Week one of college football is in the books and it wasn’t short of plenty of drama and great games. It can be easy to overreact to the first game of the season and draw conclusions that simply won’t even be a storyline by the end of the season,
Even though week one may not have as much impact on a team’s overall success as we may think at this moment, it is still one of twelve games, and the results of week one can impact later in the season. They can also set the tone for the rest of the season and how fans and the media view the team.
Here are three takeaways from week 1.
The ACC is Very Likely a One-bid CFP Conference
The College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams, with seven of the teams being at-large bids that will very likely consist of 2-3 SEC, 2-3 Big 10, and then maybe a Big 12 or ACC school. In the arms race between the ACC and Big 12 to be viewed and considered the third-best conference behind the SEC and Big 10.
Getting a second team into the CFP would be a huge statement, and the ACC may already almost be out of the running to get that second team.
Florida State, who was projected to win the league, is 0-2 and essentially out of the running. Clemson got completely dismantled by Georiga 42-3, and darkhorse Virginia Tech lost to Vanderbilt. Of the league’s top teams, only Miami looks good following a win against Florida.
Could Georgia Tech win the conference and make the playoffs? Sure, but it’s unlikely. It really feels like it is coming down to either Clemson winning the conference or Miami finishing with two losses or less.
The Gap Between the P4 and Everyone Else is Widening
Every year, multiple P4 teams seem to lose their first game of the season to G5 or even FCS schools. This year, at least during week one, it didn’t happen. P4 teams went a combined 51-1 against G5 or FCS schools. The only G5 school to take down a P4 school was UNLV, which beat Houston.
G5 and FCS schools will have plenty of more opportunities to take down P4 teams in the next couple of weeks, but the early trend shows that the gap may be widening to the point where it may officially be time for the two to split, and each play for their own championship.
SEC is Not Messing Around
Good sportsmanship used to be part of college football. It seems like that tradition is starting to disappear. In today’s game, where the winning margin matters in the eyes of voters, teams seem to be running up the score and not really putting in backups until late in the third quarter, and even when they do, the offense sometimes is still in attack mode.
It also means playing tough defense for 60 minutes, as opposed to maybe giving up a few late scores while letting the walk-ons get some snaps.
The SEC has about eight teams that feel like they have a real chance to make the Playoff and know that an impressive resume starts with blowing out FCS/G5 opponents. This was evident with the following scores:
- Ole Miss 76, Furman 0
- Auburn 73, Alabama A&M 3
- Arkansas 70, ARPB 0
- Tennessee 69, Chatanooga 3
- Alabama 63, Western Kentucky 0
- Missippi State 56, Eastern Kentucky 7
- Texas 52, Colorado State 0
- Missouri 51, Murray State 0
- Oklahoma 51, Temple 3
That is over half of the conference scoring more than 50 points. This means that these teams scored on AT LEAST eight of their possessions. Considering the average team gets the ball 11 times per game, that is an insane percentage that we’ve never seen before.
