B/R's 2026 College Football Winners and Losers from Week 8

After a Saturday filled with upsets and nonstop chaos, Week 8 provided another fun slate around college football.

Texas Tech unceremoniously dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten, and Big 12 rival BYU followed suit.

In prime time, Texas managed to stop its slide against Ole Miss. And the final matchup of the night is a showdown between Houston and Utah—the latter of which will try to avoid the same fate as Tech and BYU.

This piece will be updated throughout Saturday's action.

Sporting a new throwback uniform from the iconic 2001 championship team, Miami put on a performance that properly honored that squad.

Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney, most specifically.

In a 52-23 rout of Pitt, Mensah completed 31-of-37 passes for 386 yards with four touchdowns. Toney shattered a single-game program record with 16 receptions, racing to 194 yards and three scores.

Another few games like this, and both Mensah and Toney may be heading to New York as Heisman Trophy finalists.

Oh, and the No. 1 'Canes are 7-0. Pretty good vibes in Miami right now.

Texas Tech, on the other hand, endured a disastrous day on the road.

Cincinnati turned a couple of first-half takeaways into 10 points, built a 24-6 halftime lead and snatched a 37-24 upset of the Red Raiders.

The biggest issue for Tech was a disappearing run defense, which entered the game ranked fifth nationally in yards allowed per game at 82.0. Cincy more than tripled that average with 255 yards on the ground.

One loss doesn't wreck the Red Raiders' title aspirations, and their remaining schedule is favorable after a clash with Arizona next Saturday.

But they're officially in must-win territory the rest of the way.

We could complain about Indiana's offense no-showing. It'd be easy to dwell on Michigan's horrendous year on that side of the ball, too.

These defenses, though, folks—they were stellar.

Michigan locked down IU quarterback Josh Hoover, who mustered an 8-of-18 line for 81 yards with an interception. Indiana also struggled on the ground for a third straight game, managing 131 rushing yards on only 3.7 per carry.

But the Hoosiers survived thanks to their own defense, one that yielded 224 yards in a 13-6 overtime win. They generated 10 tackles for loss, two takeaways and sealed the victory with a turnover on downs in OT.

Michigan has a terrible problem on offense. Indiana has serious questions to address after a few unimpressive games.

Nevertheless, we should not lose sight of the excellence from these defenses.

Unranked Teams Cause Chaos in Rankings 📊

Entering the campaign, Oregon was a popular championship pick. I believed in the Ducks. You, specifically, may have doubted them, but a whole lot of yous out there had similarly high expectations.

Even before Dante Moore's concussion, the Ducks were struggling. They trailed Boise State by 10 points in the opener and lost at Oklahoma State. The earliest returns weren't necessarily fantastic.

This, though—a 21-10 loss at Illinois—is a nightmare for a program with a handsomely paid, highly experienced roster. Oregon fell to 4-3 and is effectively out of the College Football Playoff discussion. What seemed like a showdown at Ohio State to begin November has become just another game on the calendar.

Heck, Northwestern might beat Oregon in Eugene next Saturday. That's not a sentence we expected to type in 2026.

To be perfectly honest, I thought Shane Beamer—in his sixth year with the Gamecocks—was going to get fired a few weeks ago.

South Carolina lost to Mississippi State, then suffered a 49-18 blowout at the hands of Alabama, then squandered a 17-0 lead in an overtime loss to Kentucky. Toss in a meltdown that led to a suspension for star defender Dylan Stewart, and it seemed a change was inevitable.

Back-to-back upsets of Florida and Tennessee have calmed the water pounding Beamer's once-sinking ship. LaNorris Sellers accounted for 306 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday's 27-24 win over Tennessee.

Beamer's job security is still tenuous—pitchforks may appear if South Carolina loses to Arkansas, for example—but this hot seat is bearable.

Six teams carried a perfect record into Week 8. Three are gone.

James Madison lost its first game of the season on Thursday night at Appalachian State. Texas Tech fell to Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon, and BYU could not escape this double-overtime clash at UCF.

What a cruel sport, college football. BYU pulled off an epic upset of Notre Dame last weekend and soared to No. 2, the program's best AP ranking since 1984.

BYU remains in the Big 12 and national hunts, but this 39-31 letdown has dimmed the shine on the Cougars' season.

While any loss to Wisconsin would be met with displeasure, USC flat-out stunk. That's the simple, ugly truth.

The running game was a total non-factor. Jayden Maiava threw two interceptions behind a turnstile of an offensive line that surrendered eight tackles for loss (five sacks). Caden Chittenden had a field goal blocked and missed another as the Trojans plodded to a 24-7 loss.

Riley's buyout is not entirely clear, yet it's reportedly around $60 million . That is an obscene, realistically prohibitive number.

It just might not matter anymore. His tenure is a disaster—and getting worse.

Only adding to USC's pain is the success of rival UCLA.

Most hurtfully—and, in the Bruins' case, impressively—this is largely the product of new coach Bob Chesney. The former James Madison boss has propelled the Bruins to a top-10 national ranking and now a 7-0 record for the first time since 2005.

UCLA picked up its latest win with a strong performance against Michigan State. As the defense gave up a meager 156 yards, the Bruins controlled the game on the ground. Anthony Woods scampered for a team-high 112 yards, Wayne Knight chipped in 56, Javion Thomas had 41 and each player scored once.

Perfect, by no means. UCLA started slowly and navigated two first-half fumbles. I'm not rushing to crown the Bruins as a national contender.

The very notion we're having this discussion, however, is the greatest compliment to what Chesney has accomplished in Year 1.

Lucas Carneiro is a phenomenal kicker. I fully understand why Ole Miss coach Pete Golding had faith in his senior specialist.

This decision, nevertheless, was mind-numbing.

Facing a 31-24 deficit at Texas with about 6:20 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Rebels had a 4th-and-10 at the 41-yard line. Rather than keep the offense on the field, Golding chose to have Carneiro attempt a 58-yard field goal.

The worst-case scenario, if he missed? Ole Miss would need a defensive stop and to score a touchdown to win.

The best-case scenario, if he made it? Ole Miss would need a defensive stop and to score a touchdown to win.

Even before we saw the kick, the choice was absurd. And then Texas blocked it.

Boy, did the Longhorns make it interesting again.

They carried a 24-3 advantage into the locker room at halftime...and proceeded to quickly give up 21 straight points. They recovered to take a 34-24 lead...and still needed—after a bizarrely botched onside-kick recovery—a last-second defensive stand to survive Ole Miss.

But they won. Following a week of serious drama, Texas won.

Arch Manning didn't exactly silence his doubters, committing three turnovers in the 34-27 triumph. He also accounted for three touchdowns and made a few tremendous throws. The roller coaster is alive and well.

Mississippi State awaits next Saturday, and trips to Missouri and LSU follow that. Texas has plenty to prove and a long road ahead.