Bold predictions for Week 8 in college football

The USA TODAY Sports college football staff — Nicole Auerbach, Paul Myerberg, George Schroeder and Dan Wolken — weighs in with some bold predictions for Week 8 of the college football season:

Nicole Auerbach

Alabama is an 18-point (!!) favorite over the No. 6 team in the country. My bold prediction is that the Crimson Tide cover. The only close game they’ve played this year was against Ole Miss; every other “big game” they’ve been in has turned into a blowout.

That trend will continue as 'Bama continues to separate itself from the rest of the pack in the SEC.

USA TODAY Sports college football staff picks for Week 8

Paul Myerberg

Hot seats are going to get hotter by Sunday morning. A number of disappointing teams, and their embattled coaches, will be under the spotlight against in-conference competition: Texas is at Kansas State, Oregon is at California (losing 52-49 in double overtime Friday night)  and UCLA hosts Utah.

It would not be surprising to see all would-be contenders lose, ratcheting up the already high level of scrutiny on Charlie Strong, Mark Helfrich and Jim Mora. Though Mora won at least eight games in each of his first four seasons, a loss on Saturday would drop the Bruins to 3-5.

Hey, at least Notre Dame and Brian Kelly are idle.

George Schroeder

It’s no secret that Charlie Strong is in deep trouble at Texas. His future hangs on how the Longhorns finish, and it’s more than just the W-L record, it’s the perception of the program’s trajectory. Coming off a win against Iowa State, the Longhorns travel to Kansas State. It’s not a gimme; for Texas, there aren’t many of those.

But the Longhorns will get enough from quarterback Shane Buechele and running back D’Onta Foreman for the road win. The two-game winning streak will provide at least a little fuel for one final push to try to save Strong’s job.

How good has Alabama been? Let us count the ways

Dan Wolken

Memphis will take control of a very interesting race in the AAC West with a victory at Navy, which shocked college football two weeks ago by beating Houston. The Tigers rank 39th nationally against the run and have played good defense all season including last week against Tulane, which runs an option-type offense.

The Tigers have a lot of skilled offensive talent and have as much or more speed on the perimeter than Houston, which gave Navy fits. I think Memphis will score a lot of points in this game and pull a quasi-upset on the road.

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