Eight saddest college football fanbases after Week 8

What's worse is that there is a real possibility the Hurricanes could get squeezed out of the ACC championship game now.

No. 7 Georgia Tech is 7-0 and doesn't play another ranked conference team, closing with Syracuse, at NC State and Boston College and home vs. Pitt.

No. 16 Virginia is also unbeaten in the ACC because its Week 2 loss to NC State was actually considered a non-conference game, part of a home-and-home contract agreed to outside of the ACC's official schedule. The Cavaliers close at North Carolina, at Cal, vs. Wake Forest, at Duke and vs. Virginia Tech and could potentially run the table as well.

SMU is 3-0 in ACC play, but has a tougher road the rest of the way, including a game with Miami. And Louisville is 2-1 in the conference and would hold the tiebreaker over Miami if both teams end up with one loss.

So that's three teams that could keep Miami from the ACC championship game, with the Hurricanes having no control over it.

Of course, Miami can still secure a spot in the College Football Playoff either way by winning out, but there has always been the question of whether coach Mario Cristobal can elevate his team to the top level.

His best team at Oregon in 2019 was ranked No. 6 in late November when it lost to unranked Arizona State to fall out of the CFP chase.

His 2021 Ducks team got as high as No. 3 in the rankings in early October before losing to unranked Stanford, then climbed back to No. 3 before losing to Utah twice in the span of three weeks. And his Miami team last year was 9-0 and ranked No. 4 when it lost to unranked Georgia Tech and Syracuse teams in the span of three weeks to miss the playoff.

Given that history, Miami fans have to now be worried this season could unravel like those ones did for Cristobal before.

2. USC Trojans

There was significant frustration among USC fans last year with Lincoln Riley's in-game decision-making and a feeling that Riley had cost the Trojans at least a couple of games during a disappointing 7-6 season in which they led in the fourth quarter in all but one game.

So USC's 34-24 loss at Notre Dame on Saturday night -- or more to the point, how the Trojans lost -- tore open old wounds.

Coming into South Bend, Indiana, 5-1 and No. 20 in the rankings, USC had a real shot to show that it was back after two down seasons and put itself very much in the CFP race if it could beat No. 13 Notre Dame. And the Trojans were on their way to doing that, holding three separate leads in the game, including 24-21 late in the third quarter after a momentous 59-yard touchdown pass from Jayden Maiava to Ja'Kobi Lane.

That one was short-lived, though, as USC immediately gave up a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown to Notre Dame's Jadarian Price.

The Trojans still had every chance to recover and pull out the win, but they would fall apart from there.

Maiava tossed an interception on the next series. USC then caught a break when Notre Dame missed a 31-yard field goal. Maiava hit Makai Lemon for a 44-yard gain into Irish territory, the Trojans had fresh momentum and first down from the 37 and then ... this.

Riley got clever, dialed up a trick play for Lemon to get the ball, cutting across the field and then tried to throw it downfield. He didn't see an open receiver, held onto it too long and then fumbled. Even Snoop Dogg took issue with the play call.

The Trojans never recovered. Notre Dame scored a touchdown seven plays later to go up 34-24. USC then turned it over on downs on another questionable call (having Maiava pass on fourth-and-1), and Maiava threw another interception in the final minutes to seal it.

After the game, Riley was asked about the trick play for Lemon and cut the reporter off, saying simply it was a "stupid call." He further took ownership of his impact on the loss.

That doesn't do anything to assuage USC fans, though, who had built up hope that this could be a special season. The Trojans are now 5-2 and back out of the rankings, and still have a daunting road game at Oregon later in the schedule.

It also maybe didn't help that the previous night it was former USC QB Miller Moss leading Louisville to that huge upset win over Miami.

3. Florida State Seminoles

It's not a good week to be a Power Four football coach in the state of Florida. Napier was fired at Florida, we covered Cristobal's setback at Miami, and now Florida State coach Mike Norvell is in perhaps the hottest seat in college football.

It's hard to believe that this Florida State team beat Alabama and was at one point ranked No. 7 in the country.

The Seminoles are now 3-4 with four straight losses to Virginia, Miami, Pitt and Stanford -- the worst yet as FSU lost 20-13 to a Cardinal team that had only one other Power Four win (over lowly Boston College).

After going 2-10 last year, Norvell needed a major bounce-back season in 2025. This is not it.

Norvell has a $54 million buyout if Florida State fires him now, but On3's Pete Nakos reports that momentum is building in that direction.

4. LSU Tigers

Losing to this Vanderbilt team on the road is not exactly damning -- the Commodores are now No. 10 in the AP poll and having a special season -- but that doesn't mean much to LSU fans staring at the likelihood of missing the playoffs for the fourth time in coach Brian Kelly's four seasons.

This isn't what LSU paid for when it lured Kelly from Notre Dame, as the program has lost at least three games in each of his seasons, finished 9-4 and unranked last year and is now effectively out of the SEC race in mid-October with two conference losses.

The 31-24 loss continued the Tigers' offensive struggles as they managed just 325 yards -- its third time in four SEC games being held to that total or less. The 24 points were the most they've scored against a Power Four team, which is not a compliment.

Kelly's seat is getting warmer with each loss ...

5. Clemson Tigers

There's not much more to say at this point about his Clemson football season. It's no longer surprising when the Tigers lose, even at home -- especially to a good team like SMU, 35-24 Saturday.

The Tigers were down to backup quarterback Christopher Vizzina with starter Cade Klubnik out injured, but Clemson fans are past the point of excuses at this point.

The Tigers are 3-4 and almost assuredly heading for their worst finish since going 6-7 in Swinney's second full season back in 2010.

Clemson star receiver Bryant Wesco also had to be taken to the hospital with a serious neck injury sustained on a punt return. There has been no update on his status, although he was able to post on Instagram on Sunday, recognizing his fellow Clemson WRs for performing well in his place.

6. Auburn Tigers

Speaking of hot seats, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze was asked about his job security after a fourth straight loss to open SEC play 0-4.

"I know that we've changed the talent level here, but at the end of the day, at some point you have to win football games," Freeze said. "I don't make those decisions, those calls."

Auburn is at risk for a third losing season in three years under Freeze after finishing 6-7 and 5-7 in his first two years.

Worse, it felt this season could have been different. Auburn was 3-0 with a nice non-conference win over Baylor and ranked No. 22 before consecutive losses to Oklahoma (a competitive 24-17 defeat on the road), Texas A&M (16-10 on the road), Georgia (20-10) and Missouri (23-17). All four of those teams are ranked in the top 15 of the AP poll, and Auburn had its chances.

The Tigers were up 10-0 late in the second quarter at Georgia last week and were on the doorstep of making it 17-0 when quarterback Jackson Arnold was ruled to have fumbled just before the goal line. Auburn didn't score again as Georgia rattled off 20 unanswered points to steal the game.

And on Saturday, Auburn led 17-10 midway through the fourth quarter before losing in double overtime.

Auburn missed three field goals, including one in the first overtime (before Missouri also missed a field goal).

Auburn fans have to be wondering what could have been this season ...

7. Memphis Tigers

Memphis entered the weekend 7-0 in the midst of a potential dream season, with a College Football Playoff spot a real possibility.

And then it lost 31-24 as a 21.5-point favorite to a UAB team that had just fired its head coach last week.

It didn't help that starting quarterback Brendon Lewis left early due to injury, but there's almost no margin for error for a Group of Five team hoping to break into the 12-team playoff field.

8. North Carolina Tar Heels

We wouldn't keep beating this storyline into the ground about how brutal Bill Belichick's first season at North Carolina has gone, except the Tar Heels found an especially excruciating way to lose this time.

North Carolina had scored earlier in the fourth quarter to draw to within three points on the road at Cal and looked to be about to take the lead on another touchdown with less than 4 minutes to play, but receiver Nathan Leacock fumbled just before the goal line.

North Carolina is 2-4, 0-2 in the ACC and winless against Power Four opponents.