When it comes to the top teams in the country, they really can't avoid their court date.
Week 8 brought out some more drama and more high-profile names to the USA TODAY Sports Fraud Court, including those that were just there (welcome back Indiana and BYU) and some that just got handed key evidence to their case. No matter the name, judgement comes for everybody sooner or later.
You may also notice a good amount of teams that lost in Week 8 aren't listed. Why? That's because those like Tennessee, USC and Texas Tech were already found guilty of fraud long before the verdict was reached, proving the court does know when it's handing out verdicts.
coaching carousel picks up speed
No. 4 Indiana
The case: Offense enthusiasts witnessed a nightmare in Ann Arbor with the Hoosiers slogging through a game that had no touchdowns in regulation, needing overtime for an ugly 13-6 win over Michigan.
The verdict: Jury is out. One week after not being guilty, more evidence has been gathered that is building quite the case against Indiana. Whether Josh Hoover's injury is really affecting things, the offense has been extremely suspect the past three games, not scoring more than 20 points during the stretch after it did in the first five games. There isn't worry about the defense, but at some point, the offense is going to need to play a full 60 minutes in order to eliminate any doubt it can repeat as national champions.
No. 7 UCLA
The case: The Bruins handled business against an injury-riddled Michigan State team, but it wasn't pretty doing so. Several mistakes kept the Spartans in it before UCLA pulled away in the second half for a 28-10 win to move to 7-0.
The verdict: Jury is still out. While undefeated, Bob Chesney's team has had some leaks recently that make you wonder if it can succeed late in the season. The main issue has been an offense that is averaging just 20.6 points in its past three, coincidentally without Nico Iamaleava. Ty Dieffenbach has been solid at quarterback to help out the run game, but there hasn't been enough domination happening to keep full confidence UCLA will be able to go up against some of the heavy-hitters.
No. 9 BYU
The case: The value of the win over Notre Dame didn't last long with BYU getting caught in a trap with Central Florida, losing to the Knights in double time after a wacky end of regulation.
The verdict: Guilty. It was good while it lasted, wasn't it? The game against UCF exposed a lot of concerns the Cougars had prior to the Notre Dame game, namely an offense that was really not producing as well as it should. When the defense couldn't carry the day, BYU couldn't help itself out and resulted in a pretty damaging loss. Could the Cougars still win the Big 12? Yes, but to think they could make a run toward the title has proven to be a fool's dream.
No. 12 Ole Miss
The case: Another ranked road game didn't fare well for Ole Miss, falling into a big hole against Arch Manning and Texas, unable to dig out of it despite a last second chance.
The verdict: Guilty. The recipe to stop Ole Miss has been pretty simple: rattle the offense and watch it panic. The Rebels couldn't do anything in the first half while a suspect Longhorns offense was cooking so bad, it raised questionsif Manning is back. Sure Ole Miss kept in interesting, but that's only after horrendous starts. Not only that, but Kewan Lacy's health remains a concern, and playing without him really hurts the argument Ole Miss isn't a pretender.
No. 19 Houston
The case: The Cougars nearly pulled off the rare feat of being a road team winning at night in Rice-Eccles Stadium, shutting out Utah in the first half before the Utes powered back from a come-from-behind 21-13 to stay undefeated.
The verdict: Not guilty. Normally, a ranked loss would throw a team to the side, but there's reason to be impressed with Houston in defeat. It made Utah work to accomplish something it typically does easily, and it just wasn't able to hold off an extremely talented team. Despite two Big 12 losses, there is still a viable path for Houston to make it to the conference title game. Watch out, because the Cougars could be playoff bound with 10 wins extremely plausible.
No. 24 Iowa
The case: The Floyd of Rosedale is not staying in Iowa City. A classic Big Ten rock fight broke out in Minneapolis and in the end, Minnesota's Luke Drzewiecki hit the game-ending field goal to power the Golden Gophers to a gritty 13-10 win over their rival.
The verdict: Guilty. Nearly all season, Iowa has shown an improvement offensively, one to match the tough defense and help the Hawkeyes take the next step. Guess some things never changed. Iowa had an awful day at the office as self-inflicted mistakes paved the way for the opposition to win, a sentence that could be said every year at this point. Iowa did a good job getting the jury to believe it was different, but it was only a matter of time before the true version of the Hawkeyes emerged.
Minnesota
The case: Speaking of the team that beat Iowa, Minnesota is among the leaders in the Big Ten at 3-1 with P.J. Fleck on the cusp of generating another winning season for the Golden Gophers.
The verdict: Guilty. There's reasonable doubt getting in the way of Minnesota not being guilty. You don't know what version of the team will show up. One day its getting blown out, the next it looks like a formidable group surviving late games. The uncertainty is too much to trust. The record is impressive, and Minnesota is probably going to get another ranked win by the end of the season, but it's not going to be a serious contender.
Cincinnati
The case: Big 12 chaos fully got underway thanks to Cincinnati, taking down previously undefeated Texas Tech in convincing fashion to put Scott Satterfield in reach of getting back-to-back winning seasons for the first time with the Bearcats
The verdict: Jury is still out. This really is a tale of two teams. At home, Cincinnati is elite with a 4-0 mark, but away from Nippert Stadium its 2-1. There's some strange magic going on with the Bearcats that more evidence needs to be collected if its a coincidence or something more. The next two games will be all that's needed when Utah comes in and a trip to Houston after it.
Virginia Tech
The case: James Franklin has a good thing going at Virginia Tech, beating Dabo Swinney and Clemson on the road in the best victory this season. The Hokies are the only Power conference team with at least six wins not ranked.
The verdict: Jury is still out. Clearly, the Hokies aren't getting as much respect as other teams across the country. But you can't blame those still holding out. They haven't necessairly beaten anybody notable — beating Clemson isn't what it once was — while the two losses against Pittsburgh and Cal aren't good looks on the resume. We have to see how Virginia Tech looks against SMU and Miami in November to fully assess.
New Mexico
The case: In the Group of Six Game of the Week, New Mexico's defense stood tall against North Dakota State, beating the FBS newcomer for its fourth straight win and to stay undefeated in the Mountain West.
The verdict: Not guilty. Another playoff contender has officially entered the party. The Lobos are for real, making a good case to be the Group of Six representative in the 12-team field. They have a nightmare of a defense wrecking havoc, with the only loss a 14-6 decision at Oklahoma. North Dakota State was the most difficult game left on the schedule, paving the way for New Mexico to get its first 11-win campaign.
Guilty teams this season
- Oregon
- Michigan
- Oklahoma
- SMU
- Clemson
- Nebraska
- Illinois
- Texas A&M
- North Carolina
- Vanderbilt
- USC
- Penn State
- Louisville
- Washington
- Colorado
- Texas Tech
- Pittsburgh
- Virginia
- California
- Texas
- Tennessee
- LSU
- Florida
- Georgia
- Notre Dame
- Alabama
- Mississippi State
- BYU
- Ole Miss
- Iowa
- Minnesota
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football Fraud Alert: BYU guilty, but what about Indiana, UCLA?
