There are only two ranked games featuring top-25 teams in Week 8, and each involves a Texas school. No. 7 Ole Miss travels to No. 19 Texas (7:30 p.m. ET) in what feels like a referendum game for both Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and starting quarterback Arch Manning.
The narratives have gone into overdrive this week as Texas has lost its last two games, both to unranked opponents, as the Manning-led Texas offense has struggled mightily. To get back on track, Arch will have to beat the program that means so much to his family. Arch's father (Cooper), uncle (Eli) and grandfather (Archie) all played football at Ole Miss.
Later in the night, No. 14 Houston takes on No. 10 Utah in a game that has both Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff implications. The Utes didn't look great in a win against Colorado last week but remain one of the five last unbeaten Power Four teams. Houston's lone loss is a two-point defeat to Texas Tech, and the Cougars could take a big step toward being a CFP contender with a road win over Utah.
Other intriguing games include No. 6 Indiana at Michigan, No. 18 LSU at Auburn and No. 11 Tennessee at South Carolina. The Hoosiers are coming off a tough loss to Ohio State, while the Wolverines may have found something with true freshman quarterback Tommy Carr. In the battle of the Tigers, LSU will need a win to keep its playoff hopes alive.
Tennessee catapulted itself up the SEC hierarchy with a win over Alabama last weekend and yet still is a 2.5-point underdog to the Gamecocks. After a historic weekend that saw five top eight-ranked teams go down on a single day, the Week 8 slate isn't quite as promising, but there's plenty to get excited about. 12 p.m. on Fox, Fubo (try free): We've got two elite run defenses, one inconsistent passing attack and one freshman making his first start. That is a recipe for a low-scoring battle.
Michigan has played five games against teams not named UTEP, and all five games have finished with fewer than 40 points. Indiana's last two games have finished in the 30s as well, as they've faced the two best defenses on their schedule thus far, and it's hard to see a game flow here leading to anything approaching a shootout. The fear here is the potential for defensive scores, but even so, give me the under in Ann Arbor for the second straight week.
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