College Football Week 8 Power Rankings

After pretty much minimal movement and upsets, Week 7 provided a few shocks to the climate of college football. Stanford losing to Utah and Georgia falling to Missouri were the biggest losers. Georgia now has two losses on the year and essentially out of the national title picture barring a lot of major upsets. The rest of top that was playing got through their slate and Alabama and Oregon still look like they are on pace for a January matchup. Northwestern suffered their second straight Big Ten defeat while Michigan lost a crazy 4 overtime game against Penn State. Those losses knocked them out of the top 25 along with an idle Notre Dame. Those drops cleared the way for Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, and Auburn to enter the top 25. Auburn will have a similar challenge as Missouri did last week as a top 25 team with a top tier SEC opponent next.

With Week 8 ahead, here are this week's power rankings:
1)(1) Alabama (vs Arkansas)- They are playing sharp in all phases at this point and hard to see this not winning big again this week.
2)(2) Oregon (vs Washington State)- They went to Washington and dismantled a defense playing very well and should continue their steamrolling of opponents again this week.
3)(3) Ohio State (vs Iowa)- They return from a bye and should not overlook the Hawkeyes in what could be another challenge for them.
4)(4) Clemson (vs Florida State)- They survived their first major test to start the year and know a win this week could set them up in position to play for a national title.
5)(6) Florida State (at Clemson)- They have looked nearly unstoppable in each win and they get their first real chance to show how good they are this week.
6)(8) Louisville (vs UCF)- They had to scrape by last week and could have a similar tough one this week in what continues to look like a potential undefeated season.
7)(10) LSU (at Mississippi)- They continue to be on pace for a potential SEC West crown but it won't be easy.
8)(9) Texas A&M (vs Auburn)- They have often gone by QB Johnny Manziel's play and it is hard to see him slowing down this year as could be said about their emerging star receiver.
9)(11) South Carolina (at Tennessee)- They had had questions around their star defender and potential health worries around their quarterback and whether either or both miss time could impact their second half this year.
10)(12) UCLA (at Stanford)- They have answered the bell each week so far but this week will a tough one that will show how good they truly are.
11)(14) Miami (FL) (at UNC)- They are looking to continue their first half success through the second half in what could be a true return to glory at this pace.
12)(16) Baylor (vs Iowa State)- They continue to be possibly the best offense in the country as it is hard to see them slowing their point barrage this week.
13)(5) Stanford (vs UCLA)- They are looking to bounce back after a tough loss and a tough tier opponent could provide them with a major boost.
14)(24) Missouri (vs Florida)- Can they repeat their major win last week with another one against another top SEC East foe?
15)(7) Georgia (at Vanderbilt)-They are battling injuries and will need to lean heavily on QB Aaron Murray if they hope to avoid another loss this year.
16)(22) Texas Tech (at West Virginia)- They got a scare last week and will need to be leery of another one on the road this week.
17)(23) Fresno State (vs UNLV)- They should do well again this week and keep their undefeated season going.
18)(20) Oklahoma State (vs TCU)- They have slowed down a bit recently and should be careful this week not to let it stay close.
19)(18) Washington (at Arizona State)- Back to back Pac-12 losses have brought them back to a familiar spot in the Pac-12 and need to start the bleeding quickly.
20)(13) Oklahoma (at Kansas)- They got beat pretty badly in one of their biggest games each year and will need to prevent any hangover.
21)(21) Nebraska (BYE)- They get a bye at a time when the Big 10 looks open behind Ohio State.
22)(NR) Wisconsin (at Illinois)-They look to continue their momentum from last week against a solid conference foe on the road.
23)(NR) Northern Illinois (at Central Michigan)- They are continuing to build on their success from last year and look to keep that going at least for one more week.
24)(NR) Auburn (at Texas A&M)-Can they continue their comeback year with a big win that eluded them earlier this year?
25)(19) Florida (at Missouri)- They know they need this win to avoid falling out of the SEC conversation.

NEXT 5
1) Northwestern (vs Minnesota)- They started the year with a lot of hope and wins and now find themselves in a need of a big win in their conference and for them overall.
2) Michigan (vs Indiana)- They were escaping a couple close calls until they got pushed to multiple overtimes and need to avoid what could be another threat.
3) Notre Dame (vs USC)- They will likely come out fired up a little extra this week with a huge rivalry game.
4) Virginia Tech (BYE)- They get a bye and it could be a good timing as they enter the second half of the year looking like they are ready for another late season push.
5) Arizona State (vs Washington)- They truly are the hardest team to figure out in the Pac-12 and could win or lose their next one to continue their up and down trend.

There are a couple more ranked matchups this week and now the conference part of schedules are in full swing so last week's upsets could continue again this week as truly no team is 100% safe. Now more than ever, each game and how you win becomes that much more important.