College football overreactions after Week 8: Unexpected Big Ten winner?

Another week of chaotic college football. Three top-10 teams lost last weekend, and a total of seven top-25 teams suffered defeat.

And if you like overtime, you saw some of that as well. Indiana struggled with Michigan. The Hoosiers’ and Wolverines’ defenses were elite, but Indiana came out on top 13-6 on Saturday. BYU and UCF also went into overtime. The “Bounce House” was in full effect, and the Knights walked out a 39-31 winner over the Cougars.

After another stellar week of football, here are our overreactions.

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Big 12 will get one team in CFP

Entering Week 8, there were four undefeated Big 12 teams. As predicted, two of them lost this weekend. After stunning Notre Dame in Provo, BYU suffered a 39-31 overtime loss to UCF. The Cougars weren’t the only one to go down. Texas Tech lost 37-24 to Cincinnati.

Utah was the lone winner, but the Utes weren’t overly impressive at home against Houston. Utah won 21-13 in a defensive struggle. It has been the same story regarding the Big 12, and Week 8 is starting to show much of the same in 2026. They all beat up on each other, which will make the Big 12 Championship Game all that more important.

With both the SEC and Big Ten having a plethora of teams ranked, the Big 12 and ACC will be on the outside looking in come Selection Day.

Texas’ only shot at playoff is winning out

After a 34-27 win over Ole Miss on Saturday, Texas moved to 5-2 and the Longhorns have three impressive wins. Texas beat Ohio State, Tennessee and Ole Miss, but the Longhorns have already shot themselves in the foot twice.

Losses against Oklahoma and Florida might not resonate well in an SEC conference full of parity. Kentucky is currently on top of the conference — who would’ve guessed that? — and unless Texas wins out, a three-loss Longhorns team might not be good enough to get in.

Texas’ offense scored 10 points in the second half, after putting up 24 points in the first 30 minutes against the Rebels. It’s hard to trust Arch Manning, and if Texas is going to win out, Manning needs to elevate his game.

Wisconsin could win Big Ten

Michigan, Oregon and Penn State are all bad. Indiana looks fraudulent after struggling with the Wolverines. The Hoosiers are 7-1, but very easily could’ve lost to Northwestern, Nebraska and Michigan. Ohio State is without star quarterback Julian Sayin, which should hamper the Buckeyes’ offense.

UCLA is undefeated and on pace to make the Big Ten Championship Game. But who will meet the Bruins, assuming they get there? Wisconsin moved to 5-2 after beating USC 24-7 at home. Here are the remaining teams on Wisconsin’s schedule: at Iowa, vs. Rutgers, at Maryland, at Purdue and vs. Minnesota.

Minnesota will be the toughest game there, but it’s winnable. Luke Fickell went from a burning hot seat to resurrecting Wisconsin, and it’s because of the Badgers’ defense. There are a lot of tiebreakers that could be in play, but Wisconsin is a team to pay attention to.

Unexpected team will be Miami’s biggest contender in ACC

Currently, there are three ACC teams ranked. Miami is on top, undefeated. Then both SMU and Wake Forest are ranked and both teams have one conference loss. The Mustangs are the logical choice to contend with Miami, while Wake Forest has quarterback Gio Lopez, who has been lighting the college football world on fire.

But don’t look past Virginia Tech. James Franklin has usually lost the big games, and Va. Tech has lost two games it should’ve won. Losses against both Pitt and Cal by a combined seven points is far from ideal, but the Hokies are playing good football.

Virginia Tech will play both SMU and Miami on the road this season, so we will learn a lot about the Hokies. Ethan Grunkemeyer has been elite and could do some damage against those defenses.

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