My observations about college football this week.
1. Boise State lost a close one at Oklahoma State. You could say that the Broncos are looking forward to conference play, or are they? First up is unbeaten Utah State. Then Nevada. Back out of conference play to take on BYU. Then Fresno State and Wyoming and Air Force and San Diego State are on the schedule. Don't let your guard down.
2. PAC-12 argued against expanding the playoffs. Are they sure? If Oregon does not run the table, the PAC-12 will likely be shut out of the playoffs again. If Oregon does run the table, do you put a four loss team in the Rose Bowl against a likely one loss Penn State or Maryland? What if BYU goes unbeaten?
3. Speaking of the expanding playoffs, do you think it's the Rose Bowl Committee arguing against expanding the playoff?
4. The four teams joining the Big 12 in the future are a combined 10-2. BYU and Cincy are unbeaten. The ten teams of the Big 12 are 24-5, without Texas and Oklahoma, they are 19-4. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Texas Tech and Kansas State are still unbeaten. The six teams of the PAC-12 south are a combined 8-10. The PAC-12 North is 10-8. Only Oregon is unbeaten in the PAC-12. If the power 5 are becoming the power 4, I'm not sure the Big 12 is the conference that should be left out.
5. The MW still has 3 unbeatens, In addition to Utah State; Wyoming and San Diego State have gone unbeaten.
6. So far, there have been 10 FCS wins over FBS opponents. The Big Sky conference has 4 of those wins. 2 of them against the PAC-12. UC Davis over Tulsa and Eastern Washington over UNLV were the others. The MW has the same number of losses against the FCS as the PAC-12. South Dakota State beat Colorado State, to round out the rest.
7. The AAC is interested in 4 MW schools. Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State and San Diego State. The Aztecs are unbeaten. The other schools are a combined 4-5. Perhaps the AAC should talk to Utah State and Wyoming instead.
Utah Schools...
Utah Utes
The Utes came out of their post-BYU funk with about 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter against San Diego State. That was about 43 minutes too late. This was a game with Kyle's crew should not have lost. But they did. Sometimes, it is better to learn lessons this way. You can't focus on a bad loss for very long. Don't want to be Washington State this next week...or maybe you do. The funk, however, is not unique to the Utes. The entire PAC-12 outside of Oregon is struggling.
Current record
1 Win 2 Losses
Projected Record
7 Wins and 5 losses (Losses to Arizona State, UCLA, Stanford and Oregon)
Projected Bowl...Los Angles and a possible SDSU rematch.
PAC-12 Power Rankings:
Oregon
Stanford
USC
Oregon State
UCLA
Arizona State
Utah
California
Washington
Colorado
Washington State
Arizona
BYU Cougars
Arizona State beat themselves? No, both teams were making mistakes, until the 4th quarter. I though that there was only one big error in the 4th quarter by BYU. 3rd and long, the play call set up a sack of Jaren Hall. But it worked out for the better. The ensuing punt put the Sun Devils deep in Cougar territory...in front of the ROC (BYU Student Section). The noise forced a uncomfortable number of ASU false starts. This caused the Sun Devils to burn precious clock and get no where on offense. By the way, the forced fumble after the Hall interception earlier is the play of the year so far for the Cougars.
I don't see the Cougars going unbeaten, BTW. But double-digit wins in the regular season is within reach.
Current Record
3 Wins 0 Losses
Projected Record
10 Wins 2 Losses (Baylor and Virginia)
Projected Bowl...Independence Bowl vs. UAB
Note: To get a NY-6 Bowl, BYU will need to move ahead of either Notre Dame, Iowa, Iowa State, or Texas A&M in the playoff standings. I would love see BYU vs. Cincy in the Fiesta Bowl. If BYU were in the Big 12 this year, I don't see them getting more than 7 wins. The Big 12 is that good.
FBS Indy Power Rankings
Notre Dame
BYU
Army
Liberty
UConn
New Mexico State
UMass
Utah State Aggies
Utah State won a track meet against Air Force. It looks to me, however, as if the Falcons ran out of gas first. The question is whose defense was exposed. Even though the unbeaten Aggies play a team with two losses at home next week, they will still be the underdogs. BSU has taken a page from BYU and is playing an aggressive non-conference schedule. Not many would play Central Florida, Oklahoma State and BYU as non-conference opponents (with two of those on the road). I don't think a division championship this year is unrealistic for the Aggies.
Current Record
3 Wins 0 Losses
Projected Record
11 Wins 2 Losses (BYU and San Diego State in MW Championship)
MW Power Rankings
San Diego State
Fresno State
Utah State
Wyoming
Nevada
Air Force
San Jose State
Boise State
New Mexico
Colorado State
Hawaii
UNLV
Weber State Wildcats
Current Record
1 Win 2 Losses
Projected Record
9 Wins 3 Losses (Eastern Washington)
Weber State has to run the table to make the post season. But should get credit for their aggressive non-conference scheduling.
Southern Utah
1 Win 2 Losses
Projected Record
4 Wins 7 Losses (Additional wins: Portland State, Northern Colorado and Idaho)
The Tbirds get their first win against future WAC foe Tarleton State.
Big Sky Power Rankings
UC Davis
Montana
Eastern Washington
Montana State
Weber State
Northern Arizona
Sacramento State
Idaho
Portland State
Cal Poly
Southern Utah
Northern Colorado
Note: SUU would have a better outlook if they were already in the WAC. There, a winning record would be realistic. The Big Sky is the Big 10 of the FCS. It is that tough a conference.
Dixie State
Current Record
0 Wins 3 Losses
Projected Record
2 Wins 9 Losses (Wins against Tarleton State and Fort Lewis)
The Trailblazers gave up 60 to the UC Davis Aggies. This is a benchmark season for DSU. When they are winning the WAC and going to the FCS playoffs, people will remember how bad they were in 2021.
WAC Power Rankings
Sam Houston
Stephen F. Austin
Abilene Christian
Lamar
Dixie State
Tarleton State
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