In an up-and-down week, SEC did best, PAC-12 worst.
ACC (Grade, C)
Even though the ACC lost only two games (Louisville and North Carolina), the league didn’t stand out in the opening week. Teams won games they were supposed to win and lost games they should have lost. Miami could have changed my attitude, but the Hurricanes were blown out by LSU.
Where to look for hope? I’m keeping my eye on Boston College.
On the negative side, it would have been nice to see Louisville give Alabama a better game. I know starting a new quarterback against a Saban-led defense is a recipe for disaster, but the Cardinals didn’t seem competitive.
BIG 12 (Grade, C-)
“Unimpressed” is the word I’d use except for WVU and OU.
But the knockout punch in ‘bad’ was delivered by Kansas. The Jayhawks last at home to FCS Nicholls. How embarrassing! KU football is STILL in disarray There’s no other way to put it.
And, lordy! KSU almost joined in, barely beating FSC South Dakota St.
BIG 10 (Grade, B)
I was torn on what grade to give this league. I could have easily gone with a C. But, then, B1G lost only one out of conference game: Michigan laid an egg against Notre Dame.
Harbaugh has a way of losing big games.
More worrisome, though, were edgy wins by both Michigan St. and Penn St. Michigan St.’s defense looked lost against uptempo Utah State. The Nittany Lions needed overtime to avoid a massive upset. But, then again, Maryland had that nice win for the conference against Texas. So I gave the league a B
Let’s face it, though: on the national stage, we need to see more from B1G’s top- tier teams.
PAC 12 (Grade, D)
I always seem to be ‘down’ on this league, but it’s because the PAC-12 often deserves that kind of treatment.
In the good news last weekend, Stanford won against a San Diego St. team that beat them in 2017. Cal won at home by a TD against UNC.
Neither win is much to get excited about and two losses are things to be worried about.
Two home losses–UA (to BYU) and UCLA (to Cincinnati)–were against mediocre teams, both with sub-.500 seasons in 2017.
Washington could have saved the league–especially after West Coast OSU got bombed at the Midwest OSU–but Auburn beat the Huskies. Worse yet, UW choked down the stretch in that game.
This conference has a long way to go.
SEC (Grade, A)
The SEC dominated. Period. UT was the only slip up (against WVU) and that outcome was expected.
Alabama did what Alabama does. Ole Miss pounded Texas Tech. The rest of the conference looked dominant against teams that they were supposed to dominate.
Auburn’s win over Washington and LSU’s romp of Miami were ‘feathers in the cap’ games played on a national stage.
If Week 1 was a sign of things to come for this league, then good luck everybody else.
Etcetera
FAU: Best team in Conference USA?
Hawaii: Congratulations on a 2-0 start! Averaging over 50 points a game isn’t shabby, either.
UCF: Off to a good start won’t generate national respect, but let’s just see where the chips fall at year’s end.
Notre Dame: The Irish look to be playoff worthy. But, please ND, JOIN A CONFERENCE!
Nice job SON very well thought out