Week 8 in college football does not look as loaded as Week 7 did, at least not on paper.
Does that mean it will be less crazy once the games begin?
Only time will tell, and you’ll have to watch to find out.
Here’s how to do it without missing the best games.
Mississippi-Texas, Houston-Utah headline the action
After six ranked-on-ranked games last week, we have just two this Saturday and they are both at night.
No. 7 Mississippi goes to No. 19 Texas for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC, a game the Longhorns need badly after dropping consecutive games to unranked opponents.
Quarterback Arch Manning and coach Steve Sarkisian are both under a ton of pressure after the Longhorns fell to 4-2 with a loss to Florida last week.
The Rebels were whacked 52-28 by those same Gators to end September, but they have bounced back to win two in a row. That includes crushing then-No. 13 Missouri 31-3 last time they took the field, but there is no time to relax for Trinidad Chambliss and the crew.
No. 14 Houston and No. 10 Utah will be the nightcap on ESPN (10:15 ET kickoff), and ESPN GameDay will be in Salt Lake City as well. The Utes are one of the surprise teams in the country, 6-0 under new head coach Morgan Scalley, while the Cougars are 6-1 with a tight loss to Big 12 favorite Texas Tech.
These teams both still have playoff hopes.
Best of the rest includes Texas Tech at Cincinnati
Speaking of Texas Tech, the 8th-ranked Red Raiders have an early wake-up call in Southwest Ohio on Saturday.
They are set to take on Cincinnati at noon on FS1. The Bearcats are 4-2 overall but just 1-2 in conference play. UC is coming off a disappointing shootout loss at West Virginia, but historic Nippert Stadium can be a tough place to play.
This game also has the added subplot of being the Brendan Sorsby Bowl as the quarterback left Cincinnati for Texas Tech in the offseason only to be sidelined for breaking NCAA rules against gambling.
Also in action in the early window Saturday are No. 1 Miami (Fla.), No. 6 Indiana, No. 18 LSU, No. 23 SMU and No. 24 Northwestern.
READ MORE: Wild weekend jumbles national championship odds
In the 3:30 p.m. window, there might be few evenly matched games, but the opportunity for chaos always looms.
No. 2 BYU traveling across the country to take on 3-3 UCF (on Fox) could be a candidate as the Cougars try to avoid a letdown following an emotional win over Notre Dame.
Also of note: No. 13 Alabama looks to bounce back from a disappointing loss at Tennessee by playing host to Texas A&M (ESPN), a team with preseason playoff hopes just looking to get a win now.
Not to be overlooked: No. 15 Iowa goes to Minnesota (FS1) in a rivalry game that figures to be an eliminator in the Big Ten because both teams already have one loss in the conference.
Oh yeah, and the winner gets possession of a bronze pig trophy known as the Floyd of Rosedale. How can you beat that?
The Floyd of Rosedale is up for grabs Saturday in Minneapolis 🐖 pic.twitter.com/VHwqS940YI
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 21, 2026
