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College football conference power rankings: Week 8

By Cody Williams

BATON ROUGE, LA - OCTOBER 13: Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Mason Wood (4) is tackled by LSU Tigers safety John Battle (26) during a game between the LSU Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs on October 13, 2018, at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - OCTOBER 13: Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Mason Wood (4) is tackled by LSU Tigers safety John Battle (26) during a game between the LSU Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs on October 13, 2018, at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Coming off of a college football week where three teams suffered their first loss of 2018, how do the Power 5 conferences now stack up against one another?

What was once 11 on Friday, Oct. 12 was down to eight by the end of Saturday, Oct. 13. That, of course, is in reference to the number of remaining undefeated college football teams in the country as three of them suffered their first loss of the 2018 season on Saturday. Making things even more crazy this past week, though somewhat related still, we also saw three top-10 teams fall in Week 7.

The three top-10 teams that lost this past week were littered throughout different Power 5 conferences. Out of the SEC, it was the second-ranked Georgia Bulldogs that went down, taking a loss at the hands of the LSU Tigers. In the Pac-12, the Washington Huskies fell to the Oregon Ducks in an overtime thriller, their second loss of 2018. Finally, the Big 12 wasn’t unscathed as the West Virginia Mountaineers were throttled by the Iowa State Cyclones.

If that weren’t enough, the third undefeated college football team to fall on Saturday was the Colorado Buffaloes. Though they were just barely in the top 20 of the rankings given the lack of quality of their previous opponents, it was tough for the Pac-12 to see a team that could’ve been a sleeper get handled by a mediocre USC Trojans team on Saturday.

With these major losses transpiring, the college football landscape now looks much different than it did a week ago. That even trickles down into how the Power 5 conferences stack up against one another. How so? Let’s find out in the college football conference power rankings heading into Week 8.

In truth, I’m not sure that even the Pittsburgh Panthers pulling off an upset of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish would’ve saved the ACC from the bottom of these college football conference power rankings. For one, that’s the team Pitt has been all season, completely unpredictable and of the highest variance in terms of quality. In a week where the Clemson Tigers had the day off, though, it was an ugly affair for this conference.

That, of course, has to start with the Miami Hurricanes. People had already started to sour quite a bit on this team after seeing how lackluster they can play and that came out in full force on Saturday. They came out and laid an egg on offense with Malik Rosier at the helm and that was all that the Virginia Cavaliers needed to pull off the upset victory.

What’s more, the Virginia Tech Hokies were wildly unimpressive. They went on the road to Chapel Hill to face a North Carolina Tar Heels team that is downright awful. Yet, the Tar Heels almost won this game and the Hokies needed a 98-yard drive at the end of the game (complete with a two-point conversion) to get the three-poing win.

Again, Clemson is still one of the best teams in the country and one of the eight remaining unbeaten teams in the country. Having said that, the Tigers look exceptionally lonely at the top of this conference. The tier below them just appears completely unreliable and, as such, the ACC keeps brining up the rear behind the other Power 5 conferences in these rankings.

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