Poll Position - Week 8 | by Jeff

The BCS standings came out this week, and the Irish debuted at #8, slightly lower than projected. ND is still very much in the hunt for a BCS game and very far in the background of the national championship picture. There are few match-ups this week that will help the Irish other than our own game against You See LA. But there are several teams packed closely together in the BCS standings, so it is very possible that we will see minor reshuffling over the next couple of weeks based on small changes in the polls and computers.

#1 Ohio State vs Indiana (OSU by 31)
The Hoosiers beat the Hawkeyes, but the Buckeyes will be a different story.

#4 Michigan vs #15 Iowa (UM by 13.5)
Was Iowa looking ahead to Michigan?

#5 West Virginia at UConn (WVa by 22)
West Virginia feasts on one more cupcake before preparing for Louisville.

#7 Louisville at Syracuse (Cards by 17)
Brohm struggled against Cincinnati, and on paper, Syracuse should be a tougher challenge.

Although below ND in the BCS standings, Texas, Tennessee, and Cal all lead the Irish in at least one of the BCS components, so a loss by any of these three could help out a bit.

#9 Texas at #21 Nebraska (Horns by 6.5)
Probably the most compelling matchup of the weekend. The Horns proved themselves against Oklahoma, so I can't imagine Nebraska providing too much of a threat.

#10 Cal vs Washington (Cal by 22.5)
Without their starting QB, Washington's promising season may come to an end.

#11 Tennessee vs Alabama (Vols by 11.5)
One thing that seems to have proven out this season, SEC East > SEC West.

And most importantly...
#8 Notre Dame vs UCLA
With the bye week now over, the attention must again focus on the most critical task at hand: beating UCLA.