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The Week 7 college football slate was complete chaos and amidst the chaos, last week’s bold predictions were missed again. Ohio State fell at Oregon, BYU steamrolled Arizona, and USC sputtered late to lose to Penn State in overtime. Another 0-3 record on bold predictions marks back-to-back down weeks. Meaning we’ve got to be due for some good takes, right?
Week 8 is just as monstrous, if not even more so than Week 7. There is a plethora of high-profile matchups all day long, all boasting massive playoff implications. After thoroughly examining the slate, I’ve homed in on my three favorite bold picks of the week.
Now let's get to those Week 8’s bold predictions, shall we?
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Cornhuskers Hand the Hoosiers their First Loss
Indiana has been one of the most unexpected but fun teams to follow over the first half of the college football season. Coach Curt Cignetti has the Hoosiers ranked sixteenth at 6-0 through his first six games with an average winning margin of over 32 points. Granted the toughest game on the schedule thus far has been a road game against Northwestern, Indiana has been dominant.
This weekend, the Hoosiers will play by far their toughest game to date as they welcome the 5-1 Nebraska Cornhuskers to town. Head coach Matt Rhule’s team has only fallen once, in overtime against Illinois.
#Huskers slight underdogs on opening lines for the Indiana game. https://t.co/4EjpsbyTvF via @michaelbruntz
— Brian Christopherson (@Husker247BC) October 13, 2024
Nobody would’ve thought coming into the season that a Week 8, Nebraska at Indiana game would hold Big Ten title and playoff implications, but here we are!
The Hoosiers have not been tested yet this season, while the Huskers have. Kurtis Rourke, Indiana’s quarterback, has been red-hot but he has not seen a defense like this one. Through six games, Nebraska has only given up 6.8 points per game. In a battle of a hot offense vs a hot defense, I tend to lean towards the defensive side, like an immovable object settling the unstoppable force debate.
Nebraska freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola has been super impressive this year and he's going to make quite a statement this weekend.
Tennessee Rebounds, Takes Down Alabama
Early on, these two SEC teams were thought to be national title contenders. Then Week 6 happened, better known as "upset week." Tennessee lost to Arkansas and Alabama fell to Vanderbilt, taking some of the juice out of this highly anticipated matchup.
Last weekend, the Vols scraped by Florida in overtime and Alabama needed a late game-sealing interception to take down South Carolina at home. These are two vulnerable teams, but somebody has to win on Saturday.
Oct. 15, 2022
Tennessee ended a 15-game losing streak to Alabama with a Chase McGrath field goal as time expired to secure a 52-49 victory. pic.twitter.com/Qs4DL0AiR3
— Neyland Press Corps (@NeylandPress_) October 15, 2023
I like Tennessee to upset Alabama in Knoxville this weekend, winning back-to-back home games against their rival for the first time in a long time. This game is bound to come down to the wire, and I see it as a prime position for Tennesse quarterback Nico Iamaleava to assert himself as one of the top quarterbacks in college football as well as keeping the Volunteers in the playoff mix.
Illinois Upsets Michigan at Home
The defending national champs’ season is on life support after their Week 6 loss to Washington. A third loss would do them in with Oregon and Ohio State both still on the schedule.
Illinois may have just surrendered 49 points and barely scraped by 1-win Purdue, but the Illini are a good football team. Quarterback Luke Altmyer has been unconscious this season and the Michigan defense does not have the same firepower it had a season ago. The stadium will be rocking on Saturday, and I fully believe that the Wolverines will not come away from Champaign with a win.
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