College Football Cheat Sheet: The Midway Point

We have left halftime of the 2025 college football season. Seven weeks are down and we now have seven more to go. Things are going to start getting interesting as the marathon sport is sprinting to the finish line.

The Week 8 card has given us five ranked vs. ranked matchups plus 11 ranked teams hitting the road to play unranked conference foes. Yeah, a few of them are going to lose this weekend. We’ve got some rivalry matchups and some very important swing games.

This should be a good weekend. Let’s set the table.

The Slate

Louisville at No. 2 Miami	7:00pm (Friday)	ESPN
No. 25 Nebraska at Minnesota	8:00pm (Friday)	FOX
San Jose State at Utah State	9:00pm (Friday)	CBS Sports Network
North Carolina at California	10:30pm (Friday)	ESPN
Eastern Michigan at Miami (Ohio)	Noon	ESPN+
Central Michigan at Bowling Green	Noon	CBS Sports Network
Washington at Michigan	Noon	FOX
No. 10 LSU at No. 17 Vanderbilt	Noon	ABC
No. 12 Georgia Tech at Duke	Noon	ESPN
UConn at Boston College	Noon	ACC Network
Arizona at Houston	Noon	FS1
Baylor at TCU	Noon	ESPN2
Army at Tulane	Noon	ESPNU
No. 14 Oklahoma at South Carolina	12:45pm	SEC Network
West Virginia at UCF	1:00pm	TNT
Kent State at Toledo	2:00pm	ESPN+
Buffalo at UMass	2:30pm	ESPN+
Purdue at Northwestern	3:00pm	Big Ten Network
Troy at ULM	3:00pm	ESPN+
Wyoming at Air Force	3:30pm	CBS Sports Network
Akron at Ball State	3:30pm	ESPN+
Northern Illinois at Ohio	3:30pm	ESPN+
UTSA at North Texas	3:30pm	ESPN+
Temple at Charlotte	3:30pm	ESPN+
Texas State at Marshall	3:30pm	ESPN+
Coastal Carolina at App State	3:30pm	ESPN+
Old Dominion at James Madison	3:30pm	ESPNU
UNLV at Boise State	3:30pm	FS1
SMU at Clemson	3:30pm	ACC Network
No. 4 Texas A&M at Arkansas	3:30pm	ESPN
No. 5 Georgia at No. 9 Ole Miss	3:30pm	ABC
No. 1 Ohio State at Wisconsin	3:30pm	CBS
Michigan State at No. 3 Indiana	3:30pm	Peacock
No. 7 Texas Tech at Arizona State	4:00pm	FOX
No. 22 Memphis at UAB	4:00pm	ESPN2
Mississippi State at Florida	4:15pm	SEC Network
Southern Miss at Louisiana	5:00pm	ESPN+
Washington State at No. 16 Virginia	6:30pm	The CW
No. 8 Oregon at Rutgers	6:30pm	Big Ten Network
Maryland at UCLA	7:00pm	FS1
Penn State at Iowa	7:00pm	Peacock
No. 21 Texas at Kentucky	7:00pm	ESPN
Hawaii at Colorado State	7:00pm	Mountain West Network
No. 11 Tennessee at No. 6 Alabama	7:30pm	ABC
No. 20 USC at No. 13 Notre Dame	7:30pm	NBC
Pittsburgh at Syracuse	7:30pm	ACC Network
Florida Atlantic at No. 19 USF	7:30pm	ESPNU
No. 16 Missouri at Auburn	7:45pm	SEC Network
No. 24 Cincinnati at Oklahoma State	8:00pm	ESPN2
No. 23 Utah at No. 15 BYU	8:00pm	FOX
Nevada at New Mexico	9:45pm	FS1
Florida State at Stanford	10:30pm	ESPN

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There’s never been a busier day in the SEC

All of the conference expansion ultimately just means more football for the most powerful league in college football. We’ve never had a day busier than Saturday with eight SEC games taking place. There are interesting matchups all over the place.

— LSU at Vanderbilt: The Commodores are a home favorite for the first time in forever. LSU will likely be playing without star linebacker Whit Weeks. This feels like a College Football Playoff elimination game for both teams in mid-October.

— Oklahoma at South Carolina: Is Oklahoma’s offense not good? It seems clear that South Carolina’s offense is not good. We know Oklahoma’s defense is awesome. We’re still trying to figure out just how good South Carolina’s defense is. This is typically the time in the calendar when Shane Beamer‘s team hits a switch and shifts into another gear. Brent Venables could start appearing on hot seat lists with a loss in Williams-Brice Stadium.

— Ole Miss at Georgia: Lane Kiffin‘s personnel funding rant two years ago ultimately led to Ole Miss going all-in to build football rosters. The Rebs are 18-3 since that press conference. Georgia is firmly in the playoff mix once again with three SEC wins in their back pocket plus remaining games against Florida and Mississippi State next month. The winner in Athens would have to play its way out of the playoff over the last six weeks.

— Texas A&M at Arkansas: Does Bobby Petrino have a legitimate chance to get the Arkansas job? We might know after Saturday’s game if Fayetteville. A&M is 6-0 but this is the first of three consecutive SEC road games. The Aggies will be in terrific shape for a playoff bid with a Week 8 victory as that non-conference win over Notre Dame is aging well.

— Tennessee at Alabama: It’s the Third Saturday in October. Do I need to say more? Alabama is rolling and Tennessee needs a big win. There are real stakes in Tuscaloosa.

— Missouri at Auburn: Auburn probably doesn’t make a move on Hugh Freeze with another loss but the wheels could be put in motion. He needs a win — desperately. Could Missouri have an Alabama hangover on the Plains?

Some interesting swing games in the Big Ten

Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana are all huge conference favorites this week. Wins seem highly likely for each. Most of the attention in the Big Ten this week will be on some swing games.

— Nebraska at Minnesota: The Huskers have a real shot at 10-2. That record will get them into the playoff. But they have to win in Minneapolis on Friday night. P.J. Fleck has played spoiler in this conference for many former Big Ten West program. A sixth consecutive win over Nebraska would be a huge gut-punch for the road team.

— Washington at Michigan: Speaking of making a run at 10-2, the path is there for Washington. The Huskies only make one more multiple time zone road trip (at Wisconsin) after this with home games against Illinois and Oregon. A win in the Big House would make this team a legitimate contender again. Michigan also has a path to 9-2, five straight wins, and hosting Ohio State, but they have to win this game.

— USC at Notre Dame: The Irish have to win out to get considered for a playoff bid. It is that simple. USC still has road games against Nebraska and Oregon plus a home game versus Iowa. Both teams need this win. This rivalry game has more stakes than normal.

The rest of the college football card

— Jeff Brohm is typically good for one upset a year but beating this Miami time on a Friday night feels like a tall task. Louisville’s offensive line has struggled, and that could equal disaster, but Louisville’s defense might be good enough to give the Canes some problems. This is arguably Miami’s toughest remaining game. A 12-0 year feels highly likely in South Florida.

— Georgia Tech is undefeated and ranked, but is a road underdog to unranked Duke. The Blue Devils dropped non-conference games to Illinois and Tulane but are dangerous on offense. If this game in Durham turns into a shootout, the Yellow Jackets could see their dream season end.

— Texas Tech is steamrolling teams in the Big 12. The Red Raiders are dealing with some injuries now and are on the road. Could Arizona State be the first team to give them a real score or does the domination continue?

— BYU is undefeated and hosting one-loss Utah. This rivalry meeting in Provo will get intense. This is a very important game in the Big 12 race.