season has been well documented, but the running back tandem of Kalel Mullings and Donovan Edwards is as dynamic as advertised.
3. Nebraska Cornhuskers (5–1) at No. 16 Indiana Hoosiers (6–0)
Saturday, noon ET, Fox
Now for the more compelling Big Ten matchup of the weekend. Indiana welcomes Nebraska for perhaps the most meaningful and anticipated game in Bloomington since No. 3 Purdue came to town to take on the 8–1 Hoosiers in 1967—a matchup that Indiana won to clinch the team’s first and only trip to the Rose Bowl.
An adventure back to Pasadena is still a ways away as the Hoosiers face their toughest test yet in Nebraska, which holds its best record since 2016. The Cornhuskers, particularly on offense, seemed to be running out of momentum going into last week’s bye and rest was surely needed before matchups with Indiana and Ohio State. The Hoosiers, also off last week, will kick off a gauntlet on Saturday as coach Curt Cignetti tries to show that this is no fluke.
Player/Matchup to Watch: Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke vs. Nebraska pass rush
Every time it seems like Rourke could be poised to take a dip this season, he only gets better. Now firmly in the conversation as a possible NFL quarterback, the Ohio transfer has the numbers to back up (first in passing efficiency, 11th in passing yards per game, 10th in passing yards per completion) the eye test. The Nebraska defensive front is the real deal though, averaging 3.33 sacks per game (seventh in FBS) and allowing 4.37 yards per play (tied for sixth). Rourke hasn’t shied away from pressure yet, but he hasn’t faced pressure like this.
2. No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide (5–1) at No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers (5–1)
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+
The Volunteers and the Crimson Tide followed up upset losses two weeks ago with full-on scares last weekend. Tennessee narrowly escaped the Swamp, in part because of Billy Napier’s unwillingness to take a risk and go for the win in regulation, while Alabama couldn’t shut the door on South Carolina and almost let a Gamecocks onside kick lead to heartbreak. The last two weeks for each team aside, this rivalry game continues to deliver.
The last time the Third Saturday in October was played in Knoxville, Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt connected for five touchdowns and the Vols kicked a field goal as time expired to cap a “bring the goalposts down to the Tennessee river” type of victory. This season’s passing attack, led by freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava, has far less pop. However, Kalen DeBoer’s defense has serious questions surrounding it, ranking 42nd in points allowed and outside the top 50 in yards allowed per game.
Player/Matchup to Watch: Alabama QB Jalen Milroe vs. Tennessee defense
Milroe’s season, which seemed Heisman finalist-bound after a 491-yard, four-touchdown day against Georgia, has taken a bizarre turn. He’s taken six sacks in the last two weeks, hasn’t rushed for more than two yards a carry in either game and has thrown only a combined 47 passes. Unlike the Tennessee team that ran it up on the Tide two years ago, this Vols team is defense first. Allowing 10.67 points (fourth in FBS) and 249.8 yards (second) per game, this unit has the potential to grind this game to a halt.
1. No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs (5–1) at No. 1 Texas Longhorns (6–0)
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+
If Oregon vs. Ohio State was last week’s Big Kahuna, then Georgia’s journey to Austin is Week 8’s clear headliner. Though the Bulldogs’ loss to Alabama deprived us of having this game be No. 1 vs. No. 2, this is still one of the most interesting games of the 2024 season and should provide a barometer for what to expect during Texas’s early years in the SEC.
The Longhorns are riding higher than they have in about 15 years. Quinn Ewers is back in the fold, the defense is the best in the nation (having allowed just three total touchdowns all season) and last weekend, the team trounced Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. The vibes in Austin are immaculate, but with them come expectations of a first-round bye in the playoff and a national championship trophy in January.
The vibes in Athens are decidedly less chipper. That’s due to a tougher early schedule coupled with consistency questions around quarterback Carson Beck and the defense, the latter of which allowed 41 points to Alabama and 31 points to 1–5 Mississippi State in two of its last three games. A second loss could plunge the Bulldogs’ fan base into a further panic, but Kirby Smart’s program has risen to the occasion more than once in recent years and it wouldn’t be a shock to see it do the same Saturday.
Player/Matchup to Watch: Texas vs. a competitive opponent
Not to take away from Texas’s dominance through the first half, but the Longhorns’ strength of schedule hasn’t ended up where it was supposed to be during the preseason. Michigan is much worse than its preseason top-10 ranking and Oklahoma has looked overwhelmed in its inaugural SEC season. The Bulldogs are the first opponent that will really present Steve Sarkisian with a challenge, one that he’s often struggled to meet across his career as a head coach.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Watchability Rankings: High-Stakes SEC Clashes Headline Week 8 Slate.