As week three wraps up and conference play starts soon, the meat and potatoes of the college football season are starting to arrive. I figured it was time to look over my Conference Championship predictions I made before the season to see how each conference looks and to see how accurate I am (by reading this you’ve now formally agreed to not laugh at some of my predictions).

SEC

My Preseason Prediction:

Georgia over Alabama

What Do I Think Now?

I think anybody who doesn’t think these are the two best teams in the SEC is crazy. Alabama has destroyed every team in their path. Their game against Texas A&M next week will be a test but their offense looks otherworldly. They held Ole Miss’s highly touted offense to just seven points (0 points after the first play). For lack of a better description, they still look like Alabama. It’ll be hard to bet against them for the rest of the season. Georgia has also ran through every opponent they’ve faced including a very hyped up South Carolina team. Georgia has a defense that reloaded instead of rebuilt and a very talented backfield (I’m a bit disappointed in D’Andre Swift so far but he is time to step up). I will be very surprised I either of these teams aren’t in the SEC Championship as I think they’re the two best teams as of now. LSU is at least interesting after beating Auburn, and may make some noise but Alabama is just on another level. They do host both Alabama and Georgia so those game will both be interesting. Also look out for Mississippi State as a sleeper to shoot up the standings.

Big 10

My Preseason Prediction:

Michigan over Wisconsin

What Do I Think Now?

Call me crazy, but I still think this is possible. If I had to bet now, I’d say Ohio State in the East as they have the most impressive win and are the only team without some concerns. Penn State in undefeated but their near loss to Appalachian State still has me worried. I also just don’t think they have the talent or coaching Ohio Stats and Michigan have (their talent beats out Michigan State but their coaching doesn’t). Ohio State has their defense do better against TCU, but Nick Bosa is out for any extended period of time, things could get bad. Michigan is slowly repairing their image after their loss to Notre Dame (that loss looks even worse now) but have what’s possibly the toughest schedule in the country coming ahead of them. Michigan State just doesn’t look that good but you can never totally doubt Mark Dantonio. Wisconsin despite their loss against BYU, still are the likely favorite in the West. Their game next week at Iowa is one that if they win, puts them already in the drivers seat for the division. Minnesota might be a team to watch in the West. I don’t think they’ll win it, but they’re 3-0 right now and have a fairly easy conference schedule (and of course they row the boat with PJ Fleck).

Big 12

My Preseason Prediction:

Oklahoma over Texas

What Do I Think Now?

So Oklahoma is head and shoulders above everyone else in this conference. Kyler Murray may be the Heisman favorite right now. Trey Sermon looks to be a solid back in replacement of the injured Rodney Anderson (also did you see Marcelias Sutton completely hurdle a dude). Hollywood Brown might be one of the best receivers in the country also. Oklahoma is a team that definitely might run the table this year. Texas on the other hand, was probably a slight homer pick. The win over USC last night was awesome to watch and it was the biggest win for Texas since Tom Herman arrived (now can Tim Beck please not have the quarterback run 17 times that’d be great). Finding the second best team in the Big 12 is a bit of a challenge though. TCU might be it but their slow start against SMU is a bit concerning. West Virginia looks to be a very solid team but their defense has questions. Oklahoma State may be it, but they have little experience. Iowa State gave Oklahoma a game for a bit (Hakeem Butler is a beast) but I doubt that that’ll the norm for them. TCU is probably my pick as of now for the second best team but things most definitely can change.

Pac 12

My Preseason Prediction:

Stanford over Arizona

What Do I Think Now?

I was wrong about the South. I thought Khalil Tate would will Arizona to a division title but that looks unlikely right now. Then again, the Pac 12 south is probably the worst division in the P5 right now. USC has dropped two games and their offense has looked bad. Tee Martín likely should be fired as offensive coordinator and their running game is nowhere to be seen. Arizona State drooped a game to San Diego State. Utah lost to Washington and hasn’t looked worthy of winning the division in their other games. Colorado has looked solid in their three games, but they haven’t faced a true test yet (Nebraska doesn’t count).With exception of UCLA (oh my gosh they are bad) there’s nobody who would surprise me if they won the division. Stanford still looks like a good pick in my opinion. Obviously Washington is a possibility but their loss to Auburn as well as them not quite doing as well offensively as I’d expect against Utah leave question marks.

ACC

My Preseason Prediction:

Clemson over Miami

What Do I Think Now?

Clemson still is definitely the class of the ACC. Travis Etienne ran all over Georgia Southern in their most recent win, and they have two start quality quarterbacks as well as the best defensive line in college football. I see no way that they don’t win the Atlantic division. The Coastal division currently looks like a two team race. While Miami lost to LSU, they still are a very talented team that can’t be counted out. Malik Rosier has steadily improved as the year has gone on and their defense is stout as always. Virginia Tech has only played two games, and while Florida State looks bad, I still think the Hokies win against them is impressive. Virginia Tech has a solid defense and an offense that’s looked better. I think it’ll come down to them and Miami for the Coastal title. Also look out for Boston College. AJ Dillon is very underrated and Zach Allen is possible the best front seven player in the conference who’s not at Clemson.

Texas Power Rankings

So I’m a native Texan who loves college football and the teams from my home state( except for this one eyesore who wears maroon) even though I don’t even live there anymore. It’s hard for me to cheer against the teams in my state (again except for one) but it always is a debated topic (at least I debate it with myself) in who the best teams are especially now that Texas A&M is in the SEC and Houston having a sudden rise. So to answer this question, I decided to rank them.

1. TCU – I don’t think this should be very controversial right now. They’re well coached and always can be counted on. The game against Texas next week will be more telling for this team.

2. Texas A&M – Putting them in front of Texas definitely hurt but it’s likely the truth. Kellen Mond has stepped up at quarterback. Kendrick Rogers made a name for himself during the Clemson game and Trayveon Williams is a mainstay in the backfield. The defense also has great talent.

3. Texas – Texas is a little hard to place. The loss against Maryland and the struggles against Tulsa are huge red flags, but the win against USC is the best win of any team on this list. We’ll see more after they play TCU this week. The play of this team seems to change on a week by week basis. The running game and offensive line looked improved against USC which is a great sign, and Sam Ehlinger has minimized the dumb throws recently (I think Sam Ehlinger just plays quarterback in real life like how I play quarterback in video games). Texas could be scary or they could go back to week one form and neither would surprise me.

4. North Texas – The Mean Green are the only undefeated FBS team in Texas and this team is the real deal. Mason Fine might be the best college quarterback in the state (he may be better than Dak Prescott according to some Cowboys fans). Their offense is firing on all cylinders. Their receiving core of Jaelon Darden, Jalen Guyton, and Rico Bussey Jr is elite for Conference USA. Their defense has also made some big strides. Even though Arkansas is clearly bad, the fact that North Texas beat them 44-17 at Arkansas (the score makes it look closer) makes a statement. They’re on the shortlist of G5 teams who could be NY6 representative. Keep a look out for the Mean Green. Also their fake fair catch punt return was awesome and people need to stop getting all upset about it.

5. Texas Tech – Texas Tech is the same as they’ve always been during the Kliff Kingsbury era. Load up on offense and pray for the best in defense. That strategy worked against Houston on Saturday. Freshman quarterback Alan Bowman likely placed himself firmly in the starting role as the offense put up 63 points against what I thought was a decent Houston defense (or a really really good Ed Oliver and mediocre a mediocre supporting cast). Also Antoine Wesley had 261 receiving yards for the Red Raiders and that needs to be mentioned.

6. Houston – The Cougars fell short against Texas Tech and their ranking dropped because of it. D’Eriq King is a good quarterback, Marquez Stevenson is a good receiver, and Ed Oliver might be the best player in the country, but where there’s talent in one spot, there are holes in another. I still expect Houston to contend in the AAC.

7. Baylor – The good news is Baylor has already doubled their win total from last year. The bad news is that puts them at 2-1 having never faced anyone that good (sorry Duke, and UTSA, and Abilene Christian). This team is still a work in progress as Matt Rhule has had to rebuild the program basically from scratch. Things are looking up in the future for Baylor, just not quite yet.

8. SMU – The Mustangs are 0-3 but have yet to play a bad team (you’re welcome North Texas, TCU, and Michigan). They at least kept things interesting in two of those games as well. Also I hate to admit it but I kind of dig their turnover chalice.

9. Rice – The Owls have a win against Prairie View A&M and two other losses. Their losses were semi competitive against Houston and Hawaii who are both good programs though.

10. UTSA – The Roadrunners are 0-3 but have played all of their games against solid P5 competition.

11. Texas State – They have a win but they also struggled to pull that win off against FCS Texas Southern.

12. UTEP – Another 0-3 team, but they lost 30-10 to FCS Northern Arizona.

Other Thoughts

1. Miami taunting Toledo fans was weird also why’d they play at Toledo. How did Toledo get Miami to agree to play at their place? Whoever made Toledo’s schedule must be a master negotiator.

2. UAB football making their return last season was awesome, and it still is awesome that they’re actually a good team.

3. As someone who’s been on the Hawaii bandwagon since week one, then losing was sad. Also that overturned catch call probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference but it was still bad.

4. Florida State is straight up bad. Willie Taggart may have sold his soul to get the job at Florida State. Also I feel like James Blackman should get a look at quarterback.

5. Kansas won a game by 41 points and that is amazing. The Jayhawks head into conference play with a winning record for the first time since 2009. I’m seriously scared of playing them now.

6. I hate that BYU icing the kicker worked (I just think it’s kind of a wimpy tactic but I’d probably do the same thing). Also people who are smarter than me say that icing the kicker with one timeout doesn’t work, but BYU calling two and not three timeouts was a good strategy so I guess good coaching by Kalani Sitake.

7. Arkansas is really bad. This might be a long year for the Razorbacks.

8. Kneeling in the first half is dumb. If you take a knee in the first half, your coaching license should be revoked. Throw a Hail Mary or something, don’t take a knee. Also any player who is told to do this has my permission to disregard what they’re told.

9. When I was watching the last bit of the South Florida and Illinois game, I heard South Florida fans chanting USF (obviously the initials to their school) but I guess I’m dumb because I spent a whole minute wondering why they were chanting USA.

10. I hate that I love all of Oregon’s jerseys. The fact that they wear a different one every home game is so dumb but I can’t get that mad since they all look awesome.

11. Why is Jalen Hurts playing? He’s not going to beat out Tua for the starting job and now he’s going to waste a year of eligibility as a backup. What are you doing Jalen? Also we’d love to have you play for Texas, we’ll find a spot for you.

12. Oregon State taking a knee and then kicking a field goal when down two is a bad strategy and they should feel bad. Show some confidence in your offense Jonathan Smith.

13. Pac 12 teams need to stop playing at San Diego State. It’s a bad call, just ask Stanford and now Arizona State.

14. Nebraska is bad also. Scott Frost has his work cut out for him this year. They may not win a national title in his second year like UCF did (in their imagination).

15. Joe Burrow is clearly an average starter but he’s like Aaron Rodgers by LSU standards for quarterback.

16. Also I did call that the LSU and Auburn game would be crazy and weird, I just didn’t get the winner right.

17. Oregon needs to be concerned about only beating San Jose State (who’s bad) by 13 points.

18. Missouri and Purdue played a pretty good game. Purdue is probably the best 0-3 team in the country.

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