Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica’s 2026 College Football Top 10 — Week 8

It’s incredible how the tide changed after a wild college football Week 7. 

With that, you’ll see a few new teams on this list. 

Here’s my latest, with odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

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Last Week: NR
To Make CFP: +150
Title Odds: +3500

Do I think Tennessee really is the 10th best team in the country? No. But I just don’t know who to put here. The Vols just beat up Bama in the trenches, could have beaten Texas (yay?) and beat Auburn in an ugly game (yeah twice??). Still, that’s more than UCLA or Utah has accomplished, IMO. If you want to rank either of them or Kentucky here, go for it. Vols are ‘dogs at South Carolina this week. 

Last Week: NR
To Make CFP: +370
Title Odds: +10000

I have the Cougars ranked ahead of Utah and the oddsmakers disagree with me since the Utes are 6.5-point favorites in this weekend’s biggest game. Houston easily could have won in Lubbock and I think the win over Oklahoma State is better than anything Utah has accomplished. We’ll get a chance to support our opinion or flip them come next week after seeing them face each other.

Last Week: NR
To Make CFP: -115
Title Odds: +3500

Tech’s offense exploded against a bad Arizona State defense. The Red Raiders have no Utah or BYU on the slate, although the trip to Stillwater could be tricky. I really have no idea what to do here, and I’m not sure Tech is better than a lot of teams that currently have a loss or two. But for now, it is a placeholder given the zero in the loss column. 

Last Week: 6
To Make CFP: -550
Title Odds: +800

The Hoosiers finally had a few high-leverage plays go against them, and it resulted in their first loss since 2024. One can look at IU in several ways. First, the offensive worries are real. Josh Hoover has completed barely 50% of his passes over the last two games and the run game has struggled as well. We’re talking just 138 yards against Nebraska and Ohio State. The positive spin? Despite that, IU was inches away from beating Ohio State and Bryant Haines’ defense will keep the Hoosiers in any game against the upcoming schedule, which really doesn’t have many losable games remaining. One of those potentially is this weekend in Ann Arbor. 

Last Week: 9
To Make CFP: -140
Title Odds: +1300

We’ve now reached the point of the rankings where I have no idea what to do. I think Trinidad Chambliss is still the scariest quarterback in the country to face, and the defense shut down Missouri like nobody else has this year. Yes, there’s the ugly loss at Florida in a terrible spot, but at this point, we’re looking at a bunch of teams that have flaws and I think the Rebs’ upside is higher than the other teams I was considering here. Can end Texas’ season this week. 

Last Week: 5
To Make CFP: -650
Title Odds: +470

The biggest thing that happened last weekend was the Julian Sayin injury. It changes everything in the Big Ten title race, the national title race and potentially the Heisman race. We don’t know for sure how long Sayin will be out, but my guess is it will be on the longer side. And unlike 2014, I’m not sure that this is a Cardale Jones situation for the Buckeyes, especially because there’s no Zeke Elliott either. The Buckeye defense is going to have to carry this team. It has held 48 straight FBS opponents under their season scoring average. We’ll have a good sample size of whom OSU is offensively by the end of the season. But I’ll keep OSU here for now as the Buckeyes are going to have to now prove who they really are.

Last Week: 3
To Make CFP: -700
Title Odds: +500

I’m not as down on Notre Dame as a lot of people. Maybe I overrated the Irish and underrated BYU on Saturday, but there’s no shame in losing a road game against a top-10 team on the final play. Now, there are some potential concerns for the Irish moving forward. Who do they turn to as a game-breaker on offense? Additionally, the BYU offensive line did a great job against what was thought to be one of the best defensive fronts out there. There will now be a very loud discussion about Notre Dame’s place in the national hierarchy entering the Miami game, given the Irish haven’t fared very well against highly-ranked teams in the regular season under Marcus Freeman. I still think the Irish are on the short list of title contenders, and they have another chance to prove how good they are on Nov. 7 when (a potentially) top-ranked Miami visits. 

Last Week: 1
To Make CFP: -800
Title Odds: +480

Georgia did everything it could to hand Auburn the game Saturday and the Tigers were happy to take it. Auburn’s post-game win expectancy of 3% felt right. I’m not convinced Gunner Stockton was healthy after a big hit early in the game and I think some of his shaky play was a result of that. Still, that game can be written off as a fluky result and nothing about Georgia’s long-term potential has changed. The Bulldogs are still the best team in the SEC and an obvious national title contender. 

Last Week: NR
To Make CFP: -140
Title Odds: +3500

A massive win not only for the Cougars, but for the perception of the Big 12. Yes, this game, too, had its own controversy at the end, but BYU completely deserved to win. There’s no Texas Tech, Houston or Oklahoma State on BYU’s schedule, so it’s promising the Cougars will make another Big 12 Championship Game appearance. But as we know, upsets happen and BYU is in a prime letdown spot this weekend at UCF. 

Last Week: 2
To Make CFP: -1500
Title Odds: +700

It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t without controversy. Florida State played its A-game against its biggest rival, but unlike others, Miami made enough key plays to survive on a weekend where many didn’t. Jeremiah Smith included, Malachi Toney is the biggest offensive weapon in the country and RB Javian Mallory’s role is going to continue to grow, as it appears Mark Fletcher’s name was added to Miami’s lengthy injury list. The Canes are not without flaws — offensive line play is shockingly one of those. But anyone calling this team overrated or not worthy of being No. 1 is wrong. Miami is on a short list of national title contenders and has to avoid becoming the third straight AP No. 1 to fall to an unranked opponent this week against Pitt.