Week 4 College Review

As I posited last week, the so-called "experts" over-reacted to Mississippi State's win over LSU, called them the second best team in the SEC, and said they would be the only team to match up with Alabama. So what happened? Mississippi State promptly went out on Saturday and got steam rolled by Georgia. Now take a wild guess at what the so-called "experts" are saying. Georgia is the second best team in the SEC, Georgia gives the SEC a "legitimate" shot at getting two teams in the playoff. Yadda, yadda. Yadda. They never learn. Do I think Georgia is good enough to get into the playoff? No. Are they good enough to beat Alabama? Not even close.

The game of the week for me last week was Oklahoma State hosting TCU. TCU absolutely out-played and out-manned Oklahoma State for most of the game. Oklahoma State was able to make a come back and was down by one score late in the game and then surrendered a long run for a touchdown. So, naturally, the "experts" are now saying that TCU may be one of the best teams in the country. Tap the breaks. There is a good chance that Oklahoma State (who had faced far inferior competition up to that game) was also over rated (yes including me) and that TCU beat a good, not great, team. TCU still has to run the gauntlet of the Big 12 and that includes games against high scoring Texas Tech and Oklahoma.

The best game on Saturday was the Iowa-Penn State game. In retrospect I should have included it in my list of must watch games. The game, for the most part, was defensive slugfest. Iowa took the lead with about a minute left to go in the game. To put a little extra in, the last three times that Iowa has played a Top 5 team (before last night) they had one all three including once against Penn State). Penn State received the kick off and drove down the field. On the last play of the game on 4th down inside the pass, Penn State got a TD to win the game. It was definitely the best game of the weekend.

The game that I thought would be watching because it was part of Pac-12 after dark was the Stanford-UCLA game. I was dead wrong. Stanford rolled over UCLA 58-34.

In the other game that I coined the "Hottest seat game" Texas A&M was able to outlast Arkansas in OT 50-43. There was absolutely no defense in the second half and if you score 43 points in a game (outside of the PAC-12) you should not be losing that game. It will be interesting to see if Arkansas can right the ship and bounce back or if the team folds.

On to the playoff teams. There is no change this week, Oklahoma did struggle mightily against Baylor but they also beat a Top 5 team this season. Unless they lose I do not see any reason to take them out of the playoffs.

Playoff Team

Alabama

After Vanderbilt beat a very over rated Kansas State team, one of their players got a little cocky and said to a camera that "Alabama, you're next". What was Alabama's response? A 31-0 halftime lead in route to a 59-0 blowout of Vanderbilt. The lesson here is to not talk trash to a Nick Saban team. And certainly do not talk trash to a team you have not beaten since the 80s and have not beat that team AT HOME since 1969.

Up next: at home against Ole Miss

Playoff Team

Clemson

Clemson flew under the radar this week as they easily took care of Boston College 34-7.

Up next: at Virginia Tech

Playoff Team

Oklahoma

OU's game against Baylor looked like a mirror opposite from their game against Tulane. Where OU couldn't distance themselves from Tulane in the first half, OU could not do the same against Baylor in the 2nd half. The offense still looks unstoppable but they have to be very concerned about how poorly the defense looked. In the end it is still a win, no matter how ugly the game was.

Up next: at home against Iowa State

Playoff Team

Penn State

I talked about Penn State's game above so I will not do again. Like with OU, a win is a win this early in the season.

Up next: at home against Indiana

Dark Horses

Oklahoma State falls out of the Dark Horse category but they are not completely out of the playoff hunt. They still have to play Oklahoma and if the cards fall right they could end up in the Big 12 Championship.

USC and Washington are my dark horses as they are jockeying not only for playoff seeds but the top of the heap in the Pac-12. Both teams won this week so are still undefeated. I hesitate to put TCU as a dark horse until I see more of their resume and Oklahoma States resume. If Okie State gets back to its dominating ways and TCU continues to rack up wins then I could see putting TCU as a dark horse, but not for now.

Best of Week 4

It has to go to the Penn State-Iowa game. It was a classic defensive battle from beginning to end. At one point Penn State was up 5-0. Other than that game there was not a lot of good football out there. Still heads and shoulders above the NFL. Okie State did have a nice come back against TCU, but it just felt like TCU controlled the game from the beginning and was theirs to lose and not for the Cowboys to win.

Worst of Week 4

Hey Nebraska gets a week off the list (though they did struggle against what should be a far inferior Rutgers team)

Florida State

A month ago they were seen as one of the front runners for the playoff. Even after they lost to Alabama people still thought highly of them (even without their star QB). After a loss at home to North Carolina State (in only their second game due to hurricanes) and they are far from being playoff contenders and may not even be in contention for the ACC crown. There is still time to get turned around and compete but they have no room for error at this point.

Arkansas

Arkansas is a dumpster fire right now. They finally found their offense, but their defense up against a very young offense in Texas A&M would not have been able to catch a cold on Saturday. Austin Allen (Arkansas' QB) just does not look right. Yes, his offensive line is not protecting him, but when he does have time he often seems lost and unsure of himself. I just do not see Arkansas winning more than 2 SEC games this season (and honestly I do not know who they would beat). It is going to be a very long season for the Hogs and I just do not see how Brett Bielema escapes this season with his job intact.

Over-rated teams

3 new teams to the list - all of the state vareiety

Oklahoma State

Mississippi State

Florida State

Most intriguing game of Week 5

Clemson at Virginia Tech

​This should be a really good game or could turn into a blow-out for the Tigers. I do not see the Hokies pulling off the upset but weirder things have happened in Blacksburg. It is a prime time game, so get ready for this one.

Pac-12 Friday After Dark

​USC at Washington State

This has all the markings of a trap game for USC. Washington State is playing much better than anyone expected and outlasted Boise State a couple of weeks ago. I am not expecting a blow out in this game and hoping that it will not be decided until late.

Over-rated alert Game

Georgia at Tennessee

​Tennessee looked awful this week, Georgia looked unbeatable. So, naturally this game is ripe for an upset. Tennessee came with a hail mary of beating Florida and they always play Georgia tough. If Georgia picks up the win their hype will continue and the yells for Butch Jones to be fired will become deafening.

Other notable games

​Nebraska at Illinois

New Mexico State at Arkansas