Saturday Predictions: Week 8

Another week, another exciting slate of college football games ahead of us. Just about every game featuring teams from the state of Florida could go either way with their winner. There won't be as many big match-ups in the SEC as there were last week, but some action out west should compensate.

After dropping a heartbreaker to the Tigers of LSU, the
Gators look for their fourth win of the season against the
Tigers of Missouri. Meanwhile, LSU looks to avoid the
upset against an upstart Kentucky team in Baton Rouge.
Rob Foldy

First, let's take a tour through Florida. USF is heading to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane at noon. Both teams are equally flawed, though Tulsa will have the home-field advantage. The question is whether Tulsa's offense will have enough to get past the South Florida defense and if the Bulls can create the big plays that get them their occasional wins. UCF has had trouble this year getting past anybody, but should have a great opportunity to win in Orlando against Tulane in their first Saturday game since mid-September. Florida Atlantic gets Western Kentucky at home, but still need to play well to beat the Hilltoppers. Undefeated Marshall travels to play a seemingly overmatched FIU team.

The Florida Gators will again play host to the Missouri Tigers in Gainesville. Both teams are coming off crushing home defeats. While Florida's loss to LSU came in a most heartbreaking fashion, Missouri was completely dominated by a Georgia team with whom they expected to compete. Though Jeff Driskel showed spark by making terrific plays against LSU last week, he was also responsible for some terrible errors and erratic play on third downs. Expect the Gators to employ a dual-quarterback system with Treon Harris if Driskel does not miraculously improve. Starters Matt Jones (HB) and Vernon Hargreaves (CB), who both missed the second half of the LSU game due to injury, would make an impact on the field if they are to return. Missouri's Maty Mauk is coming off the worst performance of his career. In fact, the Missouri passing game has come nowhere near the standard of last year's team. Mizzou's rushing game has been more consistent, though they did next to nothing last week against the Dawgs. Surely, this Tiger offense must be eager to prove themselves as better than last week's showing.

The Seminoles downed the Orange with relative ease last
Saturday, but face a far greater challenge when the Irish visit
Tallahassee this week. Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Sixty minutes after the Florida-Missouri game kicks off, the national game-of-the-week will be underway just a couple hours northwest in Tallahassee. There, the Seminoles face the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. This appears to be Florida State's greatest challenge thus far in the season. The Seminoles have looked surprisingly vulnerable so far, though they cruised to a victory last week in Syracuse. North Carolina nearly defeated the Irish last week in South Bend, though they have generally looked impressive this fall. Both teams have quarterbacks that have played for a BCS championship. Both have respectable defenses and talented offenses. What may decide the game is its location (an FSU advantage) and whether Notre Dame can stop Jameis Winston's passing attack. In every close game in which Winston has played quarterback for FSU, the gunslinger has been clutch in the fourth. But Notre Dame itself is no stranger to winning games in the final minutes. The winner will emerge as one of the few unbeaten teams left in college football.

In SEC country, Texas A&M will come back to Tuscaloosa after defeating the Tide there in 2012's classic game. This time, of course, there will be no AJ McCarron or Johnny Manziel. These teams appear evenly matched, though the home team may have the edge. Top 10-ranked Georgia travels to Fayetteville for their game against the Razorbacks. The Hogs may not be ranked, but do not expect them to fold against the highly-touted Bulldogs. Both teams prefer to run the ball. One team may have to score in the fourth to win it. Two five-win teams meet in Baton Rouge, though neither is ranked. Kentucky has risen to 5-1, but should face their toughest test of the year with the Tigers in Death Valley. Kentucky cannot win if they do not find a way to limit the effectiveness of LSU's running game. LSU must avoid errors, like they did last week against Florida, to keep the game out of the Wildcats' reach.

Out west, Oklahoma faces Kansas State in Norman. Though the Sooners are playing at home, the Wildcats come an extra week rested. Both teams have impressed at times and looked vulnerable at others. This game should be close in the end. Stanford should be challenged by Arizona State as they play in Tempe. The Sun Devils have had six more days of preparation and are playing at home. Still, Stanford's defense should keep this game competitive and could win it for the Cardinal.

State of Florida:

• South Florida (2-4) over Tulsa (1-5), 20-17
• UCF (3-2) over Tulane (2-4), 20-10
• Western Kentucky (2-3) over Florida Atlantic (2-4), 41-38
• #25 Marshall (6-0) over FIU (3-4), 45-24
• Florida (3-2) over Missouri (4-2), 23-13
• #2 Florida State (6-0) over #5 Notre Dame (6-0), 38-35
• Miami (4-3), BYE

Southeastern Conference:

• South Carolina (3-3) over Furman (2-4), 49-7
• #7 Alabama (5-1) over #21 Texas A&M (5-2), 24-17
• #10 Georgia (5-1) over Arkansas (3-3), 24-21
• #3 Mississippi (6-0) over Tennessee (3-3), 35-10
• LSU (5-2) over Kentucky (5-1), 38-28
• #6 Auburn (5-1), BYE
• #1 Mississippi State (6-0), BYE
• Vanderbilt (2-5), BYE

Top 25:

• #4 Baylor (6-0) over West Virginia (4-2), 49-41
• #8 Michigan State (5-1) over Indiana (3-3), 45-28
• #9 Oregon (5-1) over Washington (5-1), 45-31
• #11 Oklahoma (5-1) over #14 Kansas State (4-1), 31-28
• #12 TCU (4-1) over #15 Oklahoma State (5-1), 44-31
• #13 Ohio State (4-1) over Rutgers (5-1), 45-24
• #23 Stanford (4-2) over #17 Arizona State (4-1), 24-17
• #19 Nebraska (5-1) over Northwestern (3-3), 31-20
• #20 Utah (4-1) over Oregon State (4-1), 31-24
• #22 USC (4-2) over Colorado (2-4), 38-24
• #24 Clemson (4-2) over Boston College (4-2), 27-23
• #16 Arizona (5-1), BYE
• #18 East Carolina (5-1), BYE