The Cream is Rising To the Top
The Blue Bloods, the college football elites, the dominant programs, they’re starting to peak their heads out after 6 weeks into the season. There still is not a clear #1 who has separated themselves from the pack, but the pack is beginning to thin.
All conferences, have at least one representative currently who has a shot to play in the CFP. Truthfully, all conferences have at least one representative who you could make an argue for #1 in the country after 6 weeks. I don’t recall a time in recent history where there has been so much openness and competition at the top of the sport. We don’t use the word parity over here because it’s overused in the coverage of this sport but there is plenty of competitive balance going on.
In the SEC, Georgia showed that they still have a loud bark in them after they left bodies of Cats scattered all over the field at Stanford Stadium last Saturday. They had yet to have shown that extra gear everyone was waiting to see. Well, that Georgia is back and they are a problem. Despite having a loss to a good Texas team, Alabama may be hitting their stride. In a year where the SEC West just moments ago looked wide open, that door seems to shutting as every week passes by. With Alabama currently having no conference or division losses, they’re sitting in a great spot to make a trip back to Atlanta.
The ACC has 3 undefeated teams, and none of them play each other… So there’s that. Louisville, Florida State and UNC all have played the part and have looked great doing so. While Florida State and Louisville have quality wins to hang their hat, UNC has taken care of business at every turn and they have Drake Maye lighting it up. The path to the ACC championship is as competitive as it’s been in years with Clemson being removed from their “guaranteed spot” over the previous decade. If one of these teams wins the conference with one loss, they’ll have a pretty decent shot at the playoffs.
The Pac12 has several contenders. The fun part about this conference is that the back half of the season is loaded with high powered matchups. While everything is bright and shiny now for the conference, things really start to heat up in week 7 as we have the top 2 schools in the conference with Oregon and Washington, faceoff in Seattle in a battle between undefeateds and a shot at the conference title game on the line. USC has been underwhelming on defense but has looked the part on offense. They have a hard road test against Notre Dame this weekend. We also have UCLA, Utah, Washington State and Oregon State all sitting there with one loss saying, “Hey, we’re still in this thing.” And they’re right… This conference is deep at the top and pretty much everyone plays everyone for the rest of the year. This is the conference to watch moving forward.
The Big12 has the clear top 2 and then a drop off. Texas and Oklahoma will likely faceoff again in a rematch of the Red River Shootout. At least that’s what the CFB world is hoping for (I am at least). Two giants, ready to make their final mark on the Big12 as they depart to the SEC will make for a storybook ending.
The B1G has 3 behemoths at the top with Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. Again, similar to the Pac12, this will sort itself out on the field. All 3 of these teams could make a case for #1 in the country at the moment. These will be heavyweight matchups. Ali vs Frasier type matchups that will define the season for these players.
The overall competitive balance at the top in this sport has not existed in quite some time. From 2015-2020, it was Clemson and Bama running away with the sport and everyone else was just clawing for air. The past 2 years has been dominated by Georgia. This year, while there is still plenty of ball left, there are still no reserved seats in the CFP and that’s the first time we can say that maybe since the introduction of the CFP in 2014.
The back half of this year will be exciting and filled with great games and gameday atmospheres. Let’s enjoy the ride and strive for perfection one last year before we enter into the 12 team playoff.
As it stands right now, I would have Michigan as my #1 team. They have been elite defensively and have taken care of business at every turn. While they have had an opening schedule that most elites dream of, they have been impressive so far. Unfortunately we won’t see a true test from them until the Penn State game. All eyes will be on that game November 11th.
-Kevin Joy
