Week 8 of the college football season is here, and it's a doozy. You have four matchups between top-25 opponents, including No. 12 Oregon at No. 25 Washington State, No. 16 N.C. State at No. 3 Clemson, No. 6 Michigan at No. 24 Michigan State and No. 22 Mississippi State at No. 5 LSU.
Like we said, it's a doozy of a week.
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That said, there other interesting games to key in on, including the Third Saturday in October between No. 1 Alabama and Tennessee (which just beat Auburn in Jordan-Hare and is led by former Tide defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt). We have picks for all these games and more, many of which can be streamed online at fuboTV.
Sporting News is 38-18 in its picks this season after going 6-2 last week. Here are our picks for Week 8 (all lines reflect Consensus Picks from VegasInsider.com as of Tuesday):
Maryland at No. 19 Iowa (-10)
Maryland last week was able to rebound nicely from a 42-21 loss against Michigan by drubbing Rutgers 34-7. No offense to the Scarlet Knights, but how will the Terrapins look against an actual functioning team? It’ll be a strength-against-strength affair, as Maryland pits its rush offense (which averages 245 yards a game) against a Hawkeyes team that surrenders just 81.8 yards on the ground. In the end, we’ll go with the home team that has the better quarterback (Nate Stanley has 15 touchdowns and five interceptions to Kasim Hill’s six touchdowns and two interceptions). Iowa 31, Maryland 24
No. 2 Ohio State (-13.5) at Purdue
Nick Bosa is gone from Ohio State, another hurdle for the Buckeyes this year as they continue run at a potential Playoff berth. The Buckeyes have won this year, but haven’t been consistently dominant in wins over Minnesota or Indiana the last two weeks. Now they go against a Purdue team that knows how to put up yards (510.2 per game) and points (33.5 per game). The Buckeyes will need to focus on Purdue receiver Rondale Moore to keep him blowing the game open with his play-making ability. Do that, and the Buckeyes have more than enough talent, on paper, to leave West Lafayette with a win. Ohio State 42, Purdue 30
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No. 9 Oklahoma (-7.5) at TCU
The Sooners’ Playoff hopes took a big hit in their loss to Texas, and it’s now on Lincoln Riley to ensure TCU doesn’t spoil their season for good. We know the Sooners can score with Kyler Murray, Marquise Brown, CeeDee Lamb and others. The question is whether a defense without defensive coordinator Mike Stoops can keep TCU at arm’s length. TCU quarterback Shawn Robinson has nine touchdowns and eight interceptions on the year, so if Oklahoma can force one or two takeaways, it should be enough for the Sooners to get back on track. Oklahoma 38, TCU 27
No. 1 Alabama (-28.5) at Tennessee
Another week, another absurd line for Alabama to beat. This one’s a rivalry game, so you know the Tide will be up and ready to play. But Tennessee showed marked improvement in a dominating 30-24 win at Auburn on Saturday, the game is in Knoxville and Jeremy Pruitt should have some knowledge of what to expect from Alabama’s because of his time as the Tide's defensive coordinator. Tua Tagovailoa is reportedly fine after tweaking his knee against Arkansas, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll play for any significant amount of time. Alabama will win, but a combination of pride and confidence from the Vols will keep it closer than people expect — relatively. Alabama 42, Tennessee 17
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No. 12 Oregon at No. 25 Washington State (-3)
The Ducks face their second big challenge in as many weeks against one-loss Washington State, a game that the Pac-12 offices will watch with bated breath. If Oregon gets by Mike Leach and the Cougars it stands to reason the Ducks could win the Pac-12 North with just one loss heading into championship weekend. Both Oregon (43 points, 482.8 yards per game) and Washington State (41.8 points, 485.5 yards per game) are incredible on offense, so this will come down to which team makes the big play on defense. We’ll pick a resurgent Oregon team to make that play, and win a close game in Pullman. Oregon 45, Washington State 40
No. 16 N.C. State at No. 3 Clemson (-16.5)
The battle of the ACC’s last two undefeateds could have monumental implications on the Playoff, particularly if Dave Doeren’s Wolfpack leaves Death Valley with a win. N.C. State has played Clemson tough each of the last two years and arguably should be 1-1 in that stretch. Ryan Finley is playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the conference, and the battle he’ll have with Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence should be fun to watch. That said, it’s hard to pick against Clemson as long as it has that incredible defensive front. The Tigers win, but we think the line is way too high. Clemson 30, N.C. State 20
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No. 6 Michigan (-7) at No. 24 Michigan State
Both teams are coming off huge wins: Michigan, a beatdown of Wisconsin and Michigan State a comeback upset over Penn State. The Spartans have an 8-3 advantage over the Wolverines under Mark Dantonio, including a 2-1 mark against Jim Harbaugh. This game hasn't been decided by more than nine points each of the last three years, and there’s no reason to think it’ll be any different this time around. If you look at the 2017 game between these two teams, Michigan’s inability to make any headway passing the ball was the reason Michigan State won. We think Shea Patterson is the difference this time around. Michigan 27, Michigan State 21
No. 22 Mississippi State at No. 5 LSU (-6.5)
Will LSU have a letdown game after its dominant win over Georgia? The Tigers can’t get caught looking ahead at Alabama or the Bulldogs could make them regret it. Nick Fitzgerald has four passing touchdowns to three interceptions this year, but his ability to hurt defenses is on the ground, where he has 513 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s a near-constant threat, but look for that speedy LSU defense (which allows only 289.7 yards per game) to keep him mostly corralled. Jeffery Simmons and Montez Sweat try to get pressure on Joe Burrow, but he leads the Tigers to a close victory. LSU 30, Mississippi State 23
