2021 NCAA Playoff Points: Week 8

Nearing the end of October, we're starting to get into the nitty gritty of things a little bit. There's still a lot of time left for teams to try to make runs to the Death to the BCS Playoffs, but that time will run out quick.

There's been a fair amount of chaos still, and it's continued throughout much of the year even into this week. I don't think there's much of a change in how the conferences are ranked, since conference play dilutes most of this.

But without further ado, let's take a look at where we're at.

American Athletic
Wins: 3.73 (7th)
PP1: 7.45 (10th)
PP2: 3.81 (9th)
aPP: 0.18 (6th)

ACC
Wins: 4.21 (4th)
PP1: 11.14 (4th)
PP2: 6.38 (3rd)
aPP: 4.14 (4th)

Big Ten
Wins: 4.43 (3rd)
PP1: 13.71 (2nd)
PP2: 7.29 (1st)
aPP: 9.00 (2nd)

Big 12
Wins: 4.50 (2nd)
PP1: 12.10 (3rd)
PP2: 6.13 (4th)
aPP: 7.40 (3rd)

Conference USA
Wins: 3.29 (11th)
PP1: 4.57 (11th)
PP2: 1.07 (11th)
aPP: -5.29 (11th)

Independents
Wins: 3.57 (8th)
PP1: 9.57 (6th)
PP2: 3.93 (8th)
aPP: -2.57 (9th)

MAC
Wins: 3.75 (6th)
PP1: 8.75 (T-7th)
PP2: 4.96 (6th)
aPP: -4.33 (10th)

Mountain West
Wins: 4.17 (5th)
PP1: 10.67 (5th)
PP2: 5.73 (5th)
aPP: 2.92 (5th)

Pac 12
Wins: 3.50 (9th)
PP1: 8.75 (T-7th)
PP2: 4.80 (7th)
aPP: -1.08 (7th)

SEC
Wins: 4.79 (1st)
PP1: 14.86 (1st)
PP2: 7.28 (2nd)
aPP: 9.50 (1st)

Sun Belt
Wins: 3.30 (10th)
PP1: 8.00 (9th)
PP2: 3.31 (10th)
aPP: -1.10 (8th)

To see the updated numbers, click here.

The pecking order pretty much remains the same. The SEC leads in three of the four categories, and is just a hundredth of a point behind the Big Ten in PP2 through eight weeks. The Big Ten, meanwhile, is third in wins, but top two in every other category, with the Big 12 and ACC behind them. The Mountain West has put up a good showing this season in most categories, and then I feel like there's a cliff. The Pac 12's numbers are mediocre this year, the American Athletic has been okay, and Conference USA is probably going to produce the 16 seed in this year's tournament.

Looking at individual teams, there are just nine unbeatens left at the FBS level at this point. Georgia remains the runaway at the top with 31 PP1, Michigan is second with 27, and then Iowa and Texas A&M are tied for third with 23 points. Ten teams in total have at least 20 PP1. PP2 is kind of a mess, with 3-4 Boise State leading that category with 13.67 points, Purdue is next with 12.25, and 6-1 Oklahoma State is in third with 11.83. In aPP, Georgia and Michigan are 1-2 as well given their undefeated status, with 7-0 Wake Forest in third with 22 points. Then the teams with blemishes start to come in, led by Notre Dame with 21 points, followed by unbeaten Cincinnati tied with one-loss Alabama and Iowa each at 20 points.

I'm still going to hold off on the mock brackets at this point and maybe look into that in November. For now, we'll see what happens when we go into Week 9 when I look at the schedules there!