Our college football midseason awards and Week 8 attendance guide

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We’ve already seen some exciting games this week.

New Mexico State (2-5) defeated Louisiana Tech (2-4) in double overtime on Tuesday. And on Wednesday, Sam Houston (5-2), an underrated success story in its second FBS season, lost 31-14 to Western Kentucky (5-2). Now let’s move on to the rest of the weekend plan. And later… Midseason Awards!

Week 8 Viewer’s Guide

Friday night lights

The action heats up on Friday with two ladder matches (all times ET).

No. 2 Oregon (6-0) at Purdue (1-5) (8 p.m., Fox). The Boilermakers have struggled — they’re No. 123 nationally in total defense and No. 106 in total offense — but played just one point behind No. 22 Illinois last week. Oregon shouldn’t be as vulnerable as long as the Ducks avoid a hangover to Ohio State (they’re four-touchdown favorites, after all).
Oklahoma State (3-3) at No. 13 BYU (6-0) (10:15 p.m., ESPN). Mike Gundy’s Cowboys haven’t won since Sept. 14 while BYU has been climbing in the polls. When these teams met last November, the Cowboys won in a double-OT thriller. This time the Cougs are the favorites with 9.5 points.

The schedule for Saturday

Here’s this week’s heatmap for every matchup with a ranked team. The darker the shade, the higher the intrigue.

Early

Most important game: Nebraska (5-1) vs. No. 16 Indiana (6-0). Curt Cignetti’s undefeated Hoosiers are the talk of the town. IU is projected as an 11 seed in CFP per The athlete‘s model. None of Indiana’s wins have come against teams over .500, and those teams have a combined record of 14-23. This QB duel between IU veteran Kurtis Rourke and Nebraska’s freshman sensation Dylan Raiola is an exciting matchup. In his second year as Nebraska coach, Matt Rhule said, “This is probably the biggest game we’ve ever played.” Who would have thought he would be talking about Indiana-Nebraska?
Most Underrated Game: No. 6 Miami (6-0) at Louisville (4-2). The Canes are coming off a bye week after two unpleasantly close wins against Virginia Tech and Cal. In both games, Miami allowed its opponents to build a lead early in the half before falling behind on the heroics of transfer QB Cam Ward – he is first in the FBS in total offense (396.6 yards per game) and passing -TDs (20) and is second in passing yards (2,219). Louisville doesn’t have it easy either, and I expect a high-profile – and high-flying – matchup between the two best receivers in the ACC (Miami’s Xavier Restrepo and Louisville’s Ja’Corey Brooks). Miami is a five-point favorite.

Afternoon

Most important game: No. 7 Alabama (5-1) vs. No. 11 Tennessee (5-1). Alabama and Tennessee would rather forget their Week 6 upsets against Vanderbilt and Arkansas. And now is the perfect time to get their respective CFP cases back on track. The Vols haven’t scored in the first half of their last two games. Getting the offense going will be an aspect to watch, but the key matchup will be between Alabama’s offense, specifically Ryan Williams’ playmaking ability, and Tennessee’s defense, which is ranked second in the nation. And Bama is the favorite on the road in this rivalry game.
Most Underrated Game: Colorado (4-2) vs. Arizona (3-3) (4 p.m., Fox). Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan leads the Big 12 in receiving yards, averaging more than 100 yards per game. If McMillan gets going again, the Buffs will have to turn to their superstar Travis Hunter, who coach Deion Sanders expects to play after Hunter injured his shoulder against Kansas State last week.

Night

Most important game: No. 5 Georgia (5-1) vs. No. 1 Texas (6-0). When these teams last met in the 2019 Sugar Bowl, both were on the verge of something special but hadn’t yet found the right spark. Now the pieces have come together to make this an all-time SEC matchup. Texas QB Quinn Ewers had some shaky moments against Oklahoma last week and needs to get back into the rhythm after his oblique injury. He will face Georgia’s Carson Beck, who should lead the Bulldogs’ effort against the No. 1 team in the country. The Longhorns are 4.5-point favorites.
Most Underrated Game: North Texas (5-1) at Memphis (5-1) (7:30 p.m., ESPNU). How about some G5 action for the nightcap? It’s time for a rematch of Memphis’ epic 45-42 win last year against the Mean Green. North Texas ranks No. 5 nationally in total offense behind TCU transfer QB Chandler Morris (who is tied with Ward for first in the nation in TD passes). On the opposing side, Memphis has relied on its defense and linebacker Chandler Martin, who leads the AAC with four sacks. I’ll also watch Kentucky at Florida (7:45 p.m., SECN), where the 3-3 Gators must win before four games against Georgia, Texas, LSU and Ole Miss.

Check out the full Week 8 schedule.

Do you need tickets? Go here. Stream the games for free on Fubo.

Midseason Awards

Did you know Ryan Williams is 17?

Happy mid-season! The “Until Saturday” podcast released its “Middies” today. Here are two of the categories and my thoughts on the winners. (You can listen to the full discussion here.)

“He’s playing there now?” Award for the best player in the transfer portal. Nominated: Cam Ward (Incarnate Word-Washington State-Miami); Diego Pavia (New Mexico State-Vanderbilt); Kurtis Rourke (Ohio-Indiana); Dillon Gabriel (UCF-Oklahoma-Oregon). The team selected Pavia, the fifth-year QB who rewrote Vandy’s legacy from the SEC’s easy defeat to the Alabama upset. Don’t ignore Pavia individually either: He’s in the top 10 nationally when it comes to passing efficiency. His impact is more than worthy of this award.

“This isn’t Nick Saban’s Alabama.” Award for Most Repetitive Media Narrative. Nominated: Big Ten and ACC Coastal Travel; CFP expands and more teams are live; Ryan Williams is 17; Ohio State has spent millions on its roster. The crew chose Williams…did you hear he’s only 17? I didn’t have to look back far to find the last 17-year-old CFB player. Ole Miss QB Austin Simmons transferred from the 2025 class to the 2023 class as a 17-year-old last season, joining the Rebels. He didn’t see any playing time, at least not in football. Simmons is also a left-handed pitcher and made 13 appearances with a 3.21 ERA. Notable: His baseball appearances occurred after his 18th birthday.

Listen to the “See You Saturday” podcast here. Also read Bruce Feldman’s book Mid-season superlative awards (from breakout star to wildest plot) here.

Best bets

A surprise in the Big 12

Through Saturday Upset Special (2-4): Arizona State 27 (+5.5), Cincinnati 24

Both teams are coming off one of their most significant wins of the season (Cincinnati’s 19-13 win over UCF and ASU’s 27-19 win over Utah). Arizona State’s task becomes more difficult with QB Sam Leavitt in the starting lineup and Jeff Sims as the backup, but the Wildcats have a strong rushing attack to fall back on (fourth in the Big 12 at 211.1 yards per game). The Bearcats are the favorites at home, but their defense has struggled all season, allowing 164.8 yards on the ground per game. I’m picking Arizona State to pull off an ugly win behind the heroics of RB Cam Skattebo.

Quick snapshots

What will the rest look like outside of the CFP range? Bowl season watch in December? The midseason bowl projections are back.

overcoming Big Ten, SEC Skepticism is the first hurdle for Super League proposals.

(Top photo by Quinn Ewers: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)