A major shakeup in the national title picture came when South Carolina visited Athens, Ga. on Saturday.
Gamecocks defensive back Israel Mukuamu took an interception 53 yards for a pick six of Jake Fromm to give South Carolina a 17-10 lead. Soon enough, Rodrigo Blankenship would miss a field goal in double overtime to give the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.
Georgia will certainly fall in the AP Poll, while the Dawgs dropped out of the top 5 in The Action Network power ratings.
Kirby Smart can still get Georgia to the College Football Playoff, but a sweep of Florida, Auburn and the SEC Championship Game are required. Considering the potential moneyline numbers for those three games, Georgia at 10-1 may be the better value if you think the Dawgs still have a chance to win the national title.
For now, we look ahead to Week 8. Every Sunday morning, we'll project point spreads for the following week's college football games using our power ratings so you can find early betting value.
Look here in preparation for opening lines and follow me in The Action Network App when I bet those lines on Sunday afternoon.
Projected College Football Odds, Week 8
A negative number indicates the home team is favored by that many points; a positive number indicates the home team is an underdog.
Week 8 Scheduling Notes
- Arkansas State, Pitt, Buffalo, Auburn, Boston College, Cal, UTEP, Georgia Southern, Oklahoma State, SMU, Kansas, Utah State, Rice and North Carolina are all off a bye week.
- Miami has extra rest against Georgia Tech, which is on back-to-back travel.
- UNLV, Toledo, Army, Northern Illinois, Kent State, Michigan, Florida, Iowa State, Old Dominion, Florida State, Colorado and Charlotte will be on back-to-back travel.
- South Alabama-Troy, UCLA-Stanford, Ohio State-Northwestern, TCU-Kansas State, and East Carolina-Central Florida face each other off a bye week.
Week 7 Injury Notes
- North Texas quarterback Mason Fine left the Southern Miss game with a left shoulder injury.
- The back seven of the USC defense had numerous players leave the Notre Dame game with injury, including Palaie Gaoteote IV, Olaijah Griffin, Greg Johnson and Isaac Taylor-Stuart.
- Clemson wide receiver Tee Higgins was removed from the game against Florida State. His status for Louisville is unknown.
- Tennessee quarterback Brian Maurer left the Mississippi State game due to a concussion.
Have a feeling this is why Brian Maurer was hurting. Immediately grabbed head/neck. #Volspic.twitter.com/LDIKnjzRHc
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) October 12, 2019
- Texas defensive back Chris Brown suffered a fractured forearm. Wide receiver Collin Johnson left the game with concussion. Defensive end Malcolm Roach was ejected and will miss the first half of the Kansas game.
- Toledo quarterback Mitchell Guadagni was forced from the game with an unspecified injury.
- West Virginia quarterback Austin Kendall was forced from the game with an unspecified injury.
Week 8 Situational Spots to Play
- Off a 14-point loss at LSU, Florida will be on the road again at South Carolina. The Gamecocks did not have quarterback Ryan Hilinski in the game through the fourth quarter and overtime in an upset of Georgia, though.
- Ohio State will play Friday night at Northwestern. The Buckeyes may have overlook to a top 10 matchup in Week 9 with Wisconsin.
- Kentucky covered the closing number against Arkansas and will travel to Georgia. The Bulldogs are off a 21-point upset to South Carolina.
- Georgia State and Army will be a clash of styles, as the Panthers average 22 more plays per game than the Black Knights. Georgia State has plenty of advanced stats outside the top 100 in the defensive trench and have overlook to Troy.
- Texas may have hangover from a Red River Showdown loss against Kansas. The Jayhawks new offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon has published books on the RPO and started his career under Gus Malzahn.
