There have been several high-profile non-conference games in
the first three weeks of the season. Many power five teams play their
conference openers this weekend, while some teams have already played games within
their league. Here’s how I see the power five shaking up with conference play
getting underway in earnest this weekend.
SEC: The Southeastern Conference ruled college football
during the end of the BCS era. Since the inception of the playoff in 2014,
Alabama has been the only team from the conference to make the playoff. The
Crimson Tide have qualified for the playoff in all three seasons and played for
National Championship the last two seasons. Early on, it appears it may be
another Alabama or bust season for the SEC in the playoff. Mississippi State
may be Alabama’s biggest competition in the SEC West after a blowout win last
week against LSU, but Dan Mullen’s bunch has a difficult road test in Athens
this weekend against Georgia. Georgia looks like the favorite in the East and
had a nice win out of conference at Notre Dame in week 2. However, it would be
a surprise if any team other than Alabama ended up in the playoff from the SEC.
ACC: This looks like the least predictable of the power five
conferences so far. Florida State was the runaway favorite to win the Atlantic
Coast Conference, but the Seminoles were steamrolled by Alabama in week 1 and
lost their starting quarterback Deondre Francois in the process. Clemson made a
statement last week going to Louisville and dominating the Cardinals and
reigning Heisman trophy winner Lamar Jackson. Virginia Tech, though currently
outside the top 10, is worth keeping an eye on as the Hokies opened the season
with a nice non-conference win against West Virginia and host Clemson next
week.
Big 12: The Big 12 has been perhaps the most impressive
conference so far with Oklahoma winning in Columbus in week 2 and Oklahoma State
arguably looking like the best offensive team in the country. The Cowboys have
a marquee Big 12 opener this weekend with No. 16 TCU rolling into Stillwater.
Oklahoma travels to Oklahoma State on November 4 for a game that could decide
who represents the Big 12 in the playoff. While TCU could spoil the party this
weekend, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both look like title contenders one month
in.
Big 10: This is the conference nearly got two teams in the
playoff last season, and has most teams in the top 10 entering this weekend.
There are a lot of paths to the playoff for the Big 10 right now, but it’s hard
to pick a favorite in this conference. Penn State looks to be in the driver’s
seat, but James Franklin and company have a difficult stretch coming up in a
month that has them playing Michigan, then traveling to Ohio State and Michigan
State. Tomorrow’s game at Iowa could also be a tricky one for Penn State. This should
be a competitive league from start to finish.
Pac 12: USC was generating all the preseason buzz with quarterback
Sam Darnold entering the season as one of the Heisman favorites and likely top
five pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Trojans had a scare last week at home
against Texas and if we’ve learned anything about USC after the Pete Carroll
era, it’s that the Trojans have often failed to live up to expectations. Washington
State, Oregon and Utah are teams at the bottom of the 25 that could climb up
into contention for the conference championship while defending champion
Washington is the biggest challenger to the Trojans. UCLA was another team that
had some preseason buzz thanks to quarterback prospect Josh Rosen and a
miraculous comeback in week 1 against Texas A&M, but a loss to Memphis last
week has the Bruins behind the eight ball in the Pac 12.
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