This season of college football has gotten off to a wild start, with the opening weeks filled with upsets and nail-biters.
The 2020 College Football season began on September 12th, where right off the bat, we saw two ranked Big-12 teams in Iowa State and Kansas State fall to University of Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State. We also saw Kansas lose to Coastal Carolina, which was Coastal’s first win ever against a Power 5 school.
Some other notable upsets include Marshall beating 23rd ranked Appalachian State and Kansas State upsetting third-ranked Oklahoma in dramatic fashion. The following week saw another big upset at the expense of the Sooners, this time, it was Iowa state pulling off the 37-30 upset victory.
The LSU Tigers, the defending National Champions, did not escape the wave of upsets, losing twice to Mississippi State and Missouri after going undefeated the season before.
Looking ahead to the potential College Football Playoff candidates, we head to the Big 12 first.
The ACC should be a cakewalk for Clemson as they look for redemption from last year’s National Championship game loss. With Heisman-candidate and likely first overall pick Trevor Lawrence at the helm, this offense should still be electric despite the loss of wide receiver Justyn Ross to injury.
The Clemson defense is also one of the best in the country, allowing fewer than 300 yards per game. This squad is more than enough to take out the ACC, but come playoff time, the real test will come for Lawrence and the Tigers against powerhouses such as Ohio State and Alabama.
After what was considered an off-year in 2019, it appears Alabama has reclaimed their throne in the SEC, and in all of College Football. They have looked fantastic this year and are averaging 48.5 points per game. What’s even more impressive is their 22 point win margin against their conference opponents, in what is considered the toughest conference in all of College Football. The Crimson Tide’s season is capitalized by a 52-24 victory over seventh ranked Texas A&M, further establishing their dominance over the SEC.
Right behind the dominant Alabama squad is the fourth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. This Georgia defense was one of the best in the nation last year, and despite losing 5 starters they could be even better this year, they had a lot of depth, and will be able to easily replace those departures. Led by J.T Daniels and one of the best receiving core in the country, this Georgia team has the capability to bounce back from a tough loss against Alabama.
Despite plans for a canceled season, the Big 10 conference finally kicked off this past weekend.
Ohio State is the favorite to win this conference and once again has a competitive squad to compete for a title . On defense, the Buckeyes have a great front seven, but the secondary lost numerous key starters from last year. Ohio State will have a very inexperienced secondary this year and will have to rely heavily on the offense, led by QB Justin Fields, to bail them out of certain games.
Other challengers to Ohio State are Wisconsin and Michigan. While these are two stellar teams, they just don’t have the firepower to match up with Ohio State.
The Pac-12 conference will once again be at the bottom among the Power 5 conferences thanks to its seven game, conference only schedule. Oregon looks like the only team that has a chance at the playoff and a 7-0 record and without a single ranked team on the schedule will not be enough to put them over a high-seeded one-loss team (Georgia).
With Justin Herbert leaving and it is still unsure whether backup Tyler Shough or transfer Anthony Brown will start at QB, it leaves little room for error. A single loss and the Ducks hopes for the postseason will certainly be shattered.
While Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson look like shoo-ins for the College Football Playoff, the race for the final spot has started to heat up. Whether the spot will go to Georgia, Oregon, or a dark-horse such as Oklahoma State, the final weeks of the season will certainly be ones for the history books.
Article by Jackson Buss of Walter Johnson High School
Graphic by Charles Wang of Walter Johnson High School