BY MIKE ROSE
A really interesting first week of the college football season. It's looking like 2008 could be a lot like 2007 -- plenty of uncertainty week to week.
SEC rules: Well, the SEC is still the best, by a wide margin. Florida, LSU, Georgia and Auburn did what they're supposed to do in the first week. But how about Alabama? That was one impressive 34-10 thrashing of overhyped Clemson in the Georgia Dome. If Alabama is the fifth or sixth best team in the SEC, then there's no discussion about which conference is the best. South Carolina and Kentucky also looked good in wins. But I was disappointed with Mississippi State's 22-14 loss to Louisiana Tech. And Tennessee should've beaten UCLA in the Rose Bowl, but didn't, losing 27-24 in overtime. Tennessee had more talent on the field.
Bad starts for ACC, Big Ten and Big East: Well, the ACC certainly took a hit. Clemson and Virginia Tech, favored to meet for the ACC title later in the year, each opened with a loss. I can't say I'm too surprised about Virginia Tech. East Carolina is a tough team. But Clemson looked terrible against Alabama. Once Alabama got up, the Clemson players really looked demoralized. Clemson has a history of choking when they get the hype. Seems that is again the case. And what about Maryland? The Terps beat Delaware 14-7. And North Carolina certainly did not look good in a win over McNeese State. It's still early, but keep an eye on Wake Forest and Florida State in the ACC. As for the Big Ten, I picked Michigan to defeat Utah, by a field goal. Clearly, I underestimated Utah because the Utes are solid. Michigan is going to take its lumps this season, but I still say the Wolverines will be much improved by midseason. Illinois, still a hot pick to finish second in the Big 10, hung with Missouri but couldn't make enough stops on defense in a 52-42 loss. Juice Williams impressed me with his throwing ability. Williams worked with Donovan McNabb in the offseason and it shows -- 26 of 42 for 451 yards and five touchdowns for Williams against Missouri. But losing Rashard Mendenhall is clearly a problem for Ron Zook. And the Illini must play better on defense. Can't really fault Michigan State for going on the road and losing to Cal. That's a tough place to play. But it would have been a nice win for the Big Ten. The Big East didn't show me a lot this weekend. We all know West Virginia is the class of the conference. After that you have South Florida and Cincinnati. South Florida, in fact, gets Kansas at home on Sept. 12. A win by South Florida would really help the Big East. Pittsburgh, ranked No. 25, disappointed me, losing 27-17 to Bowling Green. Lou Holtz said it best on ESPN: the Panthers looked tired, like they had heavy legs. They just didn't play with any fire. Dave Wannstedt does a fabulous job recruiting. It just hasn't translated into any success on the field. Louisville was expected to have a down year and it definitely showed in a 27-2 loss to rival Kentucky. Rutgers got a tough test to start the season. Fresno State is a potential BCS bowl team. The Scarlet Knights just couldn't convert in the red zone in a 24-7 loss.
Quick hits: There's no doubt that the Big 12 will be the second best conference in the country this season. Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Kansas will be ranked in the top 20 all season ... Jeremy Maclin, with over 200 all-purpose yards against Illinois, could find himself in the Heisman race before the season is over ... Rutgers will miss Ray Rice. The Scarlet Knights moved the ball on Fresno State, but just couldn't do anything in the red zone. Rice was the go-to guy when Rutgers was in scoring position ... Fresno State, Utah and BYU will all threaten to crash the BCS party this season. Fresno State has a big game with Wisconsin coming up on Sept. 13 ... USC is a lot better than I anticipated. In fact, the Trojans jumped two spots to claim the No. 1 spots in the AP and USA Today polls after a 52-7 of Virginia. The defense is strong (as expected), the young players are offense are electric, and Mark Sanchez looked very sharp ... If Beanie Wells is out, look out for the Trojans in that big Sept. 13 showdown with Ohio State ... Speaking of Ohio State, if Wells misses multiple games, look for super freshman Terrelle Pryor to see a lot more time running out of the backfield ... I was very impressed with West Virginia quarterback Pat White. New coach Bill Stewart has certainly taken over. He said in the preseason that White would throw the ball more. White finished 25 of 33 for 208 yards and five touchdowns in a 48-21 win over Villanova. It will be interesting to see what kind of stats White puts up this season, because we all know he can run. I picked White as one of my five Heisman contenders and I think he'll be a strong pick if he plays this well ... App State couldn't do it again, losing at LSU 41-13 ... What a difference Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow have already made with UCLA. Kevin Craft threw four interceptions in the first half. Different story in the second half as the Bruin's third-string quarterback helped spring the upset of 18-ranked Tennessee. Craft was 18 of 25 for 193 yards and a touchdown in the second half ... 2008 will look a lot like 2007 -- plenty of upsets and plenty of intrigue each week. So losing early, like Virginia Tech did, does not mean the end to the season. I could certainly see a two-loss team again playing for the national title.
Comments (3)
Here we go..."No doubt, the Big 12....Adam, you had to tell Mike when you saw this that I was going to take exception to this comment so early in the season. Might be true, on the other hand, some teams that do not play so close to the Mississippi River might take exception to that comment, and I am not talking about teams from the Great Lakes area either. Mike, there is this little conference that plays near a nice warm ocean. Kind of stretches over a little geographic area. Four states...added an extra conference game instead of a cupcake, when NCAA went to 12 game seasons...you might of heard of it...it is called the Pac-10.
Might not be as good as the Big 12, but I certainly know that week one is way to early to say so.
Hi Paul,
I feel pretty comfortable leaving the Big 12 as the second best conference from this point on.
The Pac-10 has one exceptional team (USC) and two very solid teams (Oregon and Arizona State).
I would be surprised if two of the remaining seven teams in the conference got to nine wins this season.
The Pac-10 has three crossover games coming against the Big Ten (Oregon State at Penn State, Oregon at Purdue and Ohio State at USC). We'll see what happens in those games.
Cal did its part by beating Michigan State.
MRR
Mike, I as I said earlier, it is entirely possible you are right, the main point I was making (in admittedly biased & sarcastic way) was September 1st, might be a bit early to make that decision already. My guess is that Oregon & USC will win, and Oregon State will lose. That aside, also have to keep the torch lit for the league since most of the media and people on the east coast, ignore the league (outside of USC).