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College football rankings: Predicting the AP Top 25 for Week 8

By Connor Muldowney

(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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EUGENE, OR – OCTOBER 13: University of Oregon RB CJ Verdell (34) scores the game-winning touchdown on a 6-yard run in overtime and celebrates with University of Oregon WR Jaylon Redd (30) during a college football game between the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies on October 13, 2018, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.(Photo by Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
EUGENE, OR – OCTOBER 13: University of Oregon RB CJ Verdell (34) scores the game-winning touchdown on a 6-yard run in overtime and celebrates with University of Oregon WR Jaylon Redd (30) during a college football game between the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies on October 13, 2018, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.(Photo by Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Losing at home to Ohio State was rough, but the Nittany Lions showed they could hang with anyone in the country with the tough defeat. The Nittany Lions got a much-needed bye in Week 6 and had an extra week to prepare for a Michigan State team that was reeling after a home Northwestern loss. Trace McSorley had a rough game, rushing for just 37 yards and averaging only 6.0 yards per pass while Miles Sanders had himself a game, but it wasn’t enough. For the second straight year, Michigan State broke Penn State’s heart in the final seconds.

Untouchable no longer. West Virginia went into a road game against Iowa State with the expectation that it would have its way with an up-and-down Cyclone team. They couldn’t get anything going offensively as Will Grier’s Heisman hopes took a big hit and West Virginia suffered its first loss of the season. Maybe Iowa State’s Brock Purdy is the real deal, but this is a game a playoff-caliber team should have won.

How many close games will Washington play this season? Jake Browning and the Huskies have a flair for the dramatic as they went to Eugene and took Oregon to overtime. With a chance to win on a last-second field goal, Washington’s kicker missed and the Ducks won on a touchdown run in overtime following a Huskies field goal. Washington may be eliminated from playoff consideration with this second loss.

Talk about a scare, just one week after pulling off an upset of No. 5 LSU, the Florida Gators had a slight hangover, at least early on, against Vanderbilt. They fell behind 14-3 early and were trailing at the half, but Dan Mullen and the suddenly-fiery Gators came back to out-score Vanderbilt 24-6 in the second half. Florida will stay afloat in both the SEC title race as well as the playoff one.

Nothing goes together quite like Oregon and overtime games against ranked teams at home. For the second time this season, the Ducks took a ranked Pac-12 team to overtime after being the underdog. The Ducks, led by the strong run game of CJ Verdell, upended the Washington Huskies on their way to a home victory in overtime. This may make the Ducks the Pac-12 title favorites.

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