We have reached the midway point in the 2014 College Football season. With so many questions still to be answered, we are also just a few weeks away from learning the first four teams in the initial College Football Playoff Standings. Our projections entering Week 8 have the Mississippi State Bulldogs sitting at No. 1, followed by the Florida State Seminoles at No. 2, the Ole Miss Rebels at No. 3 and the Baylor Bears at No. 4. Entering this weekend, that currently leaves the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Alabama Crimson Tide, Oregon Ducks and Auburn Tigers as the next four teams on the outside looking in, with all of them having more than enough pivotal games remaining on the schedule to make their case for a spot in the inaugural CFB Playoff.
In fact, the Fighting Irish get their first crack at proving themselves worthy for a top four spot, with a showdown against the Seminoles looming on Saturday night.
But that is not the only big game that could shuffle the standings.
Notre Dame vs. Florida State may be the biggest game of the week and feature the best seeds facing each other, but other big games are on the horizon as well. Here is a look at some of the key matchups on Saturday
No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners vs. No. 14 Kansas State Wildcats
No. 12 TCU Horned Frogs vs. No. 15 Oklahoma State Cowboys
No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies
No. 17 Arizona State Sun Devils vs. No. 23 Stanford Cardinal
All of these games feature matchups of two seeded teams facing off against one another. Of course, that is not to say that other ranked teams will not face a stiff test against an unranked foe in Week 8. Take a look at these possible trap games.
No. 9 Oregon Ducks vs. Washington Huskies
No. 4 Baylor Bears vs. West Virginia Mountaineers
No. 13 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs vs. Arkansas Razorbacks
No. 3 Ole Miss Rebels vs. Tennessee Volunteers
I am not saying that any of these games will result in an upset, but all of the ranked teams need to be on possible upset alert now until the end of the season. As we have seen on more than one occasion, anything can happen in college football on any given week. Why would Week 8 be any different?
