Week 7 of the college football season was carnage. For Upset Alerts, however, the results were a bit of a mixed bag.  

The good news for is that Week 7 was full of surprise losses involving ranked teams. The bad news is they, um, didn't really involve anyone picked for upset alert (although there were a couple of close calls). The overall message remained the same, however: The down weeks are the ones you need to fear the most. 

Did college football leave some more upsets for us in Week 8? The opportunities are certainly there with eight top-25 teams hitting the road against unranked opponents. 

Each week, we give you the top five upset alert games based on matchups, injuries/suspensions and other factors. As an extra challenge, we try to avoid games whose lines are well within a touchdown with exceptions being made for cases that warrant them. 

No. 10 Oklahoma State at Texas

When: Saturday, Noon ET | Where: Austin, Texas | Open: Oklahoma State -6

Why it's listed: Because the Cowboys have looked human in their last two games against good competition (TCU and Texas Tech). Because Texas has been agonizingly close to huge wins against USC and Oklahoma. There's no doubt coach Tom Herman is doing good things in Austin, but the big win has to come some time. How quarterback Sam Ehlinger plays -- there's been some concern about his health after taking a brutal hit against Oklahoma -- will be interesting to watch, too. 

Texas wins if: It can hold its own on the defensive back end. That's a tall task for any team, but it can be done. TCU successfully dropped players in coverage and forced Mason Rudolph to either make ill-advised throws or take a sack (though OSU was shorthanded along the O-line). The Texas D-line is good enough to run stuff and win up front. Force Rudolph to make throws he doesn't want and Texas will get a gift or two on the back end. 

Oklahoma State wins if: The red zone defense can stiffen up. The Cowboys aren't a shut-down defense with 23 red zone opportunities allowed. That's tied for seventh in the Big 12. However, they only give up touchdowns 48 percent of the time, fewest among Big 12 teams with at least 20 red zone defensive trips. Exchanging field goals for touchdowns is a game Oklahoma State would love to play. 

Louisville at Florida State

When: Saturday, noon ET | Where: Tallahassee, Florida | Open: Florida State -7

Why it's listed: I'm starting to feel a little bad picking on Florida State this much, but this particular selection has more to do with the line and opponent than the Seminoles. If it was a four-point spread for FSU, they wouldn't be mentioned. But anytime you go up against a player of Lamar Jackson's caliber and you're a touchdown favorite, you need to be on watch. As we saw in Louisville's loss to Boston College, Jackson can't win a game himself -- try as he may -- but he does give his team the chance to win.  

Louisville wins if: Its defense can do something -- anything -- to take the pressure off of Jackson. It's not a good omen when Boston College hangs 45 and 6.38 yards per play on you -- both season highs. Still, it's going to take a circling the wagons type of effort to make sure Jackson can make Louisville's offense one point better at the end of the fourth quarter. 

Florida State wins if: It picks up where it left off offensively against Duke. This doesn't seem like much when you win 17-10, but the Seminoles experimented with some tempo and got off to an uncharacteristically good start because of it. Their 6.97 yards per play were a season high. Cut down the turnovers and the drive chart shows three nice sustained drives. It's coming in bits and pieces, but the offense is starting to find itself. Getting a defense as bad as Louisville's might come at the right time. 

Syracuse at No. 8 Miami (FL) 

When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET | Where: Miami, Florida | Open: Miami -14.5

Why it's listed: This has more to do with Miami than Syracuse one week after the Orange knocked off Clemson at home. The Hurricanes have been Austin Powers at a blackjack table and living dangerously. That's not just one hack's opinion, either; take it from coach Mark Richt himself. 

Consider Miami's last two ACC games against Florida State and Georgia Tech, both of which were won in the final seconds and could just as easily have been losses. Miami isn't 5-0 on luck alone, but it's definitely a factor. That's not a sustainable model. Another thing to watch: quarterback Malik Rosier has a habit of getting off to slow starts. His 125.93 passer rating in first quarters is the lowest of any quarter for him. 

Syracuse wins if: If lightning is going to strike twice, it'll probably strike in the same spot. In other words, the way Syracuse beat Clemson -- run a ton of snaps and hopefully make enough hero plays down the field -- is probably the way it'll have to beat Miami. Like the Tigers, the Hurricanes are good at using their D-line to win up front and get sacks. That means negative plays, and Syracuse had way too many negative plays against Clemson. This is reflected in the Orange's 68th rated offensive efficiency by Football Outsiders. However, Cuse quarterback Eric Dungey can make plays rolling out of the pocket and Steve Ishmael is going to bring down a lot of 50-50 balls. There's going to be a lot of bad, but maybe enough good. 

Miami wins if: It gets off to a better start. That begins with Rosier. Syracuse isn't a team you want to screw around with, especially now that they're feeling themselves. Forcing the Orange to play from behind is key. Syracuse is undefeated this season when scoring first and winless when not. Syracuse will help, too; no team is more penalized in the ACC. Get a lead, lean on Travis Homer, a fine replacement for Mark Walton, let the defense key off on Dungey, and MIami should be fine. 

No. 16 South Florida at Tulane

When: Saturday, 7 p.m. ET | Where: New Orleans, Louisiana | Open: USF -11

Why it's listed: Interestingly enough, USF and UCF are on the road against option offense teams this week. South Florida's experience could be tougher even though Tulane is still rebuilding. The option attack is tough to prepare for in a week's time and USF's FBS-leading 15 interceptions don't add much against a team ranked 125th in attempts. USF has been prone to mistakes and slow starts, so the upset seems more likely here. 

Tulane wins if: It finds just enough explosive plays. The Green Wave don't run a lot of plays and they're pretty methodical. That will probably be the case against South Florida's run defense. But getting big plays on first down is going to be the way to disrupt this game. South Florida doesn't have an efficient offense (125th in success rate) so Tulane actually has the offenses horses to keep up despite the Bulls scoring at least 30 points in every game. 

South Florida wins if: You know ... it can stop the run. Statistically, it can. USF's run defense is tops in the AAC, but it faces the second-fewest rushing attempts per game in the conference. This is a different level of rushing attack that's difficult to prepare for in a week. Winning first and second downs is something the Bulls do well, too. They're No. 1 in the nation in yards per carry on standard downs. Get Tulane in 3rd and long situations and it's probably lights out for the Green Wave. 

No. 24 LSU at Ole Miss

When: Saturday, 7:15 p.m. ET | Where: Oxford, Mississippi | Open: LSU -7

Why it's listed: LSU is 5-2, and it's a weird 5-2. (Would you expect anything else?) The last three games include a loss to Troy followed by a one-point win over Florida and a comeback win over Auburn. However, the Gators are falling apart and Auburn went into a shell in the second half. Even Gus Malzahn didn't think LSU could score enough to win. There are things to like about LSU now, chief among them is Russell Gage, but I wonder if we've overvalued the last two weeks. And Ole Miss, for all its faults, has avatars at wide receiver that are matchup issues for any team. 

Ole Miss wins if: The offense clicks. It seems simple, and it is, but offense is going to win this game. The Rebels have firepower with quarterback Shea Patterson and his giant wideouts to throw to. Score at least 30 points and I'd be willing to bet Ole Miss wins. 

LSU wins if: Gage is the player of the game. It's sort of absurd that Derrius Guice has become an afterthought, but he hasn't eclipsed 100 yards since the second game of the season. He's also been banged up, which is no fault of his own. Gage gives LSU's offense game-changing speed and open-field elusiveness, the impact of which can't always be measured, but is undoubtedly important.