Week 8 college football TV schedule and open thread

There are three ranked on ranked match-ups this weekend, and all of them feature SEC West teams playing other SEC West teams. The rest of this weekend’s slate looks like it might be kind of quiet, on paper anyway, but hopefully that raises the potential for shenanigans.

Florida is off this week on a bye. It’s a strange feeling to have only had one Gator game to watch during the last three weeks. Florida returns to action next weekend, taking on Georgia in Jacksonville.

Feel free to hang out in this thread while watching any of today’s games.

Here are our picks for today’s viewing windows:

Early (12:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Eastern)

NC State at Louisville (12:00 p.m., ABC): This should be the noon showcase game. The Wolfpack have a solid defense, a potent offense, and nearly upset Clemson last Saturday. The No. 7 Cardinals have solid units on both sides of the ball themselves. They also have Heisman frontrunner Lamar Jackson, who is entertaining to watch.

Wisconsin at Iowa (12:00 p.m., ESPN): The No. 10 Badgers move on from their overtime home loss to Ohio State by hitting the road to play the Hawkeyes. This game ended in a 10-6 Iowa win last year. It might be low scoring again this year.

UCF at Connecticut (12:00 p.m., WATCH ESPN): The American Athletic Conference’s strangest pretend rivalry. You may recall that UConn just up and commissioned a trophy, unbeknownst to UCF (and much to the Internet’s amusement), for what Huskies coach Bob Diaco called the “Civil ConFLiCT” rivalry last year, ahead of only the third meeting between the two schools.

Afternoon (3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern)

Texas A&M at Alabama (3:30 p.m., CBS): Here’s your marquee match-up of the day. The No. 1 Crimson Tide will be visited by the No. 6 Aggies, both undefeated and both jockeying for control in the SEC West. Here’s hoping this one stays interesting, unlike Alabama’s take-down of Tennessee last week. Prepare for non-offensive TDs: Seven of Alabama’s 11 defense starters have scored at least one non-offensive touchdown this season. The Crimson Tide’s special teams and defense have as many touchdowns this year as South Carolina and Stanford have on offense.

TCU at West Virginia (3:30 p.m., ABC): The No. 12 Mountaineers are undefeated and have played well on both offense and defense so far this season. TCU can score, too, but have had issues stopping other teams from doing the same.

Arkansas at Auburn (6:00 p.m., ESPN): Here is the second of those three ranked SEC West games being played today. The No. 17 Razorbacks and No. 21 Tigers both like to run the ball. Auburn’s defense has been solid this season and new Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen has impressed.

Evening (7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern)

Mississippi State at Kentucky (7:30 p.m., ESPNU): This permanent cross divisional SEC contest features two teams that are probably (definitely) not going to make bowl games.

Ohio State at Penn State (8:00 p.m, ABC): The No. 2 Buckeyes, fresh off defeating Wisconsin in overtime, travel to Happy Valley to face the Nittany Lions, who are coming off of a bye. Ohio State is a heavy favorite, will Penn State put up much of a challenge?

Mississippi at LSU (9:00 p.m., ESPN): The No. 23 Rebels, America’s favorite ranked three-loss team, travels to Baton Rouge to take on the No. 25 Tigers. Can LSU interim head coach Ed Orgeron get a win against his former team? Will Ole Miss still be ranked next week if they have four losses? Leonard Fournette is also expected to return for the Tigers tonight.

And here’s your Week 8 schedule table.