The eighth week of the college football season has many questions. Journalists/wannabe college football insiders Mark Bergin and Lara Saavedra try to answer some of them.
What’s your tweet-length reaction to Week 7 of the college football season?
Mark Bergin: I feel like a broken record. Alabama is still dominating, and everyone else is playing for second place.
Lara Saavedra: It was a good week to have a bye week - four of the top eight ranked teams lost.
Which Week 8 game are you most looking forward to?
Bergin: No. 16 North Carolina State at No. 3 Clemson: It’s a battle of undefeated ACC teams! That’s not a typo!
The Wolfpack are undefeated, in part, because Hurricane Florence canceled their Sept. 15 game against West Virginia. Instead, the Wolfpack will play East Carolina on Dec. 1 to make up for the canceled game.
If N.C. State somehow beat Clemson next weekend, I can already envision how pundits will be outraged to even consider the Wolfpack as a legitimate contender.
Hurricane Florence having a potential, although unlikely, impact on the College Football Playoff is an underrated storyline.
I know ESPN’s College GameDay has never been to the Washington State campus before, but I’m still at a loss for why they didn’t pick Clemson for this weekend’s pregame show.
Saavedra: No. 9 Oklahoma at TCU: Oklahoma is only a one-touchdown favorite this week after losing to Texas thanks to Mike Stoops’ defensive struggles. Oklahoma is ranked 98th in total defense allowing 421.2 yards per game.
Stoops got fired as a result, so now it’s up to interim defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill to pick up the pieces and still make this team relevant come playoff time.
There’s never been a fanbase that wanted an assistant coach out more than OU fans wanted Stoops gone. So, when the news broke that that day was here, I imagine Sooner fans were shouting from the mountaintop.
TCU will be a good test to see how good Oklahoma’s defense is in the post-Stoops era.
Will Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa play in the fourth quarter this week?
Bergin: The Third Saturday in October used to be a premiere rivalry in college football, but not in recent history.
Alabama will improve to 8-0 with a win over Tennessee. The Crimson Tide can become the first team ever to defeat the Volunteers 12 consecutive times when the two square off Saturday afternoon.
Saavedra: Against Tennessee? Absolutely not.
ESPN’s College GameDay heads to Pullman, Washington, this weekend as Washington State hosts Oregon. Which team will Lee Corso pick?
Bergin: Corso loves the Oregon Ducks. He picks the Ducks for the second time this season.
Saavedra: I must go with the home team. America’s national treasure Mike Leach will come up with a trick play that will be studied in the coaching world for years to come.
What will Sunday’s headline be?
Bergin: Certainties in life: Death, taxes and the Michigan State Spartans getting the cover against the Michigan Wolverines.
Saavedra: Michigan State thrashes Michigan and the Wolverines become America’s dumpster fire once again.
Note: The AP Top 25 Poll is used for the team rankings throughout this story. USA Today contributed to this story.
Mark Bergin is a journalist with 10News WTSP. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter and Instagram. You can also email him at mbergin@wtsp.com. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri.