National Overview
What a weekend it wasn't. The much-ballyhooed "Best Opening Week Ever" did very little to live up to the hype, producing a series of duds in the majority of the high-profile matchups. Alabama - USC was an abomination. LSU - Wisconsin was an offense-free slog. Even relatively close contests like UCLA - Texas A&M and Georgia - North Carolina were ugly to watch. The entire weekend was bailed out by the wild shootouts on Sunday and Monday night. Fortunately, the disappointing results did provide a lot of important insights.
To start with, Florida State's ability to rally in the manner the Seminoles did (with a true freshman quarterback, no less), should have the rest of the nation terrified. That FSU came back from a 22-point halftime deficit with such remarkable ease proves the impressive talent level this team has across the board. Clemson, who struggled to survive Auburn, should be very concerned.
Of course, the biggest winner of Week One was Houston, which did the improbable in decisively toppling Oklahoma to eliminate the largest obstacle on its schedule in the quest for a Playoff berth. OU's shameful performance in yet another big game certainly had something to do with it, but no matter; Houston is unquestionably on track for a stunning Playoff-busting run.
Three of the five Power conferences emerged from last weekend worse for wear, though. The ACC, despite North Carolina's loss to Georgia, remains in great shape with two teams in the top five of the polls. The Big Ten, led by Ohio State and Michigan, didn't play anyone and therefore managed to stay the course.
That wasn't the case for the SEC, Big 12 or Pac-12. The SEC is fine as long as Alabama continues to look like an unbeatable juggernaut, but the nation's toughest league otherwise took a big hit. Seven SEC teams lost their openers, lowlighted by LSU's flop against Wisconsin and Mississippi State falling to South Alabama. Without the Crimson Tide, this conference would be in trouble.
The Big 12 fared similarly, as Oklahoma ruined the league's best shot at the Playoff in Week One. Texas did notch a big upset of Notre Dame, but the Longhorns aren't likely to run the table or finish with one loss. TCU looked terrible for most of its shootout with South Dakota State, and the best win the conference got outside of Texas was West Virginia's victory over Missouri.
However, neither conference ended up looking as bad as the Pac-12, which may have seen its Playoff hopes evaporate before a single league game. UCLA and USC are perennially overhyped by the media, but they're important flagship teams that went down in ugly fashion to the SEC. Arizona lost to BYU. Washington State lost to an FCS foe for the second straight year. Even in victory, the league was disappointing. Stanford also struggled with Kansas State, while Oregon, Washington and Arizona State picked up less-than-meets-the-eye blowouts of bad competition. It was, all in all, a disaster. More on this in the Pac-12 Report.
Unfortunately, Week Two offers much less than the seemingly stacked opening weekend. Shamefully, there's not a single matchup of ranked teams, and very few ranked teams look to even get a real challenge. All of the best contests appear to be outside the Top 25, such as Penn State - Pittsburgh, BYU - Utah, and Texas Tech - Arizona State. Arkansas at TCU and Virginia Tech - Tennessee have potential, but that's about it.
Playoff Poll
It's obviously far too early for a real Playoff prediction, and I've made my feelings on preseason polls known. Still, the release of the first in-season polls always provides some interesting talking points. For example, why did Clemson retain its ranking after struggling to beat unranked Auburn? Shouldn't Florida State have leapfrogged the Tigers after defeating a ranked Ole Miss team? How is LSU still ranked after that atrocious performance? Considering that we don't know how good LSU and Notre Dame really are, why did Wisconsin and Texas jump all the way up to 10th and 11th, respectively? These inconsistencies are what makes the polls so frustrating.
Pac-12 Report
It really was that bad. No one really expected USC to beat Alabama, but it would have been nice to see the Trojans keep it close and respectable. The 52-6 beatdown was the opposite of that. Meanwhile, UCLA was reasonably favored versus Texas A&M, but once again proved unready for the national spotlight. Coupled with Arizona's close loss to BYU and Washington State's embarrassing loss to Eastern Washington, the Pac-12 already had a bad week before including the middling wins.
Oregon won going away against UC Davis, but led just 25-7 at the break after a very slow start. Arizona State blew out Northern Arizona, but only after holding a 10-3 lead at halftime. Washington crushed Rutgers on the scoreboard, but only had 76 more offensive yards (and most curiously, was outrushed by the Scarlet Knights, a near-impossibility in a blowout of that magnitude). Stanford did what Stanford does, racing out to a 17-3 on Kansas State before doing everything in its power to let the Wildcats steal the game.
In all honestly, the most promising outcomes of the week came from the presumed bottom of the conference. Oregon State came through with very respectable effort on the road at Minnesota, showing that perhaps the Beavers aren't as hopeless as some predicted, while Colorado announced another big step forward for the program by thrashing rival Colorado State 44-7. If the Buffaloes keep playing like that, the long bowl drought will end this season.
Overall, though, it was an awful weekend for the league. Unless one of the three North contenders run the table, a Playoff bid is all but lost. I don't think Stanford, Washington or Oregon is good enough to do that, particularly if the teams penciled in as easy wins (like OSU and Colorado) continue to improve. It's not a done deal, but the odds don't favor the Pac-12 making a real run at a National Championship this year.
Random Thoughts and Observations
The big topic on hand to start the 2016 season is the expansion of the Big 12. I have mixed feelings on further expansion in the Power Five, as there are already too many bad teams dragging down the bottom of the major conferences. With that said, it makes little sense to have four leagues with a championship game and one without, so the addition of two more schools to the Big 12 doesn't seem terrible. It sounds as if the conference has already whittled down the candidates from an initial list of 12, so I'm going off what is currently being reported.
East Carolina, which would have made a reasonable eastern partner for West Virginia, is out. The Big 12 surely wants to add such a school for the Mountaineers (as it would also assist in travel for other sports like basketball), but the quality options are scarce. Louisville, which would have made for a sensible choice, has already been snatched up, and likely won't leave the stability of the ACC. Cincinnati is a decent pick, as is Memphis, but neither is exactly a big name brand. BYU desperately wants into a major conference, but it remains to be seen if the Big 12 will A) expand in that direction and B) support a school with a life contract policy like BYU's.
The first, most obvious choice is Houston, which would join its old Southwest Conference peers in a heartbeat if given the opportunity. With tradition, strength in multiple sports and a football team more than capable of competing at the highest level, the Cougars would seem to be the simple answer. But therein lies the rub: the current Big 12 schools don't want Houston. Texas is a crowded-enough recruiting ground as it is, and Big 12 members don't want to have to compete with a program that could corner the market on that section of the state.
So politics, as they so often do, will play into the league's final expansion decision. If I were making the call, I'd say the Big 12 should bite the bullet and bring in Houston along with Cincinnati as an eastern bloc team with WVU. It's not a perfect solution, but it will at least allow the conference to host a title game again and (potentially) survive the third round of expansion.
2016 Stanzi Awards
My favorite creation of this blog, the Stanzi Awards honor the nation's worst QB performances in an attempt to crown the most reckless passer in the country by season's end. But in order to properly pay homage to the former Iowa signal-caller, a few rules must be followed:
1) QB's are the only eligible players
2) The QB must have multiple turnovers
3) The game must by close (within two possessions)
4) The QB's team must win the game
So let's get this glorious ball of ineptitude kicked off! Week One got things going beautifully, with a delightful pair of Double Stanzis to go along with the individual awards picked up this week. It was a perfect beginning to what will surely be yet another season full of crushing sack-fumbles and ill-timed pick-sixes.
Week One Awards
Riley Neal, Ball State
Opponent: Georgia State
Performance: Two INT (one for TD), won by 10
Tyler Jones, Texas State
Opponent: Ohio
Performance: Two INT, won by two in triple overtime
Austin Allen, Arkansas
Opponent: Louisiana Tech
Performance: Two INT, won by one
DOUBLE STANZI ALERT
Bart Houston, Wisconsin
Opponent: LSU
Performance: Two INT (one for TD), won by two
Brandon Harris, LSU
Opponent: Wisconsin
Performance: Two INT, lost by two
DOUBLE STANZI ALERT
Nick Mullins, Southern Miss
Opponent: Kentucky
Performance: Three INT, won by nine
Drew Barker, Kentucky
Opponent: Southern Miss
Performance: One INT, two FUM, lost by nine
2016 Standings
Nick Mullins, Southern Miss: 1
Bart Houston, Wisconsin: 1
Tyler Jones, Texas State: 1
Austin Allen, Arkansas: 1
Riley Neal, Ball State: 1
Week One was a little disappointing, but there are eleven more games to go! Here's hoping the rest of season will live up to college football's tremendously unpredictable, highly entertaining legacy.
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