College football Week 8: No. 5 Mississippi-No. 9 Georgia tops list of five Top 25 matchups

This is one of those weekends where college football fans should wisely make time for yard work or grocery shopping.

Their best option might be to plop down in front of their screen and take in a Week 8 schedule, highlighted by five matchups of the season Associated Press Top 25 shifts on Saturday.

The day starts with No. 10 LSU visiting No. 17 Vanderbilt and playing No. 5 Mississippi at No. 9 Georgia. In prime time, No. 10 Tennessee is at No. 6 Alabama, No. 20 Southern California visits No. 13 Notre Dame and No. 23 Utah makes the short trip to No. 15 BYU.

Two ranked teams are in action Friday night, with Louisville falling to No. 2 Miami with one loss and No. 25 Nebraska in Minnesota.

There are some sneaky good games, too: No. 12 Georgia Tech, which has been living on the edge while starting 6-0, plays on the road against a Duke team that has won three straight since a 1-2 start. No. 7 Texas Tech visits defending Big 12 champion Arizona State, which is in despair after being eliminated in Utah. Both teams’ quarterbacks are dealing with injuries.

No. 5 Mississippi (6-0, 3-0 SEC) at No. 9 Georgia (5-1, 3-1), Saturday, 3:30 PM ET (ABC)

The funny thing about this top-10 match is that there is an aura on both teams that something is not right.

Mississippi, a near five-touchdown favorite at home last week against mediocre Washington State, was lethargic and couldn’t secure its lead. 24-21 win until it stopped the Cougars on the final series of the game.

Georgia won 20-10 at Auburn in a game that could have easily gone the other way if the officials had ruled Tigers QB Jackson Arnold scored a touchdown instead of fumbling toward the goal line late in the first half. The Bulldogs trailed in the second half in three of their four SEC games.

UNLV (6-0, 2-0 MWC) at Boise State (4-2, 2-0), Saturday, 3:30 PM ET (FS1)

The Rebels have been trying to knock Boise State off the top of the Mountain West for three years. The teams have met in the last two conference championship games, as well as a regular season game last year, and the Broncos have won them all. Boise State has even won nine straight in the series.

UNLV is 6-0 for the first time since 1974 and clings to College Football Playoff hopes despite the light schedule. This will be the Rebels’ toughest game – they are an 11-point underdog – and if they win, they could stay in the lead for the rest of the regular season. If that happens, they might play Boise State again in the MWC championship game.

Quarterbacks Carson Beck of Miami, Ty Simpson of Alabama and Fernando Mendoza of Indiana have separated from the pack entering the second half of the season.

Beck and Simpson are 7-to-2 co-favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, with Mendoza next at 11-to-2.

Beck comes off an open date to play a challenging home game on Friday evening against Louisville, which was also shut down last week after its first loss of the season, against Virginia. Simpson will have the spotlight at home against Tennessee, and Mendoza will get a chance to put up big numbers at home against Michigan State.

18.4% – Sam Houston’s third drop, worst in Week 7 since Colorado State’s 16.9% in 2022.

28 — Western Michigan’s leading player loses seven games, nine more than the 2024 total of 13 games.

42 — Memphis’ leading streak of games in the FBS in which it has scored at least 20 points.

54 — Iowa penalties since the start of the 2024 season, 10 fewer than the next team.

2006 — Last year, Nebraska won back-to-back road games. The Cornhuskers won in Maryland last week and will visit Minnesota on Friday.

Hugh Freeze is 14-17 at Auburn, and the Tigers would start 0-4 in SEC play for the third straight year if they lose at home to No. 16 Missouri. That won’t work in the land of War Eagle.

The Tigers (3-3) opened with a solid one win over Baylor and predictably lopsided victories Ball stands And South Alabama. Facing four straight Top 25 opponents to start SEC play was never going to be easy. But the Tigers’ struggles to move the ball — four touchdowns in the past three games — seem inexcusable for a coach who arrived three years ago with a reputation as an offensive wizard.

Freeze’s buyout would be $15.4 million if he is fired after the season.

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