1) The two best teams in the country sent messages. All week we heard that 18 points was way too many for Georgia to be giving Arkansas and Ole Miss just might have what it takes to topple Alabama. Both games were over at halftime. Georgia has not only the best defense in the country, but maybe the best defense we've seen in a long time in college football. Bama may not be the best version of Bama from the last few years, but it's still far better than anyone else in the SEC it will see during the regular season and probably better than anyone else in the country. It's hard to see a scenario where these two don't meet up for the SEC title and then again in the College Football Playoff. It would be interesting to see if they're seeded against each other in the first game or opposite each other to meet for the title.
2) Don't count out the state of Ohio filling out the rest of the bracket. Cincinnati went to Notre Dame and picked up its second Power Five road win of the season. The Bearcats' toughest remaining test is either at home against UCF or on the road at Navy. If they run the table, they're in excellent position to get a shot at the table...even though we don't trust the committee to give them a shot at the table. There's nothing else they can do. They play in the league they play in. But they went on the road to two Power Five venues and they won both games convincingly. If you're not going to let them in now, just get rid of the whole stupid thing (assuming they win out). Meanwhile, Ohio State went to Rutgers and rolled 52-13 and it might not be the most eye-opening thing in college football, but the Buckeyes are playing better and they lead the country in both total offense (555 yards per game) and yards per play (8.47). The Buckeyes host Penn State and Michigan State then go to Michigan in a game they haven't lost in about a generation. If they can get to 11-1 they'll probably be playing in the B1G title game for a playoff spot.
3) The opponent there very well could be Iowa who picked off Little Tua (I don't want to look up his actual name) four times in the first half and destroyed Maryland 51-14 on Friday night. The Hawkeyes host Penn State next weekend. They don't play another ranked team this year. If they win next week, they're very possibly headed for an unbeaten season with one of the best defenses this side of Georgia. One last run for Kirk Ferentz, who has put together one hell of a career in Iowa City.
4) Kentucky is the third best team in the SEC. I know they had the WTF game where they barely beat Chattanooga the week after they beat Mizzou, but they controlled the game against Florida and held a pretty good offense down all night in a 20-13 win. They aren't flashy and they don't get as much credit as they should, but they're the third best team in the league. I don't think they can beat Georgia without a lot of fluky things happening because I don't think they can score more than about seven points in that game, but they'll be favored in every other game on their schedule and they should win ten games this season and get the best bowl bid in school history. That's the program the rest of the East is chasing now. The Cats also had the tweet of the week.
5) If Kentucky wins next week, LSU is probably going to look for a new coach at the end of the year. Ed Orgeron is Gene Chizik without the future in broadcasting (although I'd pay to watch Coach O on ESPN). He won the national title with one of the best teams we've ever seen two years ago and people started thinking maybe they were wrong about him. They were not. The Tiguhs were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter by Bo Nix and Auburn (who had a nice bounceback from a game that I thought would cost him the starting job) and it was the first time Auburn has won in Baton Rouge in about a quarter of a century. LSU is now 3-2 with Kentucky, Florida, Ole Miss, Alabama and Arkansas the next five weeks. It's possible a bowl game is out of the question by November 14th. Hello, LSU coach Billy Napier.
6) The quietest unbeaten team in the country is Oklahoma State which looked terrible in the first two weeks, but beat Baylor to get to 5-0. They're at Texas and Iowa State the next two weeks. Those games could very well determine who faces Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game (Not that the Sooners have been super impressive, but they keep winning and I think they'll get to the title game). I don't think the league is going to have a playoff team this year, but the Sooners, Cowboys and Longhorns all still have hopes nearly halfway through.
7) Wisconsin and Texas A&M should play at the end of the year in the "Who in the hell ranked these teams in the top 15 to start the season?" bowl. Someone would win that game 4-0 on two safeties. There might not be a forward pass completed. Both are quite bad. Wisconsin has a tissue paper soft schedule the rest of the way and should still get to six or seven wins. A&M does not and legitimately may not win an SEC West game this season. Ross Bjork is working on another extension for Jimbo Fisher as we speak.
8) The PAC 12 playoff hopes are dead because Stanford beat Oregon. We are five weeks into the season and every team has a loss. Nine of them have at least two. And nobody cares. On a related note, I watched about four minutes of UCLA/Arizona State. I am a noted don't care about the uniforms guy, but UCLA's blue jerseys and gold pants are the best uniforms in college football and if you do not agree I will not listen to your opinion.
9) Vanderbilt won a game. Granted, it was UCONN, but beggars can't be choosers. The Dores don't really know things like "You probably shouldn't distract your own kicker."
10) Five games I'll watch besides Mizzou/North Texas (I have to) next week:
Oklahoma vs Texas, 11 am, ABC
Arkansas at Ole Miss, 11 am, ESPN
Georgia at Auburn, 2:30, CBS
Penn State at Iowa, 3:00, FOX
LSU at Kentucky, 6:30, SECN
2) Don't count out the state of Ohio filling out the rest of the bracket. Cincinnati went to Notre Dame and picked up its second Power Five road win of the season. The Bearcats' toughest remaining test is either at home against UCF or on the road at Navy. If they run the table, they're in excellent position to get a shot at the table...even though we don't trust the committee to give them a shot at the table. There's nothing else they can do. They play in the league they play in. But they went on the road to two Power Five venues and they won both games convincingly. If you're not going to let them in now, just get rid of the whole stupid thing (assuming they win out). Meanwhile, Ohio State went to Rutgers and rolled 52-13 and it might not be the most eye-opening thing in college football, but the Buckeyes are playing better and they lead the country in both total offense (555 yards per game) and yards per play (8.47). The Buckeyes host Penn State and Michigan State then go to Michigan in a game they haven't lost in about a generation. If they can get to 11-1 they'll probably be playing in the B1G title game for a playoff spot.
3) The opponent there very well could be Iowa who picked off Little Tua (I don't want to look up his actual name) four times in the first half and destroyed Maryland 51-14 on Friday night. The Hawkeyes host Penn State next weekend. They don't play another ranked team this year. If they win next week, they're very possibly headed for an unbeaten season with one of the best defenses this side of Georgia. One last run for Kirk Ferentz, who has put together one hell of a career in Iowa City.
4) Kentucky is the third best team in the SEC. I know they had the WTF game where they barely beat Chattanooga the week after they beat Mizzou, but they controlled the game against Florida and held a pretty good offense down all night in a 20-13 win. They aren't flashy and they don't get as much credit as they should, but they're the third best team in the league. I don't think they can beat Georgia without a lot of fluky things happening because I don't think they can score more than about seven points in that game, but they'll be favored in every other game on their schedule and they should win ten games this season and get the best bowl bid in school history. That's the program the rest of the East is chasing now. The Cats also had the tweet of the week.
5) If Kentucky wins next week, LSU is probably going to look for a new coach at the end of the year. Ed Orgeron is Gene Chizik without the future in broadcasting (although I'd pay to watch Coach O on ESPN). He won the national title with one of the best teams we've ever seen two years ago and people started thinking maybe they were wrong about him. They were not. The Tiguhs were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter by Bo Nix and Auburn (who had a nice bounceback from a game that I thought would cost him the starting job) and it was the first time Auburn has won in Baton Rouge in about a quarter of a century. LSU is now 3-2 with Kentucky, Florida, Ole Miss, Alabama and Arkansas the next five weeks. It's possible a bowl game is out of the question by November 14th. Hello, LSU coach Billy Napier.
6) The quietest unbeaten team in the country is Oklahoma State which looked terrible in the first two weeks, but beat Baylor to get to 5-0. They're at Texas and Iowa State the next two weeks. Those games could very well determine who faces Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game (Not that the Sooners have been super impressive, but they keep winning and I think they'll get to the title game). I don't think the league is going to have a playoff team this year, but the Sooners, Cowboys and Longhorns all still have hopes nearly halfway through.
7) Wisconsin and Texas A&M should play at the end of the year in the "Who in the hell ranked these teams in the top 15 to start the season?" bowl. Someone would win that game 4-0 on two safeties. There might not be a forward pass completed. Both are quite bad. Wisconsin has a tissue paper soft schedule the rest of the way and should still get to six or seven wins. A&M does not and legitimately may not win an SEC West game this season. Ross Bjork is working on another extension for Jimbo Fisher as we speak.
8) The PAC 12 playoff hopes are dead because Stanford beat Oregon. We are five weeks into the season and every team has a loss. Nine of them have at least two. And nobody cares. On a related note, I watched about four minutes of UCLA/Arizona State. I am a noted don't care about the uniforms guy, but UCLA's blue jerseys and gold pants are the best uniforms in college football and if you do not agree I will not listen to your opinion.
9) Vanderbilt won a game. Granted, it was UCONN, but beggars can't be choosers. The Dores don't really know things like "You probably shouldn't distract your own kicker."
10) Five games I'll watch besides Mizzou/North Texas (I have to) next week:
Oklahoma vs Texas, 11 am, ABC
Arkansas at Ole Miss, 11 am, ESPN
Georgia at Auburn, 2:30, CBS
Penn State at Iowa, 3:00, FOX
LSU at Kentucky, 6:30, SECN
