College Football Playoff projections Week 8: Where Ole Miss and Texas Tech landed originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Four top-10 teams lost, another head coach was fired, others now feel their seats getting hotter and more teams were effectively eliminated from their conferenc

Parity has been the watchword in college football this year -- the elite teams don't seem quite as elite, and the sport's middle class seems closer to the top of the pack than usual. It rules, frankly. Week 8 certainly reinforced that notion. It was a breathless mess from start to finish.

Games with ACC or Big Ten teams that involved three times worth of travel generally went quite well for the home teams in Week 8, as they finished 6-1 in contests against their cross-country visitors. The one exception was quite notable, as Rutgers ended up on the wrong side of Oregon's wrath in a 56-10 loss to an angry group of Ducks.

Through Week 8 of college football, the FBS passing-yard crown remains a crowded race headlined by Baylor's Sawyer Robertson and Duke's Darian Mensah, with USC's Jayden Maiava close behind.

ESPN bowl gurus Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach are projecting every postseason matchup, including their breakdowns of how the playoff will play out, and we'll be back every week of the season until the actual matchups are set. Friday, Dec. 19/Saturday, Dec. 20

How will the Week 8 schedule impact SEC teams in the updated Week 9 Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 rankings? Check out the latest polls here:

The 2025 college football season has officially surpassed the midway point of the regular season after the conclusion of a thrilling Week 8 slate. Among the games that will shape the College Football Playoff picture was the final matchup between No. 13 Notre Dame and No. 20 USC for the foreseeable future.