Week 8 college football TV schedule and open thread

The Florida Gators are off on a bye this week, resting up for their big showdown with Georgia next week in Jacksonville. There are a few ranked-on-ranked matchups this week, a battle of unbeatens, some rivalry games, and a few significant SEC contests.

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)

Michigan at Michigan State (12:00 p.m., FOX): Do the (newly ranked) No. 24 Spartans have another upset in them? Find out when the No. 6 Wolverines come to town for this ranked rivalry slugfest.

Auburn at Ole Miss (12:00 p.m., ESPN): The offensively challenged Tigers should be able to find some success against a defense ranked in the 120s nationally, but if not, watch Gus Malzahn (reportedly) potentially coach for his job - despite a $32 million buyout! - in Oxford.

Oklahoma at TCU (12:00 p.m., ABC): The No. 9 Sooners return to the field after a bye, hoping to take down the Horned Frogs and get the taste of their loss to Texas out of their mouths.

In other games: The rest of the viewing choices in the noon slot are frankly pretty butt.

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

NC State at Clemson (3:30 p.m., ESPN): In a battle of undefeated teams, the No. 16 Wolfpack visit the No. 3 Tigers. Clemson is favored, but NC State has played the Tigers close and well in recent years. It’ll be the first major test for the Wolfpack, after an earlier scheduled contest with West Virginia was cancelled due to Hurricane Florence.

Alabama at Tennessee (3:30 p.m., CBS): The No. 1 Crimson Tide travel to Rocky Top to face former defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt’s Volunteers. The Vols managed to knock off Auburn last week - and win their first SEC game since 2016 - but taking down the Tide is a much, much taller order.

Memphis at Missouri (4:00 p.m., SECN): If those games featuring top teams get out of hand, you could always check on Florida’s next post-Georgia opponent, Missouri, against Memphis - a team which nearly upset No. 10 UCF last week. There will at least probably be offense on display.

In other games: Checking in on other ranked teams: one-loss Colorado is at No. 15 Washington (FOX) and No. 18 Penn State visits Indiana (ABC). You can also keep an eye on Wake Forest at Florida State (ESPN2), in case things go awry for the ‘Noles there.

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

Mississippi State at LSU (7:00 p.m., ESPN): The No. 22 Bulldogs are in Baton Rogue for a meeting with the No. 5 Tigers. This meeting of Florida’s vanquished SEC West opponents looms a bit larger than it did a week ago, since LSU knocked off Georgia, and could be a potential “trap” game for the Tigers if they look ahead to Alabama.

Oregon at Washington State (7:30 p.m., FOX): College GameDay is visiting Pullman for the first time ever for this battle of Pac-12 title hopefuls. The No. 12 Ducks are the conference’s primary playoff hopeful and need this win in order to keep any hope of that happening alive - but expect Mike Leach’s No. 25 Cougars to have some tricks up their sleeves.

Vanderbilt at Kentucky (7:30 p.m., SECN): The No. 14 Wildcats were off last week and were delighted to see Georgia go down. If Kentucky can win out, they’ll book a trip to the SEC title game. Florida can also control its fate, provided it wins out and the ‘Cats drop another conference game.

In other games: Undefeated No. 10 UCF is at East Carolina (7:00 p.m., ESPN2) and unblemished No. 2 Ohio State visits Purdue (7:30 p.m., ABC).

And here is your schedule table for today’s games.