We’re a little more than halfway through the 2022 college football regular season, and somewhat surprisingly, there are just nine remaining undefeated teams at this point. (It took an extra week last season before that number dropped to single digits.)
While these nine teams will try to hold onto their perfect records as tight as they can in Week 8, two teams on this list, Clemson and Syracuse, play each other. So no matter what, we’ll at least lose one team from this list by next week.
The SEC leads the way with three undefeated teams, while the Big Ten and ACC each have two and the Pac-12 and Big 12 have one apiece. Disappointingly, there are no undefeated Group of Five teams left anymore.
Now, no one can predict the future, and especially not in college football. But that’s not stopping us from attempting to educatedly guess which currently undefeated FBS teams will fall for the first time in Week 8.
Here are our predictions for this week’s undefeated teams, based on their upcoming opponents, how they’ve played so far, ESPN’s FPI projections and betting info from Tipico Sportsbook. (All games are on Saturday unless otherwise noted.)
No. 1 Georgia (7-0)
Wins: Oregon, Samford, South Carolina, Kent State, Auburn, Vanderbilt
Chance of winning out: 31.0 percent
Week 8 game: Bye
Undefeated after Week 8: Yes, duh.
With mostly dominant victories throughout the season, the Bulldogs have definitely earned their No. 1 ranking and remained at the top of the college football world after Week 7. Kirby Smart’s 2021 national championship-winning team was not a fluke, and, despite losing some key players after last year, the 2022 edition looks dominant as ever through the first half of its season.
Georgia’s powerhouse offense is No. 4 in the country (526.6 yards per game), and its suffocating defense is No. 3 (247.1 yards allowed per game). And although it had a little trouble putting away Missouri earlier this month, it’s looking fairly unbeatable and far less vulnerable than a couple weeks ago. This week, it gets a break before taking on the haphazard Florida Gators.
No. 2 Ohio State (6-0)
Wins: Notre Dame, Arkansas State, Toledo, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Michigan State
Chance of winning out: 45.8 percent
Week 8 game: Iowa (Noon ET, FOX)
Undefeated after Week 8: Yes
This Ohio State team certainly looks like one of the best teams in the country. Its balanced offense — thanks in large part to quarterback C.J. Stroud and running backs Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson — is No. 2 with 543.7 yards per game, behind only Tennessee. It’s defense is pretty solid too.
But here’s the thing: The Buckeyes haven’t really played anybody, so it’s uniquely hard to gauge how they’d stack up against a team like Georgia. Maybe they’d thrive, maybe they’d get blown out. It’s just difficult to tell when their wins are over an inconsistent and below average Notre Dame and three weak Big Ten teams at the bottom of the conference. Iowa doesn’t look like the pesky conference disrupter it so often is, but its three losses to Iowa State, Michigan and Illinois have been by a combined 19 points. But Ohio State is on a different level than most of the Hawkeyes’ opponents this season, so the Buckeyes should have no trouble remaining undefeated — especially as 29.5-point favorites against the Hawkeyes.
No. 3 Tennessee (6-0)
Wins: Ball State, Pitt, Akron, Florida, LSU, Alabama
Chance of winning out: 5.2 percent
Week 8 game: UT Martin (Noon ET, SEC Network)
Undefeated after Week 8: Yes
No disrespect to UT Martin or the Ohio Valley Conference, but no matter how heinous the Volunteers’ (metaphorical or literal) hangover may be after knocking off previously undefeated Alabama last week for the first time since 2006, they’re not going to lose in Week 8. Dual-threat quarterback Hendon Hooker is a star who only just threw his first interception of the season last week against the Crimson Tide (he also threw for 385 yards and five touchdowns!). And in the last couple weeks, his Heisman Trophy odds have skyrocketed as he continues leading the most dominant offense in the country with 551.0 yards per game.
Tennessee is a 37.5-point favorite, per OddsShark, over the Skyhawks, and that seems about right. And who knows, maybe the Vols don’t even have goalposts back on the field, so it could be touchdowns or bust for UT Martin.
No. 4 Michigan (7-0)
Wins: Colorado State, Hawaii, UConn, Maryland, Iowa, Indiana, Penn State
Chance of winning out: 15.6 percent
Week 8 game: Bye
Undefeated after Week 8: Yes, duh.
With most of the Big Ten struggling, Michigan was in a similar situation as Ohio State without any super tough opponents. But there were a lot of high expectations for the Wolverines against Penn State in what was a top-10 matchup last week… that is, until they steamrolled the Nittany Lions. At this point, it’s hard to tell what’s scarier: their top-4 defense or their high-powered offense, led by wrecking ball running backs Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum. Michigan is off this week before facing Michigan State at home in Week 9.
No. 5 Clemson (7-0)
Wins: Georgia Tech, Furman, Louisiana Tech, Wake Forest, N.C. State, Boston College, Florida State
Chance of winning out: 33.3 percent
Week 8 game: No. 14 Syracuse (Noon ET, ABC)
Undefeated after Week 8: No
This game and this pick feel like a trap no matter how you look at it. Since Syracuse stunned the Tigers in 2017 with an incredible upset, the Orange have come notably close to repeating history — they lost by four in 2018 and by three in 2021 — but just haven’t been able to come out on top. Yet this year, Syracuse joining the top-25 rankings a few weeks ago for the first time since 2019, somehow, inexplicably, makes this upset pick feel EVEN MORE like a trap. Syracuse is good, so it *could* beat Clemson. But also, Syracuse is good, so maybe it definitely won’t?
For Clemson against Syracuse’s No. 8 defense (285.8 yards allowed per game), combine a field goal or two instead of touchdowns with a bad turnover, maybe a lost fumble, and the Orange could keep it close enough to be in a position to take control late in the game. Or college football could do that thing where it makes no sense and the Tigers will crush it as 13.5-favorites and come out with a monster three-touchdown victory. Tigers quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei has undoubtedly improved, but Syracuse’s defense is holding passers to just 173.8 yards per game and less than 100 yards on the ground.
Dabo Swinney’s team has had some close-ish calls this season, like its 34-28 win over Florida State last week, a 10-point win over N.C. State three weeks ago and an overtime victory over Wake Forest in September. The ACC is stronger than usual this season, and the Orange have to execute perfectly to pull off the upset — like in pretty much any game against Clemson and sometimes even that’s not enough. But if Dino Babers’ team can force a couple mistakes from the Tigers and capitalize on them, this could be a disaster scenario for the conference’s best team.
No. 7 Ole Miss (7-0)
Wins: Troy, Central Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Tulsa, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Auburn
Chance of winning out: 0.9 percent
Week 8 game: LSU
Undefeated after Week 8: Yes
How unranked LSU is the favorite — albeit a slight one at 2.5 — against a top-10 Ole Miss team that looks like it could really unhinge Alabama’s grip on the SEC West is baffling. Brian Kelly’s team looks fine but definitely not dominant, and sure, the Tigers are at home, which definitely counts for something. But picking Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss squad to come out on top feels like a no-brainer (read: maybe another trap).
Ole Miss has one of the best offenses in the country right now, averaging more than 500 yards a game with a top-3 third-down conversion rate (55.2 percent), and it feels like the Tigers don’t have it together enough to keep up. That is, unless star running backs Quinshon Judkins and Zach Evans don’t take care of the ball (unlikely) or LSU’s 29th-ranked defense forces USC transfer quarterback Jaxson Dart to rack up a couple interceptions. Regardless of how it plays out and what the final score is, it’s hard to imagine Ole Miss not winning this one.
No. 8 TCU (6-0)
Wins: Colorado, Tarleton, SMU, Oklahoma, Kansas, Oklahoma State
Chance of winning out: 0.9 percent
Week 8 game: No. 17 Kansas State
Undefeated after Week 8: No
TCU is the Big 12’s best team right now, just like everyone totally predicted. Jokes aside, this is a really talented group with a prolific offense that, on paper, is behind only Tennessee and Ohio State. But the aggressive Horned Frogs are also facing the final hurdle in what’s clearly the most challenging stretch of games on their schedule, and after going into double overtime to beat the Cowboys, Week 8 seems poised to deliver TCU its first loss of the season.
Predicting TCU’s loss is less about the Horned Frogs and more about the Wildcats’ potential. They’re cruising, though not quite easily, through their schedule following a 17-10 loss to Tulane in September, and they’re holding their opponents to a 14th-best 16.7 points per game. The best thing quarterback Adrian Martinez has done in the last year was transfer away from Nebraska, and now, he’s (mostly) thriving with his arm and on the ground and has yet to throw an interception this season (he threw 10 in 2021). Kansas State wins this one as 3.5-point underdogs and takes control of the Big 12.
No. 9 UCLA (7-0)
Wins: Bowling Green, Alabama State, South Alabama, Colorado, Washington, Utah
Chance of winning out: 1.4 percent
Week 8 game: No. 10 Oregon (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX)
Undefeated after Week 8: Yes
Another uncertain pick to be sure, but with the way UCLA has been playing lately after some less-than-challenging opponents to start the season, it’s hard to go against it. Bruins dual-threat quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is having a fantastic season, boasting a 74.8 completion percentage — WAY up from his previous four seasons — with 15 touchdowns and two interceptions, along with four more scores on the ground. He and running back Zach Charbonnet are an absolutely dazzling duo to watch, and although Oregon is holding its opponents to an average of less than 100 rushing yards, DTR and Charbonnet are likely to find some holes.
But Oregon’s answer to DTR and Charbonnet is Auburn transfer Bo Nix and running back Bucky Irving. Nix has thrown for more yards (1,526), but DTR has thrown more touchdowns. The Bruins’ passer has a higher completion percentage (Nix is at 70.4 percent), but Nix has twice as many rushing touchdowns. The Ducks and Bruins are Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, with the Pac-12’s best ground game, but Oregon is averaging about 30 more yards. With both teams coming off byes, hopefully this will be a close one, but we’re predicting UCLA holds onto its undefeated record as a 6.5-point underdog.
No. 14 Syracuse (6-0)
Wins: Louisville, UConn, Purdue, Virginia, Wagner, N.C. State
Chance of winning out: 0.6 percent
Week 8 game: No. 5 Clemson
Undefeated after Week 8: Yes
See above.
