Mel's Matchups: Week 8

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Last weekend we had the Red River Rivalry; the weekend before that it was a couple of SEC showdowns loaded with future NFL stars, headlined by Florida at LSU. This week is different. There isn't that one big game for which you feel like there are a significant amount of head-to-head battles between future NFL guys. Remember: That's what this is about. It's about finding matchups in which a guy is directly dealing with another top prospect. So the fact that Jimmy Clausen (No. 11 on the Big Board) was being chased by Everson Griffen (No. 12) last week doesn't qualify to me as a matchup. If it was Clausen's job to block Griffen, different story.

With that in mind, let's hit the rundown of matchups to look for as you play evaluator in your own right.

To check out Mel's matchups -- including a hidden gem in the USC-Oregon State game, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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Mel Kiper Jr.

Football analyst

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• ESPN NFL Draft analyst since 1984
• Contributes to SportsCenter and ESPN Radio
• Writes weekly for ESPN Insider