And now, 20 Final Thoughts from Week 8, which left me pining for a Vanderbilt-Indiana national championship game.

1. At the same time baseball fans were marveling over Shohei Ohtani’s three home runs in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ NLCS clincher on Friday night, college football fans were watching Miami quarterback Carson Beck get intercepted four times in his No. 2-ranked team’s loss to unranked Louisville. Where the Dodgers and their $3 billion payroll are proceeding to the World Series, the Canes and their $3 million-plus quarterback now trail Georgia Tech, Virginia and five other teams in the ACC standings.

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Many prefer the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL because they love watching the greatest athletes on the planet excel at their craft.

College football fans much prefer when no one excels at anything. We live not for excellence but for chaos. And the 2025 season is rapidly turning into a chaos lover’s dream.

2. Down goes undefeated Miami. And undefeated Ole Miss (to Georgia). And undefeated Texas Tech (to Arizona State). Throw in 5-1 LSU (to Vanderbilt) and you have four top-10 defeats in one weekend. There were also losses by undefeated Memphis (to UAB) and undefeated UNLV (to Boise State).

Obviously, this is not 1998, or even 2023, when one loss could end a team’s national title hopes on the spot. For most contenders this season, even two won’t be a dealbreaker. But none of these teams are 2024 Ohio State, loaded with so many NFL Draft picks you wouldn’t dare pick against them.

The way this season is going, I wouldn’t bet on anyone going unscathed.

3. I’m sure some Miami fans are in panic mode after the Canes’ ugly home loss to the Cardinals because, well, isn’t this what Mario Cristobal does? Lose games he shouldn’t lose? One too many of those kept last year’s team out of the College Football Playoff. But this year’s team has more margin for error thanks to a great nonconference win over Notre Dame and a good one over USF. Even if Miami loses again and finishes the regular season 10-2, I can’t imagine there will be seven at-large teams with a better resume.

Whether the Canes can get to 10-2 will likely depend on if Beck can shake off his four-interception nightmare. He was trying way too hard to hit home runs against Louisville and forced balls into coverage. Miami has two outstanding receivers in Malachi Toney and CJ Daniels, but sometimes they’re just not open.

4.