College football risers and fallers: Utah surges as two CFP contenders come crashing down

The Big 12 looked on its way to potentially placing three teams in the College Football Playoff after Week 7. Upset losses for BYU and Texas Tech could potentially change that outcome, though.

The No. 2 Cougars lost to UCF 39-31 in double overtime after taking down then-No. 2 Notre Dame in Week 7, while Texas Tech was thrashed by Cincinnati 37-24 on Saturday, Oct. 24. Utah now sits in the driver's seat for a Big 12 championship berth after being tied with BYU and Texas Tech for first place heading into Week 8.

Week 8 winners, losers: Big 12 flop, Texas fight back

Playoff Predictor: NIL era killed the superteam. CFP chaos is the payoff

Elsewhere, a pair of two-loss SEC teams Texas and LSU still look like contenders following big performances in Week 8. The SEC is wide open in 2026, with numerous teams still in contention for the conference title.

The parity in college football has never been better, with plenty to still be figured out with a few weeks left in the regular season.

Utah's win over Houston with ESPN's "College GameDay" on site leads college football risers and fallers after Week 8 of the season. Here's a look:

College football risers after Week 8

Utah

Utah is in the driver's seat for a Big 12 championship berth after its 21-13 win over Houston to improve to 7-0 on the season. Quarterback Devon Dampier was fantastic on the ground, rushing 15 times for 150 yards with two touchdowns despite throwing two interceptions in the win.

Utah's win and BYU's loss sets up virtually a must-win game for the Cougars when the two in-state rivals face off Nov. 7. The Utes potentially have some wiggle room when it comes to the Big 12 title race, although tiebreakers could come into question.

Utah looks like the best team in the conference right now, though.

Texas

Texas' backs were against the wall against Ole Miss after back-to-back losses to Oklahoma and Florida. The Longhorns kept their CFP hopes alive, though, in a 34-27 win over the Rebels at home.

Quarterback Arch Manning still wasn't fantastic, committing three turnovers in the win, although he scored two total touchdowns. Running back Raleek Brown had a breakout game, rushing for 157 yards on 23 carries for a Longhorns' offense that has struggled to find success on the ground this season.

Texas' defense is among the best in the country, and it has three top-20 ranked wins this season against Ole Miss, Tennessee and Ohio State. If it can find some run game success, the Longhorns could be a national title contender.

Toppmeyer: Arch Manning got 'counted out' at Texas. Don't think he didn't notice that

LSU

LSU, like Texas, has two losses this season, both of which have come in conference play against Ole Miss and Kentucky.

The Tigers have looked like an SEC title contender the past two weeks, with quarterback Sam Leavitt playing his best and cleanest football for first-year coach Lane Kiffin. Leavitt has back-to-back turnover-less games for the first time this season, with 676 passing yards and eight total touchdowns in LSU's two wins over Mississippi State and Auburn.

While Mississippi State and Auburn are two bottom-tier teams in the SEC, it's still a step in the right direction for a team filled with talent. LSU is still in contention for a CFP and conference championship game berth.

College football fallers after Week 8

USC

The Lincoln Riley era might be coming to an end at USC. The Trojans were dominated by Wisconsin 24w-7 in Week 8, setting them up for a brutal finish with upcoming games against Ohio State, Indiana and UCLA in three of their final four games.

USC will likely be the underdog in all three of those games, with the lone exception being a home contest against Maryland. Losses in those games would result in a 7-5 season for USC, which would represent a worst-case scenario for a team that had big expectations entering 2026.

The vibes are not good for one team in Los Angeles, while UCLA is one of only three teams still undefeated in Power Four.

USC legend puts Lincoln Riley on blast: ‘Tough decisions have got to be made’

Texas Tech

Texas Tech was 6-0 entering its matchup against Cincinnati but was ranked in the bottom-half of both total offense and defense in the Big 12 before the game.

The Bearcats exposed those flaws in Week 8, putting up 427 total yards while averaging 6.4 yards per carry against the Red Raiders.

Texas Tech still controls its own destiny going forward, but with upcoming games against Arizona and Oklahoma State, it can't sleepwalk its way to a conference championship game berth, especially with as many teams still alive in the Big 12 title race.

BYU

BYU made a statement to college football with its 28-24 upset win over Notre Dame in Week 7. That win now looks like an anomaly after being upset by UCF and its backup quarterback in Week 8.

The Knights torched the Cougars for 463 total yards, 328 of which came from quarterback Keyone Jenkins, a first-year transfer from Florida International who scored four touchdowns in the 39-31 double overtime win.

BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier only completed 50% of his passes while the team averaged 3.2 yards per carry. It wasn't a pretty performance for a team that looked like a dark horse CFP contender in Week 7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football risers and fallers: Utah surges as two CFP contenders come crashing down