2026 Week 8
October 28, 2026
As the days of October wind down, I think it's time we gave thanks. Baseball season is almost over. And soon we'll see the end of the WNBA playoffs.
Then we can get back to important sports issues, like arguing about who will face off in the Gasparilla Bowel.
While we all have our issues with conference realignment and all the side effects of having west coast teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 23 or so teams in the Big Ten, it has created some fine new rivalries.
I was truly excited to watch the game in Muncie last weekend, as Sac State tussled with Ball State. For all those prognosticators who thought sack would cover balls, it was Ball State coming out on top, appropriately scoring twice as many points as Sac State. I just can't wait to see what they come up with for a trophy for this rivalry.
The Duke Blue Devils are putting together another fine season in the ACC. They came from behind to defeat Virginia thanks to a halfback pass in the closing minutes. The final score was 19-16 and I remarked that that was only slightly fewer points than a typical ACC basketball game. Then my good friend Billy Packer came bounding in and started talking to me about four corners and Dean something or other and a 12-11 ACC basketball game. I kind of tuned him out after a bit, I'm good for about 30 seconds of basketball talk. Even Coach Knight gets tired of hoops talk, he'd rather talk football too.
Bring 'Em Young's #2 ranking lasted just one week as their defense fell apart against Central Florida, losing 39-31. You'd think some of those LSD types in Provo would have more staying power given their experience with soaking.
Texas Tech had a similar struggle, falling short against Cincinnati 37-24. Joe Burro seems to have turned it around for the Bengals.
The Longhorns tried a repeat of their Florida hijinks, building a 24-3 lead against Ole Southern Piss then giving up three straight touchdowns. Fortunately for Texas their star QB Peyton Manning III got his act together long enough to put another 10 points on the board. We continue to get a lot of entertainment during Coach Sark's farewell tour.
Elsewhere in the Loan Star State Houston lost to U.T.A.H. 21-13 in a cross-town tussle. The Aggies visited Tuscaloosa and seemed to be giving the Tide some real problems but Bama turned it around and pulled away 31-20. Coach DeBore's farewell tour may get delayed by a year.
Tennessee, coming off the big win over Bama, fell apart at South Carolina. Adding more SEC games seems to be leading to more underdog victories. By next year the league will not only restore SEC cupcake week but make it a full three weekends of SEC teams playing games against foes like Chattanooga and McNeese State.
In the Big Ten vs Pac 8 challenge, resurgent UCLA had little trouble with the Michigan State Fighting Chippewas. The Big Ten fared better in the other two matchups, as Wisconsin ground down USC 24-7 and Illinois shocked Oregon 21-10. Coach Butthead keeps chewing them up and spitting them out. And he beats a lot of teams too.
In regular Big Ten action, Indiana beat Michigan 13-6 in overtime. The regulation portion of the game featured four field goals, three of which were set up by turnovers. I swear you could hear Coaches Woody and Bo up here cooing like mourning doves.
Minnesota booted a late field goal to beat Iowa 13-10 and reacquire the farming services of Floyd Rosedale.
The Golden Buffaloes now have won the most recent outing in all three of their rivalry games, so have Floyd, the little brown jugs, and Paul Bunyan's Ass.
One of the more exciting finishes took place in Chapel Hill, as Syracuse went for two points and the win against the Tar Heels. Orange Testicle receiver Calvin Russell was ruled to have scored as he went out of bounds right by the goal line and the ruling was upheld on review. I'm not saying that UNC coach Palpatine was upset, but ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, being zapped with current, was begging for his father to help him.
I'd also like to congratulate Oklahoma State for moving from a winless conference season in 2025 to being just one game out of first place halfway through the 2026 conference slate. They pounded Colorado 57-24 and Coach Prime Directive fell to 2-5, which means he's probably days away from being offered the head coaching job in Dallas.
Well, that's a wrap for this week. Which is fine, as many lucky fans have only a couple days to go before Halloween and the World's Largest Cocktail Party at the FU Gator Bowel in Jacksonville. Have fun!