So … is the Big Ten the best conference halfway through the season? Whether you agree or not, that question comes with some big hairy asterisks.

While there are five Big Ten teams in the AP Top 25 entering Week 8 -- four of them unbeaten -- they still largely have to play one another. The culling begins in earnest this week.

No. 16 Michigan travels to No. 7 Penn State in what looks like a potential Big Ten elimination game. For the Nittany Lions, there is the feeling that anything is possible. The defense is for real with defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos and cornerback John Reid having All-America seasons.

Michigan was already exposed last month at Wisconsin. This is a redemption opportunity with gritty, bitter undertones. How good is Michigan on the road? It is 3-3 in its last six true road games against teams not named Rutgers.

Meanwhile, Penn State and Michigan only started playing each other annually again in 2013. Michigan has won four of those five meetings. But the Wolverines did not show well in the last visit to State College, Pennsylvania, two years ago. The 42-13 loss in 2017 came in the middle of Jim Harbaugh's "worst" season at Michigan (8-5).

That was when Harbaugh was still 3-5 against Michigan State, Penn State and Ohio State in the Big Ten East. Since then, he is 2-2 against the East rivals. In other words, sub-optimal when it comes to winning a division, league and national title. Those continue to elude Harbaugh.

Circling the Beaver Stadium whiteout like an ominous Goodyear blimp is the futures of both coaches. Michigan will be all but out of the Big Ten East running with a loss. But Harbaugh's calling card -- a 10-win season -- will be very much a possibility. That good enough for you Big Blue honks? You don't have to answer right away.

Meanwhile, James Franklin's name has been brought up for the possible opening at USC. Clearly, Franklin is an elite coach, probably underrated, whose entire persona would play well on the West Coast. Plus, he wouldn't have to bang his head against the ceiling each year playing Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State in the Big Ten East.

Franklin has done it again at Penn State squeezing gold out of quartz. Quarterback Sean Clifford leads the Big Ten in passing yards per game. Sophomore linebacker Micah Parsons is channeling LaVar Arrington.

"He is, to me -- and I want to be careful in saying this -- he is almost like the closest thing to me coming out of high school," Arrington told PennLive.  

Michigan's defense will hold it in under the number (Penn State -7.5), but this is potentially something special for the Nits. Win this and they can dream -- dream, I said -- of the Big Ten Championship Game.

2. Pac-12's last hope? Win at No. 25 Washington, and we have to take No. 12 Oregon even more seriously. That would make it easier to forget the Auburn collapse. Ducks coach Mario Cristobal has tried to establish an SEC mentality in the Northwest -- building up both lines. Notice that the Ducks had two offensive linemen on the CBS Sports Midseason All-America team. The defense has held five consecutive opponents to single digits for the first time since 1958. Oregon has held three straight conference opponents to less than 10 points for the first time since 1933. Washington has always looked down its nose for years at what it perceives to be an upstart in Oregon, which is now one win away from controlling the Pac-12 North. After Saturday, it has two division games left, both at home -- Washington State and Oregon State.

Meanwhile, in the Pac-12 South: There's a four-way tie for the division lead. Arizona, Arizona State, USC and Utah are all 2-1. The No. 17 Sun Devils will get plenty of Utah's Zack Moss in Salt Lake City. USC still has a Pac-12 chance hosting Arizona.

3. Need more cowbell: Davis Wade Stadium is the loudest college football venue I've been in. Combine the noise of all those Mississippi State cowbells with No. 2 LSU trying to stay motivated after its biggest win of the season. "This is not a good Mississippi State team," 247Sports' Barton Simmons said bluntly. Not with Joe Moorhead in the middle of juggling suspensions of 10 players. LSU brings the nation's best offense to town. Hold the Tigers under 42, and the Bulldogs are doing something. That's their season low.

4. The third week of October: Tennessee's Jeremy Pruitt on Tua Tagovailoa and his receivers (Jerry Jeudy, Devonta Smith, Henry Ruggs III and Jaylen Waddle): "There's probably very few NFL teams that can rival that part of their team." He's right. The Vols haven't smoked a cigar after this game since 2006. They haven't won in T-Town since 2003. No. 1 Alabama has no intent on that changing.

5. Home wrecker: It will be quite a homecoming at South Carolina. Never mind the Gamecocks actual homecoming is Nov. 2 vs. Vanderbilt. South Carolina pulled one of the season's biggest upsets last week at Georgia. Beat No. 9 Florida, and there's a chance Missouri (5-1, 2-0) remains the only unbeaten team in the SEC East. Quarterback Ryan Hilinski (sprained knee) is expected to be ready for the Gamecocks. The Gators are unsure whether star edge rushers Jon Greenard or Jabari Zuniga will be active.

6. Georgia's bounce back? The tears have dried (mostly) between the hedges as Kentucky comes to town. This probably means absolutely nothing, but Kirby Smart (37-11) has a worse record than Mark Richt (37-9) halfway through his fourth Georgia season.  The No. 10 Dawgs see this as a get-right game.

7. Halfway report: Midway through 2019, the FBS is on pace for season records in these categories, including completion percentage (.616), passing yards per game (239.46) and yards per pass attempt (7.56). The scoring average of 29.69 points per team would be the second-highest all-time. In 2016, teams averaged a record 30.08 points. To no one's surprise, the Big 12 leads all conferences in scoring at the halfway point (35.21 points per team). The SEC is second (33.73). To everyone's surprise, the SEC leads the country in total offense (433.19 yards per game). That's the highest number for the league in at least 20 years.

8. Heisman Trophy check-in:

  1. Joe Burrow, LSU
  2. Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama
  3. Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma

9. Quick hits: The Group of Five's road to the Cotton Bowl clears up this week with No. 14 Boise State at BYU and Temple at No. 19 SMU … No. 18 Baylor (at Oklahoma State) is a curious 6-0. It is winning with defense and just lost its best defender; linebacker Clay Johnston is out the rest of the season with a torn ACL … A big shout out to Missouri linebacker Cale Garrett, who made CBS Sports Midseason All-America team. Garrett came within a yard of having two pick sixes last week against Ole Miss. The senior's career is now essentially over after a season-ending injury (torn pectoral) suffered in that game. No. 22 Missouri is at Vanderbilt