Chris 'The Bear' Fallica's college football Week 8 study guide

This past Saturday was another electric day in college football. 

Oregon took down second-ranked Ohio State in a top three matchup at Autzen Stadium, Penn State took down USC in an overtime thriller, Alabama narrowly escaped consecutive losses in a 27-25 nail-biter against South Carolina, and both Ole Miss at LSU and Florida at Tennessee went to overtime— with the home team winning in both of those games.

With weekends like this past one, lengthy discussions ensue between myself and the fine people at FOX Sports every week as we plan our production for Big Noon Kickoff. Every Sunday night, I reflect on what transpired the day before, and send out a lengthy email to producers, researchers, and my colleagues on air about my thoughts on what happened, as well as what's notable for the upcoming week.     

I've decided to peel back the curtain and share those thoughts with you all, because everyone should rejoice in the splendor that is college football. 

This week, seven ranked teams will be on the road against unranked opponents, along with three ranked vs. ranked matchups taking place. We'll get into those shortly. Eight of the teams ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll play this weekend, and 20 of the top 25 have action as well. 

Let's dive into my thoughts and matchups to watch for in Week 8.

Seriously, how lucky are we as college football fans? Last week we got the Buckeyes visiting the Ducks in Eugene in what ended up being an absolute barn-barner, and this week we have the Bulldogs heading to Austin. Will this game produce the national champ and/or the Heisman winner?

While we all think Texas' defense is really good, keep in mind the Power 4 offenses they’ve faced this year are Michigan, Mississippi State and Oklahoma.