College football Week 8: Ole Miss-Texas, Houston-Utah top schedule after chaos reigned last week

College football fans should get a chance to catch their breath Saturday. Week 8 doesn’t set up to be nearly as crazy as Week 7.

There were six Top 25 matchups last week, and five of the top seven teams lost on the same day in a regular season for the first time in the 90 years of The Associated Press poll.

This week there are just two Top 25 matchups, No. 7 Mississippi at No. 19 Texas and No. 14 Houston at No. 10 Utah.

There also is a new No. 1 team, Miami. It’s been 24 years since the Hurricanes last held the top spot. They’re the fourth No. 1 team this season, the most through the first seven weeks since there also were four in 2008.

Miami hosts a spiraling Pittsburgh team before getting tested with back-to-back road games against improving North Carolina and fourth-ranked Notre Dame.

Mississippi-Texas is the headliner in the Southeastern Conference, but No. 18 LSU at Auburn is worth keeping an eye on after the Tigers upset then-No. 1 Georgia on the road.

Houston goes to Utah needing a win to keep pace with No. 2 BYU and No. 8 Texas Tech in the Big 12. The Cougars would move into third place and own the tiebreaker over the Utes if they can ruin the celebration of the 100th consecutive sellout at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

In the Big Ten, No. 6 Indiana, which had its 22-game win streak end against Ohio State last week, visits Michigan. The Wolverines might have a new starting quarterback after Bryce Underwood was benched last week in favor of Tommy Carr, who led a comeback victory over Penn State.

Best game

No. 7 Mississippi (5-1, 3-1 SEC) at No. 19 Texas (4-2, 1-2), 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC)

The vibe is that Mississippi is back on track after that bad loss at Florida three weeks ago and that Texas, No. 1 two weeks ago, is teetering following consecutive losses to Oklahoma and the Gators.

Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday that Arch Manning would start against Grandpa Archie and Uncle Eli’s old school. Speculation about Arch ramped up after his late fumble on a sack ended the comeback bid against Florida. That followed the late, game-turning pick-6 he threw against the Sooners the week before.

Mississippi could stick the dagger in the Longhorns’ playoff hopes with a win here. The Rebels’ defense has made major strides since September. It won’t help Manning if the Rebels shut down Texas’ struggling run game like they did last week, when SEC rushing leader Jamal Roberts of Missouri was held to 39 yards.

Heisman Trophy watch

Ohio State has an open date, so Heisman front-runner Jeremiah Smith gets the day off and his pursuers get an opportunity to play catch-up.

Miami QB Darian Mensah will be home against Pittsburgh, which has been prone to giving up big pass plays and is 15th out of 17 ACC teams in pass defense in conference games. Boston College had passes go for 53 and 69 yards against the Panthers last week. Imagine what Mensah could do.

Mississippi QB Trinidad Chambliss gets a big stage against Texas. He’s thrown for 14 touchdowns and is responsible for 20 TDs, double his totals at this point a year ago, and his average of 279 yards passing per game is well ahead of his 2025 pace.

Numbers to know

4 — Quarterbacks averaging 300-plus yards passing, fewest through a Week 7 since there were two in 2001.

18-0 — Indiana QB Josh Hoover’s touchdown-to-interception ratio, the best through a Week 7 since Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa had a 21-0 ratio in 2018.

25 — James Madison’s consecutive seasons with a .500 or better record, which the Dukes clinched last week with their seventh win.

98.4 — Pittsburgh’s pass efficiency rating in two games without injured starter Mason Heintschel, which ranks 123rd out of 138 FBS teams. A rating of 130 is considered average. Pitt’s rating with Heinschel was 171.4, which ranked 15th.

2007 — The last season an unranked team defeated the No. 1 team on the road before Auburn beat Georgia last week.

Under the radar

North Dakota State (6-1, 3-1 Mountain West) at New Mexico (5-1, 2-0), 10 p.m. ET (CW)

The Bison’s hopes of making the College Football Playoff in their first year in the Bowl Subdivision hinges on this one. They bounced back from their loss at Mountain West preseason favorite UNLV with a solid win over Nevada and now face a program that’s become one of the great turnaround stories under second-year coach Jason Eck.

The Lobos, who had losing records eight straight seasons and 15 of the previous 17 before Eck’s arrival, have won three straight since a 14-6 loss at Oklahoma.

This is a strength-vs.-strength matchup. Both teams love to pound the ground on offense, and the Lobos and Bison rank 1-2 in the conference at stopping the run.

Hot seat

TCU’s Sonny Dykes entered the season off back-to-back nine-win seasons and received a multiyear contract extension. But the Horned Frogs (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) hadn’t beaten a power-conference opponent until last week’s 17-6 win at Baylor.

Dykes is in the softest part of the conference schedule with home games up next against West Virginia and Kansas. Then comes a difficult closing run of games against Arizona, Kansas State, Utah and Texas Tech.

That win over Baylor did little to instill confidence in the Frog faithful. The Big 12’s least-productive rushing offense managed 33 yards on 30 carries against the Bears and is averaging 46 yards, and a paltry 1.59 per carry, over its first three conference games. The Frogs have scored a total of 50 points against four power-conference opponents. The lack of offensive oomph must be demoralizing to a defense that’s third nationally in scoring and seventh overall.

The private Big 12 school does not disclose contract terms, but Dykes’ previously extended deal went through the 2028 season. The multiyear agreement would take Dykes at least a couple of years past that.

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