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Best games to watch in Week 8 of college football and the rest of the season
Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett continues his Heisman drive this weekend against a hungry Penn State team. AP Photo/Jay LaPrete, File

Best games to watch in Week 8 of college football and the rest of the season

We are at the halfway point of the season. There have been some pleasant surprises (West Virginia) and some major disappointments (Notre Dame). And yet, still sitting atop the college football world is Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson.

This week in the 'Storyline' section in each league, I will look at the game which seems to be the biggest game left on the slate. Some we've been waiting all season for while others have suddenly become the apples of our eye.

1-SOUTHEAST CONFERENCE

FAVORITE: ALABAMA
The Tide went into Fayetteville and pounded Arkansas.  Last week they completely smoked Tennessee in Knoxville. Not they get a home game against probably the best team they'll face until the playoffs.

GAME OF THE WEEK: TEXAS A&M AT ALABAMA
This is seemingly a playoff game. The Aggies and Crimson Tide are two of the best teams in the SEC – heck, the country – and they'll face off with the West Division lead on the line. Both are undefeated, ranked among the top six in the nation and the loser of this game really puts their postseason hopes in jeopardy, even if they go 11-1.

UNDER-THE-RADAR GAME: ARKANSAS AT AUBURN
That West Division has three games that feature ranked teams. Here is another one with the surprising Auburn Tigers taking on the defensive minded Razorbacks. Both teams hang their hats on the defensive end so this should be a slobber-knocker.

HEISMAN WATCH: CHAD KELLY, OLE MISS
He's been so good this year, even in the losses. He won't be close to winning the Heisman, but his play has been among the best in the nation.

STORYLINE
Aside from the obvious Alabama-Texas A&M game this week, I'm looking forward to the Alabama-LSU game on November 5th. Check this out: the Crimson Tide will play just one road game the rest of the season and this is it. LSU has its problems, but they are still dangerous and a win over Alabama could give them the lead in the division race. Alabama has won the last five meetings (including the BCS championship game back in 2012). It would've been more fun with Les Miles still in Baton Rouge but, we can deal.

2-BIG TEN CONFERENCE

FAVORITE: OHIO STATE
The Ohio State University just barely got the win over Wisconsin which makes the gap between they and Michigan that much smaller. Cannot wait for that game.

GAME OF THE WEEK: WISCONSIN AT IOWA
Wisconsin is just glad to not see the Wolverines or Buckeyes. They hung close with two of the best teams in the country but just fell short. Iowa is a trap team that can play and Iowa City is a tough place to play. This should be another tough, physical game for Wisconsin with the Badgers finally pulling one out.

UNDER-THE-RADAR GAME: OHIO STATE AT PENN STATE
I'm not saying that the Nittany Lions will upset the Buckeyes, but the potential is there. Ohio State squeaked by a huge win over Wisconsin and is looking at Nebraska and Michigan in a month. Penn State isn't on that level, but they can run the football and Ohio State does have trouble stopping the run. Just sayin'.

HEISMAN WATCH: J.T. BARRETT, OHIO STATE
Statistically Barrett wasn't outstanding, but he came up huge down the stretch. A couple of rushing scores along with a passing one barely pulled out the win over the Badgers.

STORYLINE
The Ohio State-Michigan game in Columbus is still the game of the year in the league. It brings up an interesting situation that the ACC, SEC and Pac-12 could face – can the second best team in a conference get into the College Football Playoff if they are also the second best team in their division? The loser of this game is, right now, one of the four best teams in the country. But that team won't even play for a conference title, let alone win it.

3-ATLANTIC COAST CONFERNCE


FAVORITE: CLEMSON
A blown field goal as time expired by NC State keeps Clemson in the Playoff Race. If the Tigers win the ACC, this would be their luck that got them through.

GAME OF THE WEEK: NORTH CAROLINA AT VIRGINIA
The South's oldest rivalry, North Carolina and Virginia will meet for the 121st time. This is one of the most streaky rivalries you will find. The Tar Heels have currently won six straight over the Hoos and that comes after Virginia won 18 of 23 meetings (trust me, the streaky nature of this series goes back to 1892). Carolina comes off a huge win at Miami and needs to keep up the momentum against a Virginia squad that's been up and (mostly) down this year.

UNDER-THE-RADAR GAME: NC STATE AT LOUISVILLE
One week after nearly beating Clemson in Death Valley, the Wolfpack get to face the ACC's second best team, Louisville. This will be an interesting test to see if the blown win over Clemson will be in the heads and hearts of NC State as they were nearly 6-1 walking into this one, where hungry Louisville awaits.

HEISMAN WATCH: LAMAR JACKSON, LOUISVILLE
Jackson had a ho-hum passing day in the win over Duke last week, but he did run for 144 yards and a touchdown. It wasn't your classic video game showing we've grown accustomed to but he's still the steady leader of the Heisman race.

STORYLINE
The game that many around the ACC were pointing to will still be pretty big. Clemson heads to Tallahassee to face Florida State on October 29th and while the Seminoles are all but out of the running for an ACC title, they are really the biggest threat for Clemson to get a playoff spot. After that, it should be smooth sailing until the ACC championship game against, well, who knows.

4-PACIFIC 12 CONFERENCE

FAVORITE: WASHINGTON
The Huskies took a break from all those signature wins they've been racking up. Sure, Stanford has been stung and Oregon is turning out to be bad but these are big psychological wins. Back to the grind this week against Oregon State.

GAME OF THE WEEK: WASHINGTON STATE AT ARIZONA STATE
Again with the Arizona State? Well, not only do you have Washington State facing off against that Sun Devil offense that has struggled of late, but we also have Signalgate. Dub-State head coach Mike Leach has been accusing Arizona State of stealing signals. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen, but it puts a little fire on this game that normally wouldn't be there.

UNDER-THE-RADAR GAME: COLORADO AT STANFORD
Stanford came back to stop the bleeding against Notre Dame. While they need a lot to get back into the Pac-12 race, they still can try to get one of those New Year's Six bowls. Colorado has those same dreams and are sitting at 3-1 in Pac-12 play and tied with Utah atop the South Division standings.

HEISMAN WATCH: JAKE BROWNING, WASHINGTON
Browning was off last week, but he gets lowly Oregon State this week. Let the stats fly!

STORYLINE
The biggest week in the Pac-12 is usually the final week. There will be two rivalry games that could mean everything.  In the South, we have Utah vs Colorado which matches up two teams who have one loss thus far in conference play. But the big one could be the Apple Cup matchup between Washington and Washington State. Both are undefeated in Pac-12 play and both have beaten Stanford handily. While there are some land mines, both could enter their November 25th game with the North Division title on the line. That's huge for Washington who could be undefeated at the time and needing the win just to get into the Pac-12 title game.

5-BIG 12 CONFERENCE

FAVORITE: BAYLOR
The Bears came back from their bye week and blasted Kansas, the Big 12's version of an extra bye week. The Bears are 6-0 but are heading down to the brutal part of their schedule.

GAME OF THE WEEK: TCU AT WEST VIRGINIA
We've been waiting for the Mountaineers to stumble and thought that maybe it could happen against Texas Tech last week. West Virginia went into Lubbock and rolled to a 48-17 win. Their offense is hot right now. TCU has a potent offense and a pretty good pass rush and could cause some problems for Skyler Howard. Still, the Frogs just haven't looked like the team we thought they'd be entering the season. They are coming off a bye so they should be prepared and fresh but WVU is coming off a rousing win.

UNDER-THE-RADAR GAME: OKLAHOMA AT TEXAS TECH
Well, Tech were blown out at home by West Virginia last week and now they welcome the Sooners. Oklahoma is coming off an impressive win over K-State. I am still one of those people that think Oklahoma is being underestimated due to their early losses to Houston and Ohio State. Sure, they may be out of the College Football Playoff race but this is still a really good team that can win the Big 12 title.

HEISMAN WATCH: SETH RUSSELL, BAYLOR
Russell had a rough passing game against Kansas last week despite the blowout win. He was just 9-of-22 passing but two of those completions went for TDs. Russell ran the ball great, as he piled up 68 yards and added two more touchdowns. Like I've been saying, Russell likely won't be a serious contender for the Heisman but he's been having a solid year for the conference's current top team.

STORYLINE
Final week of the year gives us Baylor at West Virginia. As of now, both teams are undefeated and if that stays true then this will be the de facto Big 12 championship game. Since the Big 12 doesn't hold an actual title tilt, this game will be played the same day as several of the Power 5 championship games. Of course, the Big 12 has made a recent practice of stacking the schedules late so the top teams in the conference have a battle royale the final month of the season so both of these schools will see Oklahoma and TCU at some point.

6-GROUP OF FIVE

FAVORITE: BOISE STATE
There are three teams that are on the watch list: Boise State, Western Michigan and Houston. Houston has already lost and, really, none of these teams will make the College Football Playoff but a New Year's Six bowl game is certainly in play. In fact, due to Houston's loss to Navy, they may not even make it to the AAC title game and would eliminate them from the New Year's Six bowl. Western Michigan has the best shot at getting it but Boise State is still undefeated and the highest ranked team which would give them preference.

GAME OF THE WEEK: EASTERN MICHIGAN AT WESTERN MICHIGAN
The three Michigan directional schools are having quite the season.  Western Michigan is undefeated and now ranked, Central Michigan won at Oklahoma State earlier this year and Eastern Michigan is having a fabulous season. Really, this game is about long-time rivals and a chance to see what all the fuss about Western Michigan is all about.

UNDER-THE-RADAR GAME: MEMPHIS AT NAVY
Both these schools are undefeated in AAC play and, don't look now, but both of these teams are leading the West Division. Navy, since they beat Houston already, have the inside track to get to the AAC title game.

HEISMAN WATCH: DONNEL PUMPHREY, SAN DIEGO STATE
Greg Ward's candidacy was linked to Houston's run to a playoff spot and that one loss to Navy has set that back. Pumphrey has been one of the best players all season long for a team most people haven't watched play. He's rushed for 1,111 yards and 11 TDs already this season (a lot of "1s" there). He probably has a good shot at being invited as a Heisman finalist.

STORYLINE
Well, since the Group of 5 comprises five conferences, let's just list the top game from each of those leagues as the season goes into the second half:

AMERICAN: Navy at South Florida (10/28): These are the leaders in each division and could be a preview of the AAC title game. It also could be a Navy loss that would help Houston climb up into the New Year's Six bowl discussion.

MOUNTAIN WEST: Boise State at Air Force (11/25): The final game of the season could see an undefeated BSU squad face a pretty good Air Force Academy team with the MW North title on the line.

MAC:  Toledo at Western Michigan (11/25): Another possible big game around Thanksgiving. WMU is rolling and has big dreams but Toledo can dash them away.  The Rockets are right on the Broncos tail and with a win could knock them out of the MAC title game and into it themselves.

CONFERENCE USA: Florida International at Old Dominion (11/26): Could ODU actually win Conference USA?  It's too early to tell, but they and FIU are trending towards a huge showdown Thanksgiving weekend.

SUN BELT: Appalachian State at Troy (11/12): These two have been the best Sun Belt teams this season and their meeting on November 12th could determine who win the conference title.

Can you name every Ohio State Buckeyes alum to make the NFL Pro Bowl?
SCORE:
0/61
TIME:
10:00
1961 (9)
Jim Tyrer
1957 (8)
Jim Parker
1964 (8)
Paul Warfield
1974 (7)
Randy Gradishar
2006 (7)
Nick Mangold
1997 (7)
Orlando Pace
1959 (6)
Dick Schafrath
1963 (5)
Bob Vogel
1996 (4)
Eddie George
1960 (4)
Jim Houston
1988 (4)
Chris Spielman
1971 (3)
John Brockington
2016 (3)
Ezekiel Elliott
2011 (3)
Cameron Heyward
2009 (3)
Malcolm Jenkins
1985 (3)
Jim Lachey
1947 (3)
Dante Lavelli
1959 (3)
Dick LeBeau
1964 (3)
Matt Snell
1971 (3)
Jack Tatum
2016 (3)
Michael Thomas
2006 (3)
Donte Whitner
1999 (3)
Antoine Winfield
1961 (3)
Ernie Wright
1947 (2)
Tony Adamle
2002 (2)
LeCharles Bentley
2016 (2)
Joey Bosa
1953 (2)
Fred Bruney
1972 (2)
Tom DeLeone
1975 (2)
Doug France
1986 (2)
Pepper Johnson
2017 (2)
Marshon Lattimore
1960 (2)
Jim Marshall
1961 (2)
Tom Matte
2014 (2)
Ryan Shazier
1993 (2)
Robert Smith
1981 (1)
Todd Bell
2019 (1)
Nick Bosa
1999 (1)
David Boston
1986 (1)
Keith Byars
2001 (1)
Nate Clements
1967 (1)
Mike Current
1969 (1)
Dave Foley
1976 (1)
Tim Fox
1984 (1)
Shaun Gayle
1996 (1)
Terry Glenn
1947 (1)
Tommy James
1977 (1)
Pete Johnson
1950 (1)
Fred Morrison
1970 (1)
Jim Otis
1984 (1)
William Roberts
1944 (1)
Bob Shaw
1977 (1)
Tom Skladany
2004 (1)
Will Smith
1997 (1)
Shawn Springs
1995 (1)
Korey Stringer
1988 (1)
Tom Tupa
1964 (1)
Dick Van Raaphorst
1997 (1)
Mike Vrabel
2018 (1)
Denzel Ward
1938 (1)
Gust Zarnas

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