4 Quick NCAAF Takes Through Week 4
Sports Opinion by Josh Blatt
The NCAA Football season has been full of unexpected results, breakout players, one week wonders, and more. One thing there hasn't been.. is separation. There are a lot of teams still in the pack, but there's definitely a clear top three.
1. #6 USC doesn't look dominant-- but are still in contention.
The Trojans narrowly defeated Oregon State 17-14, but looking at the upcoming schedule-- it's evident that USC is on a path to a potential College Football Playoff birth, which would be the first in school history. The only somewhat "strong" team that is still in their way would be #12 Utah, who I personally believe to be pretenders. They have a weak, Pac-12 filled schedule and I smell an undefeated regular season for USC.
2. The Top 3 best teams are practically set in stone.
Georgia, Alabama, and Ohio State are all the teams to beat, sure you have #4 Michigan, but they aren't a team that I see standing atop the country with a 12-0 or even 11-1 record, we'll talk about them in a second. Georgia finally looked human in an off game that saw them fumble twice and throw an interception. I don't see that happening again, there isn't a chance that Georgia comes out and loses fumbles like that again. Alabama has their toughest test yet in a road game against #20 Arkansas-- if they beat KJ Jefferson and the Razorbacks, mark them down as a lock to win the SEC West in my book. Ohio State is going to benefit from a Big Ten that doesn't include a good version of Michigan State, Iowa, or Purdue, at the end of the day their season hinges on their 12th game, whether or not they can beat their rival, Michigan.
3. #4 Michigan Wolverines look like pretenders.
This year's Michigan squad feels like they definitely miss the services of former defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo. We witnessed this first hand with this past weekend's close 34-27 win against Maryland, which was preceded by three trouncings of three of the worst teams of this season; Colorado State, Hawaii, and Connecticut. Plain and simple, I believe their overrated and haven't earned a #4 ranking, I see them losing 2+ games this season.
4. The SEC is ridiculously good.
The SEC currently has five undefeated teams sitting at 4-0, with four of them residing in the top 8. This includes; #1 Georgia, #2 Alabama, #7 Kentucky, #8 Tennessee, and #14 Ole Miss. Now sure, Kentucky may not be as good as their record indicates-- but the other four seem to be fairly legit. I'm not sure if Tennessee, Ole Miss, or even Kentucky have their programs where they need to be to win the SEC East over the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs, but they have a chance, as does any team in this crazy sport. Regardless of result, we're in for a fun race in the SEC even if most everybody believes it's only a two horse race.