Week 8 NCAA Football Top 10 Poll

 

 

1. Michigan 
 
The Michigan Wolverines allowed Indiana to experience hope for a moment, taking a 7-0 lead into the second quarter. Any belief the Hoosiers had of stunning the Wolverines quickly disappeared. Michigan responded with 52 unanswered points, led by quarterback J.J. McCarthy throwing as many incompletions (three) as touchdowns. Of course, the real standout is the Wolverines’ defense that allowed just 232 total yards to Indiana, perfectly replicating how this unit has performed in 2023. Allowing the third-fewest total yards per game (233) expect the Wolverines to feast on Michigan State in Week 8. 

Continuing on last Saturday, it looked as if Indiana might shockingly put the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines on the ropes. The Hoosiers stopped J.J. McCarthy and Co. on their first two drives and, even after throwing a bad pick after a long drive, they still responded to take a 7-0 lead. Unfortunately for them, that might’ve been a wake-up call for the Wolverines. Michigan continues to look like a buzzsaw against subpar competition. They’ll go on the road to East Lansing for a rivalry contest against Sparty next week, but even that doesn’t look like much concern with the way Jim Harbaugh has this thing humming. 

2. Georgia
 
 The Georgia Bulldogs have won 24 consecutive games, four shy of the SEC’s all-time record. With the Florida Gators and Missouri Tigers up next, there’s no reason to think Kirby Smart’s program won’t have a shot at history in November. For now, the biggest question moving forward might be regarding stud tight end Brock Bowers. The potential Heisman candidate left this game with a lower-leg injury. Smart said after the fact that X-rays were negative but he will undergo an MRI early in the next week to see where things stand. That would be a huge loss for the Dawgs right when they don’t need it. It was a middling performance after the first truly dominant showing of the season, which was the last thing the red-and-black-clad fans in Athens wanted to see from their team on the road. It won’t cost them against the Gators, but it could in November vs Ole Miss and Tennessee.
 
3. Florida St

The ACC may come down to North Carolina and FSU, which could be an unbelievable showdown for the conference title. Since the season-opening win, you could’ve made the argument that Florida State was lucky to remain among the unbeatens in college football. They nearly let Boston College shock the world, possibly should’ve lost to Clemson, and simply hadn’t been the dominant team that they looked capable of right out of the gate this season. Keon Coleman was phenomenal in the first half and that’s all the Seminoles’ offense really needed with Florida State’s defense shutting down Syracuse. Assuming Travis avoided a long-term injury and Wilson returns in the near future, FSU is in an excellent position for next Saturday’s matchup versus Duke.

4. Ohio St

This was a letdown spot with Penn State coming to Columbus last week, but it turns out that Ohio State might simply be just hitting its stride midway through the 2023 season. Kyle McCord has nearly 600 passing yards and five touchdowns in the last two games and Marvin Harrison Jr. keeps proving why he’s the best offensive weapon in the nation. Even with their top three running backs out of action by the game’s end, Dallas Hayden stepped up and Kyle McCord, once again, made the wise choice to pepper Marvin Harrison Jr. Coupled with yet another elite defensive effort, the Buckeyes throttled Purdue to the tune of 41-7. All in all, this Buckeyes’ defense is playing fairly well. It all sets the perfect stage for the Week 8 matchup vs. Penn State.

5. Washington

 

The Washington Huskies are 6-0 for the first time since 2017 and Michael Penix Jr. is the Heisman Trophy favorite. At home in Week 7 in a fantastic top-10 matchup, Penix Jr. (302 yards, 4 TDs) came through in the clutch to lead Washington to the comeback victory. It’s now a 13-game winning streak and there’s zero reason to believe it won’t continue against Arizona State. Throughout the week and in spite of Washington being favored at home against rival Oregon, we heard about the Ducks just being the better team, particularly on defense. After 60 minutes, though, it was Michael Penix Jr. and the Huskies celebrating the win, still looking at a zero in the loss column, and still looking like the team to beat in the Pac-12 – perhaps even more so on that last part than before. Against one of the best O-lines in college football, they created pressure and, most importantly, made plays in the clutch. The schedule remains tough in the deep Pac-12 for the Huskies, but they proved they are, in fact, the cream of the crop in this league. 

6. Oklahoma 

 

Dillon Gabriel and the Oklahoma Sooners are right where they want to be. Standing at a perfect 6-0, with a win over Texas, the Sooners’ playoff odds are higher than they’ve been in years. With Kansas dropping another game, the path to winning out the regular season becomes even clearer. If that happens, the Sooners should make it into the CFP. It’s apparent the win over the Longhorns is about the only thing building up their resumé… but it’s a damn good win, one of the best that we’ve seen this season. Again, for Brent Venables’ team, the level of competition the rest of the way in the Big 12 isn’t much to write home about. Sure, that probably means the Sooners have a clear path to make it to the conference championship – a potential rematch with Texas – as an undefeated team, but it also means they’ll need help to jump into the Top 4 if the Selection Committee sees the rankings the same way as we do!

7. Penn St. 

 

It’s the game we’ve all been waiting for. Week 7 effectively served as a practice for the Penn State Nittany Lions, allowing this offense to figure things out and find a rhythm before facing the Ohio State Buckeyes. Drew Allar threw for three touchdowns and rushed for one more in the contest while Daequan Hardy scored on a pair of punt returns. With the defense holding the Minutemen to an appalling 109 yards of total offense on the day, it was a complete rout with the Nittany Lions moving to 6-0 with the 63-0 victory. The loser of the Week 8 matchup will suffer a devastating blow to its playoff hopes, while the victor should arguably be viewed as the best college football team in 2023. We’re just a bit weary of Penn State because of James Franklin.
 
8. Oregon
 
 Bo Nix, Bucky Irving and Troy Franklin did just about everything humanly possible to win on Saturday. Ultimately, home-field advantage, a few injuries in the Ducks’ secondary and a missed field goal proved costly. The undefeated season is gone, but Oregon still has a chance at three more ranked wins this season and double-digit victories mean a New Year’s Six bowl game. Oregon is going to drop in the Top 10 polls but none of the great fans in Eugene should feel substantially worse about their team after they got clipped in Seattle by a truly great Washington team. The Ducks more than held their own in this high-profile matchup on Saturday, trading blows with Washington basically from the opening kickoff. You could question some of the late-game decisions – namely going for it late on fourth down (and not converting) – from Dan Lanning, but the team played well enough to win overall.
 
9. Texas
 
After the Longhorns got their hearts broken in Dallas with a Red River loss to Oklahoma last week, Texas had the week off. Coming off the bye week, the Texas Longhorns face a massive uphill climb to have any shot at the College Football Playoff and Quinn Ewers’ chances of winning the Heisman Trophy have plummeted. Coach Steve Sarkisian’s team will still have a chance to make the College Football Playoff. There isn’t a ranked team left on the Longhorns’ schedule, which should set up a rematch with OU in the Big 12 Championship Game. Win that and get some help, Texas can still be in the Top 4 when it’s all said and done.

Oklahoma can be made up for, it’s just going to take blowout victories to close out the season with an 11-1 record at the end of November. Can that be done? Only if Texas plays solid football.
 
10. North Carolina 
 
How good is North Carolina? It still remains to be seen if they are a legitimate College Football Playoff contender, but there is no denying that the Tar Heels are one of the best teams in the country as they moved to 6-0 on the season with a thorough handling of Miami in Chapel Hill on Saturday night. Drake Maye is on a roll right now. In Week 7, the North Carolina Tar Heels superstar picked up four passing touchdowns in three quarters alone against the Miami Hurricanes. With that effort, he’s now responsible for over 750 yards of offense and seven touchdowns in the last two weeks. North Carolina’s schedule for the rest of October is pretty smooth, setting Maye and the Tar Heels up for a historic season. The big change for UNC is clearly a much-improved defense from last year while the offense, especially with Tez Walker back, is still cooking. They could legitimately challenge for the ACC title and, perhaps, a CFP spot.