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Week seven of the college football season was a fantastic one, and we have another great slate for week eight. Now that conference play is in full swing, we are seeing numerous great matchups every weekend. We're into the best time of the year, and the second half of the season is sure to bring a lot of excitement. This weekend features some great games, and one of them puts Jalen Milroe and the Alabama football team up against Tennessee in Knoxville. The Crimson Tide are ranked #7, and the Volunteers are #11. Both can't afford a second loss right now.
Alabama recently picked up a huge win against Georgia at home, and they looked like they were in the drivers seat in the SEC after that. However, the Crimson Tide have looked sluggish since, and they even lost against Vanderbilt. Not good.
Tennessee also suffered a surprising upset loss recently as they went down against Arkansas. Neither of these teams have looked very good in recent weeks, and they both need wins this weekend. Before we talk more about Jalen Milroe and what he might do this weekend, let's take a deeper look at each team.
Tennesse has looked concerning as of late
The Tennessee football team has not looked good during their last couple games, and it's been surprising to see after the way they played during the first few weeks of the season. The Volunteers dominated some good teams early on, but a loss to Arkansas and an ugly OT win against a bad Florida team have changed the perception of this squad.
Tennessee still has to play Georgia after this, so they really can't afford to pick up a second loss this weekend. It would greatly harm their SEC title/College Football Playoff hopes.
Alabama football is in the same boat
The Alabama football team is in the same boat as Tennessee. The Crimson Tide were dominant early on this season and they beat Georgia, and they were ranked #1 in the country after that. Since then, they have lost to Vanderbilt and they narrowly avoided a home upset against South Carolina last weekend. The view of this team is now quite different than it was a few weeks ago.
If Alabama is going to win this game, they need their defense to play well, and they need Jalen Milroe to play a good game. Here are three predictions for Milroe's performance:
Jalen Milroe will throw an interception
This will be a difficult game for Jalen Milroe and Alabama as a road rivalry contest is never easy. This crowd is going to be rocking, and these fans are going to fluster Milroe a bit. He has greatly improved his passing game since he first became the Alabama starter, but he will be forced into a mistake and he will throw an interception against Tennessee.
Jalen Milroe will lose a fumble
Milroe has improved his skills with his arm, but he is a great runner, and he is going to take off numerous times tomorrow. Milroe presents a big threat with legs, and he will make some plays, but Tennessee will also force another turnover here. Milroe will lose a fumble on Saturday.
Jalen Milroe and Alabama will lose
Neither of these teams have looked very impressive in recent weeks, but Tennessee has the home field behind them, and that will help a lot. If they can force Milroe into these mistakes, that will be the difference in the game, and the Volunteers will win. The Alabama defense has some glaring problems, and that will be important to monitor as well. The Volunteers win 38-24.
Alabama and Tennessee will kick off at 3:30 ET from Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, and the game will be airing on ABC. The Crimson Tide are currently favored by three points.
Other notable week eight games
ESPN's College GameDay goes to the biggest college football game every week, and they had an easy decision for where to go in week eight. The #1 Texas Longhorns are hosting #5 Georgia this weekend, and that is easily the biggest game of the week. These are the two highest-ranked teams in the SEC, and this is a huge game in terms of conference title implications. Georgia lost their last big road game, and they are hoping for a different result this time around.
This Georgia-Texas game is a huge one, but there are a lot of good games around college football this week. Let's go conference by conference and look at all the matchups that fans should be watching this weekend.
In the ACC, there are a couple big games to keep an eye on. #6 Miami is the favorite in this conference, but they have barely survived their last two games, and they probably should've lost them both. They play at Louisville this weekend, and it is going to be a tricky matchup.
Georgia Tech also has a huge opportunity in front of them this week as #12 Notre Dame is coming to town. The Yellow Jackets are 5-2, and a win over the Irish would be huge for their season.
There's not a lot going on in the Big 12 this weekend outside of this Colorado-Arizona showdown, but Friday night's matchup between #13 BYU and Oklahoma State is worth watching. The Cougars are currently in a spot that the Cowboys were expecting to be in, but Oklahoma State is 3-3 instead. Can they get a win and turn their season around?
Things are pretty quiet in the Big Ten, but there is one top-25 matchup between Illinois and Michigan that will be a good one. Also, #16 Indiana is hosting 5-1 Nebraska for one of the biggest Hoosier home games in recent memory. Both teams are having big bounce back years, and the Hoosiers are hoping to stay perfect in front of their home crowd.
Lastly, we have some good ones in the SEC. There is obviously the top-five clash between Texas and Georgia, and #7 Alabama at #11 Tennessee is also going to be a great one.
LSU at Arkansas is another one to keep an eye on. The Razorbacks are 4-2 and they took down Tennessee a couple weeks ago. Can they pull off another top-10 upset against LSU who is coming off of a huge win?
Buckle up, folks. It's going to be another exciting weekend of college football all around the country as this slate is loaded with good matchups. Sit back and enjoy.
