The Sky is NOT Falling

If you've read this blog at all in the past year, you know two things: 1) I need to update it a little more and 2) I'm not a fan of parity. Like at all. And especially when it comes to college football. Last year, with upsets galore and a two loss team playing for the National Championship, while others were loving the "everybody finally has a chance!!" thing, I was thinking it was more of "it's the end of the world as we know it" kind of thing. Say what you want about pro sports, but parity is not good for college football. The Big Boys need to be the Big Boys, and the rest of the college football world needs to step up to win a conference title, rather than having everyone else brought back to the pack.

Again, if you've read me at all, you already know all of this. So I was relieved to see week 1 of the college football season play out as it did, with some blowouts, some upsets, and some overall great games. But more than anything, week one told us that this season, we're going back to normal: we're going to have some surprises and some cinderellas, but we're also going to have some dominant teams and quite possibly two undefeateds playing for the National Title. Here's what we learned and saw from week one:

The Big Boys are Back!!!
Coming into the season, there were a consensus top five old-school power houses that looked to be clearly better than everybody else, and after the first week, that belief held true. While USC was the only one of the five to play on the road against a real school (Virginia WILL go bowling this year!), the top five teams (along with the Men of Troy, #1 Georgia, #2 Ohio State, #4 Oklahoma and #5 Florida) beat their opponents 253-40, for an average score of 51-8. All five destroyed the competition, and looked good doing it (although if Beanie Wells of Ohio State is out for any length of time, the Buckeyes go from Great to Good).

My belief that USC is the best team in the country was also solidified. I know people outside of LA, and especially outside of the PAC 10, are as sick of USC as everybody else is of THE Ohio State, but the Trojans are the real deal, folks. What's more, their defense is now the headliner instead of the offense. QB Mark Sanchez and the rest of the collection of high school All-Americans will be plenty potent (they did put up 558 yards of total offense), the defense has the potential to be one of the best of this decade. In two weeks the Trojans will wallop the Buckeyes in prime time- with or without Beanie Wells.

An Upset that Wasn't An Upset
Utah 25 Michigan 23
More hated than Ohio State or USC could be the Michigan Wolverines. The winningest program of all-time fell on "hard times" (anything in brackets is considered such for Michigan- but the reason they're hated is that such "hardships" would be gladly taken by about 105 other D-1 programs) last year with a shocking loss to Appalachian State at the Big House, leading to a "disappointing" season and the ousting of head coach Lloyd Carr. New coach Rich Rodriguez brought in a new system, which smart people knew would take some time to work, considering he doesn't have a QB on the roster capable of running it (further salt in the wound for the Maize and Blue was seeing uber-spread QB recruit Terrelle Pryor run for 52 yards and a score and complete 4 of 6 six passes for 35 more in the Buckeye win. Think he would have helped Michigan a wee bit?). All of this is to say that Utah's 25-23 victory over the Wolverines was just that- a win, NOT an upset. The Wolverines were only favored by three points, and if Michigan wasn't Michigan, they wouldn't have been favored at all. The Wolverines will be lucky to go bowling this year, while Utah could be very well be BCS-Busters. If you hate Michigan, this is the year for you.

Upsets that Were Actually Upsets...or were They?
#24 Alabama 34 #9 Clemson 10
If USC had the biggest statement game in week one, then Alabama was a close second. Nick Saban might be closer to bringing the Tide back to glory than we thought, as Bama rolled right over poor Tommy Bowden and Clemson. The Tide's D held Clemson's supposedly vaunted rushing attack (backs James Davis and CJ Spiller were supposed to be the nation's best combo) to zero yards rushing (Davis and Spiller combined for 20 yards on 8 carries. Be glad you're not Tommy Bowden right now), while Bama's offense, which was starting a lot of youngsters at the skill positions around senior QB John Parker Wilson, exploded for 239 rushing and 180 passing. While there's still a LONG way to go this season, including a usually-brutal SEC schedule, Alabama could win the West division this season and play for the conference title. Say all the negative things you want about Saban (and deservedly so), but the man can coach AND recruit.

UCLA 27 #18 Tennessee 24 OT
I was driving back from Milwaukee last night, so I did not see a single down of this one, which for the first three quarters was probably a good thing. Nothing like a nationally-televised snoozer for the folks at ABC...well at least until the fourth quarter. Suddenly the Bruins found a QB, both offenses found a life, and we had an exciting finish with the Bruins upsetting the Vols at the Rose Bowl. From what I had seen, heard, and read from pundits and experts alike, UCLA was supposed to be lucky to win five games this season. Probably time to change that thinking. The Bruins D was impressive, and if Craft can continue to run the offense like he did in the second half (193 yards and a TD) instead of the first (4 picks!!), the Bruins will be right in the mix for Distant Second in the Pac 10.

East Carolina 27 #17 Virginia Tech 22
This was the upset pick of the week for just about everybody, so it wasn't real surprising to see it come true. I have no idea if the Pirates will be any good this year, but I do know it's going to be a Loooooonnnnggggg year for Virginia Tech. Hell, it's going to be a long year for anybody who has to watch the ACC: In games against real teams (aka NOT 1-AA) this past week, the conference went 2-4 (and Wake Forest's win shouldn't count since Baylor fields a 1-AA level team every year). As for the other two "upsets" I think both Alabama and UCLA will finish higher in the polls at the end of the year than the teams they beat.