CFB Playoff Picture, Standings and Bracket Predictions After Week 8 of 2026-27 Season

The Big 12 turned into the center of the college football universe on Saturday.

The second-ranked BYU Cougars fell in double overtime in Orlando to the UCF Knights, one week after they shocked the college football world with a win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

BYU will fall back from its No. 2 spot in the AP Top 25, but the win over Notre Dame should allow the Cougars to remain in a comfortable College Football Playoff position.

Prior to the chaos in Orlando, the No. 8 Texas Tech Red Raiders fell on the road against the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Texas Tech's first loss of the 2026 season will likely take it out of the projected 12-team playoff field when the new AP Top 25 comes out on Sunday.

There's still more drama to come in the Big 12, as the No. 10 Utah Utes play host to the No. 14 Houston Cougars in what was billed as the game of the week going into Saturday.

The SEC was not to be outdone, though, because the No. 7 Ole Miss Rebels and No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers suffered their second defeats on Saturday.

After Week 8, only the Georgia Bulldogs and Kentucky Wildcats have fewer than two total losses in the SEC.

No. 2 BYU Upset By UCF In Double Overtime

BYU's reign as the No. 2 team in the country lasted one whole week.

The Cougars dropped their first game of the season in double overtime to the UCF Knights.

BYU failed to answer UCF's touchdown and two-point conversion in the second overtime period. The Cougars didn't create much separation from their Big 12 foe all afternoon long.

The question now around BYU is how many spots it will fall in the AP Top 25.

BYU still has a win over Notre Dame to hang its hat on, so it won't experience a terrible drop, but it will be penalized for its defeat in Orlando.

A place in the top four may seem unlikely after the loss, but BYU still has plenty to play for in the Big 12.

Texas Tech lost on Saturday, and even if Utah beats Houston, the Cougars have a shot at the Utes on November 7. There's the potential for all three of the Big 12's best teams to have one loss.

If BYU beats Utah, it would hold a pair of ranked wins that neither of its closest competitors in the Big 12 possess. That could be a huge difference-maker down the road for BYU.

For now, the Cougars just have to try and rebound at home in Week 9 against the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Texas Tech struggled on the road in Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon, a loss that will more than likely drop them to the fringe of the top 15, or out of it entirely.

The good news for the Red Raiders is that they don't have to play BYU or Utah in the regular season and have one tough road test remaining against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

They still have a good setup to get into the 12-team playoff field, but like many other teams, the margin for error has diminished significantly.

There's actually a world where Texas Tech would benefit from missing out on the Big 12 Championship Game as a one-loss team so that it can preserve its spot in the field, instead of risking a second loss so late in the season, if that is the scenario in play.

The Tennessee Volunteers were unable to keep the momentum going from last week's win over Alabama.

The Vols fell on a last-second field goal to the South Carolina Gamecocks on the road on Saturday.

The Week 8 loss dropped the Vols to 6-2 and in danger of not being in the playoff conversation for the rest of the season.

Tennessee's loss to the Texas Longhorns in September doesn't look as good as it did back in Week 4. A defeat at the hands of unranked South Carolina won't help the Vols' case either.

Tennessee still has to play the Kentucky Wildcats and LSU Tigers in November, so there is a chance it can still make it into the 12-team field.

However, the Vols are on thin ice and more one defeat likely takes them out of the playoff discussion.

Unranked Teams Cause Chaos in Rankings 📊

No. 7 Ole Miss Loses to Arch Manning and No. 19 Texas

Ole Miss dropped to 5-2 with a loss to Texas.

The Rebels played from behind for most of the night against Arch Manning and the Longhorns.

Trinidad Chambliss and Co. now have one of the weirder resumes among the CFB Playoff contenders.

Ole Miss owns a Week 1 win over the then-No. 25 Louisville Cardinals and a home win over the LSU Tigers, but it fell on the road to Texas and the Florida Gators.

The November 7 clash in Oxford with the Georgia Bulldogs now carries even more importance for Ole Miss because it could be playing for its playoff life in that game.

Texas got off the mat after its two-game losing streak and it is now back in the playoff conversation.

The Longhorns have November road trips to Missouri and LSU, so they aren't in the clear quite yet.

However, with so many SEC teams now with multiple losses, there is a chance Texas gets into the field with two defeats. It could even reach the 12-team field with three losses depending on how the rest of the season shakes out in the SEC.