BYU, Texas Tech Upsets Leave Utah Alone Unbeaten — SkimNews
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- UCF knocked off No. 2 BYU in double overtime in Orlando, a loss that came a week after the Cougars' win over Notre Dame moved them to No. 2 in the AP poll.
- Cincinnati beat previously unbeaten No. 8 Texas Tech, snapping the Red Raiders' nine-game Big 12 winning streak that dated back to last season; JC French threw four touchdown passes and Cole Tabb rushed for a career-best 173 yards as Texas Tech turned it over three times and never recovered from a 21-point second quarter.
- Texas Tech quarterback Will Hammond now has to win out, with Arizona looming among the remaining opponents, for the Red Raiders to repeat as Big 12 champions and secure an automatic CFP berth; their best possible finish is 11-1 overall, with common-opponent tiebreakers against Utah or BYU if three teams end the regular season with two conference losses.
- Utah ended Houston's four-game winning streak to take sole possession of first in the conference and become the Big 12's last unbeaten entering Week 9, and CBS Sports' latest CFP projections now place the Utes in the top four; next up is Cincinnati before the Nov. 7 showdown with BYU.
- Utah ranks last in the Big 12 in strength of schedule at No. 89 nationally while leading the conference in game control at No. 9, and only one of the league's five ranked teams entering Week 8 had a strength of schedule inside the top 35 nationally.
- BYU entered the UCF loss No. 1 nationally in strength of record and No. 7 in game control, metrics the source says will come in handy if Kalani Sitake's team rebounds as the league favorite; BYU's trip to Utah in a couple of weeks gives the winner a leg up at the top of the conference.
- Scott Satterfield picked up only his second ranked win in four seasons at Cincinnati, while quarterback Brendan Sorsby joined Texas Tech in the offseason but never played a down after being suspended following a gambling investigation and mutually parting ways with the Red Raiders in June.
Why it matters: Utah gains the Big 12's lone unbeaten spot and a projected top-4 CFP spot, but its No. 89 strength of schedule is the league's worst and only one of five ranked teams entered Week 8 with a top-35 SOS. Week 8 has already damaged the conference's shot at putting three programs in the final bracket.
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