As the first week where every team has a conference game under their belt (except those edgy independent teams who think they are so cool) wraps up, I think it may be time to look at the outlook for each conference and predict their conference championship matchup. Hopefully these will go better than my preseason predictions.

SEC

While the the top of the SEC has not changed, there are some interesting new challengers. Alabama blazed through Louisiana Lafayette on Saturday to remain undefeated, and Georgia did the same to Tennessee. I do not believe anybody else will finish ahead of them in their respective divisions. Even though Alabama and Georgia are the top two teams in the conference, that does not mean there are not a lot of teams competing for the spots below them. In the West, LSU has made a name for themselves. The Tigers have a strong defense that is a staple in their success, as well as an improving offense led by newcomers. Joe Burrow put up nearly 388 total yards and four touchdowns last week, in his most efficient game passing the ball. Justin Jefferson has become a solid go to target, and Nick Brossette has played well at running back. LSU has definitely outperformed expectations as many expected their coach to be fired after this season. In the East division, Kentucky has made noise as they are still undefeated on the season. After two convincing wins against Mississippi State and South Carolina, Kentucky has shown that they belong in the top 25. Their defense came through with the aid of three sacks from Josh Allen, along with nine tackles and an interception from Darius West. If they can win three more games that they should be favored in all of, they will be undefeated when Georgia comes to Lexington on November 3rd.

Championship Prediction

Georgia vs Alabama

Big 10

The outlook for the East division became a bit more clear on Saturday after Ohio State beat Penn State. Ohio State looks to be the class of the East division as they remain undefeated and have two pretty good wins over TCU and Penn State (and Penn State’s terrible play calling). Defensively Chase Young came through in a big way to make up for Nick Bosa’s absence. Dwayne Haskins has taken the league by storm and was able to lead the Buckeyes offense to a late score via KJ Hill. Ohio State just has the most talent and is the best coached team in their division, and it is hard to beat a team with those things going for them. Michigan has yet to play Ohio State, and only has one loss, but they have not looked stellar in any of their games or good enough to beat Ohio State. In the West division, Wisconsin situated themselves at the top after a win at Iowa. With the dominance of their offensive line and running back Jonathan Taylor, they are capable of running through almost every other team on their schedule. Their games against Michigan and Penn State will be interesting though. The only way I think another team could win the West is if Iowa runs the table in conference play, which is unlikely but not impossible with their toughest game being hosting Penn State. They would also have to hope Wisconsin drops two games in conference play which is unlikely but not impossible.

Championship Prediction:

Ohio State vs Wisconsin

Big 12

So I think we can all agree that Oklahoma is the best team in the Big 12. Kyler Murray should be the leading Heisman candidate after having seven total touchdowns on Saturday against Baylor, and their offense has not been stopped this season. Hollywood Brown and CeeDee Lamb make up an amazing receiving core. Defensively, the duo of Kenneth Murray and Curtis Bolton are racking up tackles with 17 and 16 total tackles respectively. Their first big test comes this week in the Red River Shootout (I refuse to call it the Red River Rivalry) against Texas next week. The second best team in the Big 12, is a race between two teams that both present solid cases. Despite playing a pretty sloppy game against Kansas State, I think that being able to win ugly is a skill, and Texas looks to have it. Last year’s Longhorns team would have ended up dropping that game. Texas also has two very solid wins against USC and TCU. Their defense has been solid, and their offensive talent has shined. Sam Ehlinger has played very well since the first game (that last interception against Maryland may still give me PTSD). This team is much improved and can make noise in the Big 12. This game against Oklahoma will be a good measuring stick for the Longhorns and it has me excited since Tom Herman does well in big games. The other contender for second place in the conference is West Virginia. The Mountaineers have one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Will Grier who throws to one of the best receivers in the country in David Sills. The rest of their receiving core is loaded with guys like Marcus Simms who put up 138 yards against Texas Tech, and Anthony Jennings. West Virginia has a high powered offense that can put up points. While Texas Tech shut them down for most of the second half on Saturday, West Virginia still put up 35 points in the first half. Their defense has also made strides. David Long has 15 total tackles last week and Kenny Robinson had two interceptions and nine total tackles. Between these two teams, Texas has the better defense and run game, and West Virginia has the better overall offense and passing game (sorry Sam). They play in Austin on November 3rd.

Championship Prediction:

Oklahoma vs Texas (not biased at all)

ACC

Clemson survived a scare at Syracuse and remains the class of the ACC. Travis Etienne had 203 yards on the ground, helping the offense after Trevor Lawrence went down. Clemson was also able to stuff the run, only allowing 61 yards rushing by Syracuse. With Lawrence out, the degree of difficulty may be raised, but Clemson still has no reason to not win the Atlantic division with the talent, coaching, and lack of competition they have (and the scariest defensive line that anyone has ever seen). The Coastal looks to come down to Miami and Virginia Tech. I lean more toward Miami, after they shredded North Carolina last week after forcing six turnovers. Miami just tortured the Tar Heels on defense scoring three defensive touchdowns. With an elite defense, and a good running back in DeeJay Dallas, the Hurricanes will be hard to beat in the Coastal division. Virginia Tech is the one team that poses a challenge to them. Besides their loss against Old Dominion, Virginia Tech has looked like a good team. Ryan Willis stepped up at quarterback in the absence of Josh Jackson. Their defense (that is scrappy and lunch pail and every other adjective ever associated with a Bud Foster defense) bounced back and shut down Duke’s offense. Their game against Notre Dame next week will be interesting in seeing how good this team is.

Championship Prediction:

Clemson vs Miami

Pac 12

The Pac 12 definitely is the conference that is the most competitive (or is in the most disarray, but I like to be an optimist sometimes). In the North, it looks like Washington is the top dog (get it guys) but they have not really been able to put teams away like I would want them to. Jake Browning played better against BYU, completing 92% of his passes. Their defense did its job only allowing 7 points. They still have not found a number one receiver quite yet, but Aaron Fuller looks like the lead contender after having 107 yards receiving against BYU. Stanford did not get the job done against Notre Dame, but I do not think they can be counted out quite yet. Their offense does need to play better against elite defenses (spoiler alert Washington has an elite defense) as KJ Costello could not get anything going, and Bryce Love had his season low on yards rushing. So if there is one division in college football that is in utter chaos, it is the Pac 12 South. UCLA is terrible, Arizona is only slightly better, and Utah’s offense is too bad to contend. Besides them, any of the other three teams could reasonably win the division. USC is the most talented of the three teams. While they have two losses on the schedule, they are both against good teams. JT Daniels will improve at quarterback as the season goes on, their backfield is steadily improving, and their defense has stepped up since the Texas loss. The only concern for USC is that their coach can not yet be trusted, and their offensive coordinator definitely can not. They have next week off but their game against Colorado in two weeks could easily decide the division. Colorado has the most impressive record at 4-0 but their opponents are a combined 1-17 on the year. Due to their lack of competition, it is hard to gauge how good this team is. I still think this team is pretty good. Steven Montez is a good quarterback and Laviska Shenault is one of the best receivers in the country. Together those two torched UCLA on Friday night. Travis McMillan has been a reliable way to get yards on the ground as well. Colorado plays Arizona State and USC in their next two games, so we will soon find out just how good this team is. Arizona State is the least likely team of these three but I still think they have a punchers chance.

Championship Prediction:

Washington vs Colorado

Some Random Thoughts

1. Miami Ohio having an offensive lineman get a rushing touchdown was awesome. If you do not love linemen scoring touchdowns, then you are not a true football fan.

2. The return of Dexter Williams is huge for a Notre Dame. That clearly was known when he took his first carry against Stanford to the house. Ian Book at quarterback was definitely the right call for the Fighting Irish. Since we are talking about Notre Dame, their defensive line is elite.

3. Georgia scoring after the ball getting stripped from them is something that could only happen to Tennessee. The awareness of Isaac Nauta to recognize the play and run with it is very impressive. Also his stats for the game say he has zero rushing attempts for 31 yards and a touchdown which is funny.

4. Army is good. They just completely smacked Buffalo on Saturday. It is not unreasonable to think they can go 10-2.

5. Mississippi State lost to Florida in the Dan Mullen bowl on Saturday. I have to say that Mississippi State has been pretty disappointing. Nick Fitzgerald has not lived up to my expectations for him this season.

6. Clemson’s quarterback situation just became very dicey. Chase Brice was fine but let’s remember he was probably fourth or fifth on the depth chart in spring practice. The fact that Hunter Renfrow might have to be the quarterback for Clemson if Brice and Lawrence go down is something that I can totally see happen. Hopefully for Clemson, Lawrence will be back soon.

7. Penn State’s 4th down call was bad and they deserve to be ridiculed for it. Trace McSorley is one of the best quarterbacks in college football and they did a read option on 4th and 5.

8. Michigan’s comeback win over Northwestern was solid but they need more out of Shea Patterson if they want to compete in the conference.

9. Washington State won a game with zero rushing yards. That is the most Mike Leach thing ever.

10. East Carolina won against Old Dominion on Saturday. Virginia Tech better thank their lucky stars their game against East Carolina was cancelled.

11. Duke is in the middle of an interesting quarterback battle right now. Daniel Jones and Quentin Harris are two very different quarterbacks. It will be interesting to see if Harris can take back the spot.

12. Jermar Jefferson ran for 254 yards for Oregon State. That is quite impressive in their loss to Arizona State. What is more impressive is that in the same game, Arizona State’s Eno Benjamin rushed for 312 yards.

13. I hate Oregon’s uniforms. Their numbers are unnecessarily big. They should not have to worry about the bottom of their numbers not being seen if they tuck in their pants a little too high. Also the different colored strip (I do not totally know how to describe but just look it up) that shows the players name on the back also looks dumb.

14. Hawaii beat San Jose State in a game that featured five overtimes. Hawaii still has a high powered offense led by quarterback Cole McDonald and receiver John Ursua. They will be a team to watch in the Mountain West.

15. So is BYU good? I legitimately do not know.

16. California put up a fight against Oregon but just could not overcome four interceptions from their quarterbacks. This team has a bright future.

17. Gardner Minshew’s mustache is definitely a bold choice for facial hair.

18. Cincinnati is undefeated and I have to say that I am impressed. It looks like Luke Fickell has done a solid job there.

19. UCF is really good. South Florida is also looking quite good. Let’s hope the War on I-4 will be as awesome this year as it was last year.

20. North Carolina State is undefeated still and looks good. Ryan Finley looks like a quarterback who can consistently get the job done. Their next three games against Boston College, Clemson and Syracuse will be interesting.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

Like this: Like Loading...