What did Maryland do to deserve a mention in the headline? Two things, one far more important than the other. First of all, the Terrapins absolutely stomped a ranked Syracuse team, taking the luster off next week’s matchup with Clemson. Second–and far more importantly–Maryland is showing that the most top-heavy division in college football is even more top-heavy.
Obviously, we will have to wait until conference play to see if Maryland is on or near the same tier as Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State. But in a week where Michigan struggled, Maryland put up a performance worthy of a Top 10 team. The Terrapins obviously won’t be in the Top 10 any time soon. But the Big Ten East now has five ranked teams, and the Terrapins could very well (and likely should) be 7-1 heading into November, when they hit the meat of a backloaded schedule.
If Maryland continues as it has opened the season, 8-4 and ranked at the end of the year should be the expectation right now. If that happens, and the Big Ten East has five ranked teams, it should overtake the SEC West as the perceived top division in college football.
Speaking of the SEC West, it had a good week as well. Two teams played meaningful games. Texas A&M didn’t challenge Clemson, but it didn’t get embarrassed either. LSU, meanwhile, looked like a potential national contender in beating Texas. The defense needs work–and Alabama’s elite receiving corps will exploit that unless it improves–but LSU finally has an offense. The short list of elite teams so far this year just grew by one.
Next … Problems out West
Pac 12 woes
It’s definitely too early to write off the Pac 12. The conference has four teams ranked in the Amway Coaches’ Poll this week, more than the ACC and the Big 12. The conference doesn’t have an elite contender right now, though, something every other Power 5 conference has. Will that matter? Maybe not. Looking at likely schedules and resumes, a one-loss Pac 12 champion should definitely be in the mix when compared to a one-loss Big 12 or maybe even ACC (more on that later) champion.
That being said, Washington’s loss to Cal hurts. The Huskies have some good name recognition, a respected top coach, and a good recent history. Now, with a very weak nonconference schedule, Washington’s CFP hopes don’t look great, and it’s only Week 2. Also, nonconference losses are stacking up, as the conference is a bit of an underwhelming 14-6 in nonconference games so far.
Of course, there are definite positives. USC is storming its way back into national relevance with a blowout win over Stanford. Colorado just upset a ranked Nebraska team. And the conference will have its chances, with upcoming nonconference games against Michigan State and Notre Dame (twice). Those sounding the alarm for the Pac 12 are a bit premature, but the situation is a bit precarious.
Next … ACC not so AAA
The ACC’s problem
Speaking of precarious situations, everyone is ignoring the ACC. That’s not a good thing.
No one cares about the ACC in the Playoff race for two reasons. The first is that everyone is assuming that Clemson will get a Playoff spot. The second, though, is that there’s no one else in the conference anywhere near the Playoff picture.
Sure, the ACC still has six undefeated teams. And yes, North Carolina is getting a lot of positive buzz. But looking at the conference, there aren’t any teams other than Clemson that have the real potential to run the table–or that could have a decent schedule even if they did.
Looking at the scheduled, the only two other teams with any chance at all are Boston College and Virginia. They each play Notre Dame, on the road, which is a good plus for the resume. Other than those, three, though, it’s hard to see what ACC team has a chance to even be ranked at the end of the year, let alone competing for a Playoff spot.
And that’s the real problem for Clemson. The Tigers are a near-unanimous No. 1 right now. But the ACC doesn’t have a single other ranked team in this week’s Amway Coaches’ Poll. It’s hard to see any others making any real headway in coming weeks, either. If Texas A&M has a disappointing season and South Carolina isn’t competitive in the SEC East, that’s not a lot of meat for Clemson’s resume. That won’t matter if Clemson goes undefeated. But if the Tigers drop a game along the way, and isn’t as impressive as expected, we could see a very similar situation to what happened to Ohio State in 2015.
Next … Impacts to the Big Ten and Ohio State
Big Ten Roundup
This was a solid week for the Big Ten, in both perception and looking at Ohio State’s future resume. Nebraska losing hurts a bit, but that is more than outweighed by Maryland’s dominant win and jump into the Top 25. On top of that, the Big Ten picked up a decent win over Vanderbilt (by Purdue), survived a scare against Fresno State (Minnesota), and avoided any embarrassing losses (Michigan, barely). Wisconsin looks dominant, too, but we’ll find out more about the Badgers when they face Michigan in two weeks.
Week 3 Ohio State Implications
Week 3 has a strong lineup that will impact the national picture, as well as several games that matter more to the Big Ten. Maryland has to back up its win and ranking on the road against Temple, who embarrassed the Terrapins last year. Iowa has its rivalry game against Iowa State, and Michigan State will try to avenge last year’s loss against Arizona State. Lastly, Nebraska will try to recover from this week’s tough loss in a game against Northern Illinois, a strong team from the MAC.
Nationally, Washington State has its first test of the season, on the road against Houston Friday night. The more losses Pac 12 contenders rack up, the better it is for everyone else. The same is true of Stanford’s Saturday afternoon road trip to UCF and USC’s road trip to BYU, though I personally don’t think BYU will be competitive this year.
Clemson travels to Syracuse Saturday night, where the Tigers lost two years ago. After seeing Syracuse this week it’s hard to imagine that game being competitive, but a Clemson loss would be huge for the country. As discussed above, Clemson looks dominant, but its position is precarious if it stumbles. The Tigers can’t afford another Carrier Dome shocker.
