2014 College football rankings, week 8: Playoff picture still muddled

Who would have thought the Egg Bowl could be the game of the year in the SEC as we play through the midpoint of the season? Obviously there's many games left to play, but both Ole Miss and Mississippi State have shown the nation that the West could go through the Magnolia State. Auburn was the latest top-three team to suffer defeat at the hands of the Bulldogs, while the Ole Miss Rebels beat Texas A&M in Kyle Field for the Aggies' second straight loss. Auburn only fell to  6/8 in the AP/USA Today polls, so the race to the Playoff is far from over. Alabama and Georgia remain as outside contenders as well.

Baylor defeated TCU in a top-ten matchup on Saturday for the highest Big 12 ranking through week seven. The Bears were down 58-37 in the fourth with 11:38 left to go, but Bryce Petty was able to engineer a furious comeback to leave Baylor in position for a Playoff berth. The rest of the Big 12 is huddled around the mid-teen range, with Oklahoma at #11, Oklahoma State at #15, and TCU and Kansas State sandwiched in between.

Florida State rounds out the current top four, with Notre Dame just sitting outside at #5, setting up a huge game between the Fighting Irish and Seminoles in Tallahassee this Saturday.

The Pac-12 got a tad murkier after Arizona followed up its win against Oregon with a loss to USC, leaving the Ducks as the lone top-ten team out on the west coast.

Here's something to think about: if Florida State loses to Notre Dame this Saturday, and Oregon has another slip-up, the B1G theoretically jumps to third-strongest conference among the Power Five. Florida State has looked vulnerable all season, and a loss could drop them out of the top four near Michigan State. Clemson remains the only other ACC team that is ranked, and is not a threat for a New Year's bowl. The Pac-12 is cannibalizing each other through the midpoint of the season, and Oregon has plenty of injuries to overcome for a shot at the playoff.

Enter Ohio State and Michigan State. The Buckeyes are on quite the hot streak, and if the winner of the game between them in East Lansing remains with one loss, the B1G is sitting pretty for a playoff berth. There's a ton of moving parts to that scenario, but it just goes to show you that the death knell for the conference was a tad premature.

On the Scarlet Knight front, Rutgers continues to get votes for a second straight week. They are the equivalent of #36 in the AP (up one from last week) and #40 in the USA Today poll (up three).

One last thing - go home Sagarin, you are drunk.

For a composite Top 25 college football ranking, visit SBNation.com