College Football
College Football Week 7 Review
Week 7 of the college football season is in the books and what a weekend. This weekend we witnessed upsets and scares as we inch closer to the College Football Playoff. A quick look at the top four now shows Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, and Notre Dame. We are two weeks away from the College Football Playoffs Committee releasing their rankings (October 30th), so there is still a lot of football to be played. Overall, I feel like there are a few takeaways to consider moving from this point onward.
Rise of the Underdogs
I previously wrote about upset alerts to be aware of this past week for certain teams. West Virginia and Penn State were specifically teams I mentioned, but there were plenty of other upsets too. The days of looking at a schedule and practically guaranteeing wins are getting less and less. Big programs can no longer expect to just roll over conference foes that are traditional bottom dwellers, in rebuild mode, or look like they are having an off year. Case in point, Minnesota was expected to get trucked, but made Ohio State work to grit out a victory; Florida hardly dominated Vanderbilt; Texas struggled with Baylor; Virginia surprised Miami and won by three points. Overall, no team can be taken lightly on the schedule.
Conference Games are Even MORE Important
There is a lot of talk about out of conference play, but one thing that seems to be just as, if not more important, are conference games. This weekend was a perfect example of how conference games, no matter how weak or strong a conference is viewed, can make or break a season. Outside of Alabama, no one has dominated conference play. As mentioned above, strong teams are having their hands full with teams looked upon as an underdog. Oregon took down Washington; LSU beat Georgia; Michigan State beat Penn State.
With all the talk about how, “teams need to be blowing people out for ‘style’ points,” let’s not forget that a win is much more important. Honestly, winning your conference will probably have your team in playoff contention at the end of the year. Anyone complaining that their team struggled to put away an inferior team needs to check their attitude. College football is much more balanced nowadays in terms of talent than at any point in history. Simply having a better team is not always a recipe for success.
Plenty of Football Left
We are starting to see some separation from the pack, but at this point, it will be anyone’s best guess at who’s going to make it into the College Football Playoff. For instance, you would think Alabama is a lock, but it took Auburn losing the SEC Championship for them to back door into the playoff. Alabama still has to face LSU and Auburn. Ohio State has Michigan State and Michigan to get through. Clemson has four games that could be challenging despite having the best chance at remaining undefeated. Notre Dame is hardly a lock to win out. Overall, we are in the best time of the year! Enjoy the games while you can because January will be here before you know it and the countdown will start all over again.
What do you think? Who is a dark horse that could find themselves vying for a playoff spot come December?
Keep up with TSJ101Sports!
Photo credit to ALadensack11 via Flickr.
