It is finally the most wonderful time of the year. For some people fall means pumpkin spice lattes and Halloween, but for me and all of the other football fans, it can mean even more: that perfect time of year when college and professional football both seem to be on whenever you want. College football always brings a special kind of magic, and I am so excited to see teams from across the National Collegiate Athletic Association back in action. We are three weeks into the season and ESPN has released their “College Football Power Rankings” article based on the results of the last three weeks. The list has some things that I believe to be true, and then some that to me, aren’t great predictions.
Now to make it clear, even though I love watching college football, I don’t have a strong loyalty to any team specifically. I’ll start with the rankings that make sense to me. First, Penn State University 100 percent belongs in the top five from how they have looked this season. Sean Clifford at quarterback has looked accurate and steady, and to me that is always a sign of good things to come. I also think that their receivers have all looked amazing, and that is going to give them some great options as they look to move forward. I think now that the lions are on a roll of being undefeated they can go far this season!
I also think that putting Iowa at number three is a totally accurate call. To me, their defense looked like the best in the college circuit against Kent State University and I was more than rooting for them by the end of the game. They have a really young team and the bulk of those first and second year guys are on the defensive line, which could spell mistakes, but in this case it seems to be giving great energy to the team. They look professional, with great ball awareness and little room for error. I am so excited to see what they do for the rest of the season!
Now, there are a few rankings that I disagree with. For one thing, the low ranking of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, coming in at number 12 on the list. Yes, they have had some injuries in the last couple of games, but they have still gone 3-0. To me that says that even when faced with losing their starters to injuries left and right, they are willing to step up. This also means to me that they have a deep roster of skilled players who are able to provide results with a moment’s notice. I do agree though that some of this winning streak was good luck and that they have to step up on the offensive side in order to compete more consistently. Jack Coan getting sacked at QB four times in one game does not spell championship or even playoffs later on. But I have a lot of hope in the way they have held it all together despite their obstacles, so I would have ranked them higher on the list for sure.
Okay, I am going to say something crazy. I don’t think that Alabama should have been ranked at number 1, (looks over shoulder for head coach Nick Saban). Alabama has long been lauded as the gold standard of college football, but to me they looked just run of the mill in their week three game against Florida. Nothing about the team impressed me, the offense was fine, and the defense was poor, and this is even mentioned in the ESPN article, but they are still ranked number one! I think that they are barely holding onto their win streak and to me that is not what a team ranked number one should look like. I would switch the University of Alabama with the number two ranked team, University of Georgia, who beat the University of South Carolina 40-13.
College football is so unpredictable, so I know that all of this will change as the season goes on. But here’s to football being back and to many more games to come!
Leave a Reply