College football Week 9: 5 teams on upset alert
Nobody is safe in college football after Ohio State’s shocking loss last week, but which teams are on upset alert for their Week 9 matchups.
Looking at last week in college football as it pertains to upsets that transpired, the Ohio State Buckeyes are the team that comes to the forefront. Looking like a team that could mostly cruise until their season-finale, the Buckeyes laid an egg at the worst possible time. They weren’t just knocked off by the Purdue Boilermakers for their first loss of the season — Urban Meyer’s team was embarrassed by the Boilermakers.
However, the upsets throughout the college football landscape weren’t limited to just the Buckeyes. We saw a quietly undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats team take their first loss of the season to an inferior Temple Owls team in overtime. What’s more, the Oregon Ducks had an opportunity to take control of the Pac-12, but went on the road and got handled by Washington State instead.
Even with all of that, however, the upsets weren’t entirely plentiful last week. After how much chaos overall that we’ve seen on a weekly basis throughout the country, last wee was a bit of a reprieve for those of us who prefer to maintain their sanity. Thus, it only stands to reason that we’re about to see even more craziness coming in Week 9.
There aren’t a great deal of marquee matchups after you look at Florida vs. Georgia, but there are some games that could be intriguing and that could ultimately lead to upsets. Which teams should be on the lookout though? These five teams need to be on upset alert for Week 9.
5. South Florida Bulls
Rank: 21 | Opponent: Houston Cougars | Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
South Florida is one of the five remaining undefeated teams left in college football entering Week 9, but they are a team that has been tested quite a bit in recent weeks. Two weeks ago in a Friday night game, the Bulls went on the road to play Tulsa and were pushed to the brink, needing a last-second rally to get the win. Meanwhile, they only beat a lackluster UConn team last week by eight points at home.
A win is a win for Charlie Strong’s team, and that’s all that they’ve been doing to this point. However, it’s become apparent that they are a team that flirts with the edge of losing without actually stepping over and falling. At least, that’s what they’ve done to this point, but they might not be able to pull back on Saturday.
The Houston Cougars are one of the better non-Power 5 teams that no one is talking about. Yes, people talk about Ed Oliver as one of the best prospects in the 2019 NFL Draft, but this team as a whole is highly impressive. They have only one loss on the year, which came in a shootout against a good Texas Tech team. Other than that, they’ve largely been dominant.
Frankly, I believe that Houston is the best team in this game. Even if these two squads match up well, though, the mistake-ridden escapism that the Bulls have displayed isn’t going to work in a game such as this. As such, the Cougars can hand South Florida their first loss of 2018.