The State of College Football - 2 week review

We have finished 2 weeks in college football and although we are only halfway through the non-conference slate a few things are starting to solidify.  A good way to get an idea of the strength of a conference is to see how they did vs BCS conference opponents along with any bad non-BCS losses they may have suffered.  Here's my take by conference in desending order:

WAC - I'm not going to bother looking at this league because this league is basically a western version of the MAC.  They are listed for only one reason - Boise State.  Boise had a nice win over Virginia Tech in the opener and all but guaranteed themselves an undefeated season.  Too bad VT lost to a FCS team a week later.  That will pretty much keep Boise out of the championship game as long as there are at least 2 undefeated or 1 loss teams in the SEC, Big Ten, Pac 10 or Big 12.

Big East (0-4) - Cincinnati lost to the WAC's Fresno State, Connecticutt lost to Michigan, Louisville lost to Kentucky, Pitt lost to Utah, South Florida lost to Florida, and Syracuse got pummelled by Washington.

• This joke of a league continues to disappoint.  The fact they get an automatic BCS slot is offensive to the other 5 BCS conferences.  They are the answer to the question, "Why should the Mountain West get an automatic BCS slot?"

ACC (0-5) - Florida State got stomped by Oklahoma, Georgia Tech got surprised by Kansas, Miami was outmatched against Ohio State, Virginia lost a close one to USC, North Carolina was shorthanded vs LSU, and last Virginia Tech lost a heartbreaker to Boise State then was embarrassed by FCS James Madison.

• This league had 5 teams ranked in the top 25 at the beginning of the season but their results thus far have been laughable.  In their defense, North Carolina has a pretty good excuse for losing, Miami is very talented but ran into a tough team on the road, and Virginia was surprisingly close to USC.  Having said that -- those are just excuses and good teams overcome adversity.  It doesn't help the league that Virginia Tech is possibly the biggest laughingstock in college football right now.  The ACC is probably better than the Mountain West but they will be ranked below them until they get a few quality wins.  If Virginia Tech eventually wins the league I will keep them in 6th anyway.

Mountain West (3-5) - Utah had a solid win over Pitt, BYU beat Washington, and TCU had a nice win over Oregon State.  Wyoming had a bad loss to #5 Texas and Colorado State to Colorado, New Mexico got taken to the woodshed by both Oregon and Texas Tech, and UNLV got pummeled by Wisconsin.

• No huge wins but a solid start for the Mountain West as they continue in their quest to become an automatic BCS qualifier.

Pac 10 (4-2) - Cal crushed Colorado, Oregon overcame a slow start to put the smackdown on Tennessee, USC won a squeeker vs Virginia, Washington crushed the Orangemen, Washington State was embarrassed by Oklahoma State, Oregon State lost a close one to TCU, and UCLA lost to Kansas State.

• Solid start on the forgotten coast.  Oregon seems to have put the Rose Bowl loss behind them and looks to be the class of the conference.  California and Stanford look pretty good so far as well.  USC is a bit of an enigma but they certainly have the talent.  UCLA and Washington State just look bad but it is early.

Big 12 (-2) (5-1) - Kansas State beat UCLA, Missouri beat Illinois, Iowa State got run over by Iowa, Kansas lost to the FCS's North Dakota State then upset Georgia Tech, Oklahoma crushed the Seminoles dreams, Oklahoma State beat up Washington State.

• Oklahoma looks to be scary good.  Nebraska/Texas haven't played anyone yet but unranked teams have done well out of conference with the notable exception of Kansas' loss to North Dakota State.  This is shaping up to be a good last season for the Big 12.  A few quality wins Texas or Nebraska would move them up but both have a laughable schedule.

Big Ten (5-3) - Iowa beat Iowa State, Michigan beat UConn and Notre Dame, Northwestern beat Vandy, Ohio State beat Miami, Illinois lost to Missouri, Minnesota lost to FCS South Dakota, Penn State was never in the game vs top ranked Alabama, and Purdue lost to Notre Dame.

• Despite losing 3 games the Big Ten has looked pretty good thus far lead by Michigan's strong start and Ohio State's shutdown of Miami.  Iowa and Wisconsin have some tough games coming up so that will tell a bit more about the strength of the conference.  Missouri had to feel good about the win over Illinois after they were shunned by the Big Ten.  Minnesota --- a loss to South Dakota?  Really?

SEC (3-2) - Kentucky beat Louisville, Tennessee got run over by Oregon, Vanderbilt lost a close game to Northwestern, LSU beat a shorthanded North Carolina, Alabama crushed Penn State, Mississippi embarrassingly lost to Jackonville State.

• The SEC hasn't played too many big games and the only thing that keeps them in the top spot is the smackdown the Tide put on the Nittany Lions.  The East looks up for grabs right now as South Carolina appears to be the class of that division.  I assume that Florida will get better but they look bad so far.  There is no doubt in my mind that the quality in the SEC is down from the last 4 years.

The elite teams this season seem to be Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Oregon.  It is too early to tell if Texas, Nebraska, Florida, LSU, Iowa, and Wisconsin can join this group.  Boise State and TCU are certainly in the hunt due to their weak schedules while others like Cal, Stanford, and Michigan could be a surprise once we get to league play.

College football is back.  The next 12 weeks will be fun!