Brian’s College Football Top 5: Week 2
Photo by James Snook from USA Today Sports
Week 1 of the college football season gave us plenty of teams to be impressed with.
Week 2 was a little bit harder.
Nonetheless, there were still five that found their way onto my list for week 2.
So, let’s get to it.
5. Georgia State Panthers
I was not big on Georgia State.
In fact, I feel like a lot of people weren’t big on Georgia State.
And a 35-14 win over UConn doesn’t necessarily look like anything special.
But this isn’t the UConn of old.
This is a UConn that fights each week, and even made a bowl game last year.
Hell, they gave NC State fits last week on the road.
So a drubbing of that same Huskies team to move to 2-0 is a great start to the season for the Panthers.
A season in which Shawn Elliott likely needs results to save his job.
4. Rice Owls
Rice’s slow move back up to being somewhat decent showed promise last week.
Sure, they got trounced by Texas, but they did not play at all poorly.
This week, it showed action, as the Owls took down Houston in overtime to get their first win of the year.
This promising start should mean Rice is a little bit pesky in the AAC this year.
Plus, it’s always good to see the smaller schools get better after so many horrible seasons.
3. James Madison Dukes
If you’re a big college football fan like myself, you may have seen JMU beat Virginia and go “Ok well yeah. JMU is a very good Sun Belt team and Virginia is going through some transition years.”
But don’t get complacent on this win, Brian. You fool.
JMU was down 12 going into the 4th quarter, and despite JMU’s impressive first two years in FBS, there is still a significant talent discrepancy between these schools.
Virginia’s 2023 recruiting class ranked 64th in 247 composite rankings.
JMU’s was 150th.
It didn’t necessarily feel like it at the time, but this was still a big upset win for the Dukes.
2. Texas Longhorns
I have seen Texas countless times over the years just continue to be the Texas we all know these days.
Play well, look impressive, have the win in your hands, and then still lose.
It felt like Saturday night was going to be that again, as they dominated Alabama, on the road I might add, and then found themselves down 16-13 in the middle of the 3rd quarter because they simply could not put the Tide away.
But, after countless years of being told by fans and the media that this Texas is different, we finally got to see it.
The Longhorns drove down the field immediately after to retake the lead, and never looked back, getting a huge statement win.
Texas might just be back, folks.
1. Washington State Cougars
The past few off-season have seen the death of college football as we know it.
Schools leaving conferences behind, all so they can get slightly more than the absurd amount of money they already were getting, and ruining local rivalries in the process.
This past off-season specifically, we saw the Big 10, Big 12, and even the ACC completely destroy the PAC-12. All that will be left next year for the PAC 12 are two teams.
Oregon State and Washington State.
Two programs deemed not to be good enough for any of the other big boy conferences (read: not marketable enough for Fox and ESPN) and now have their entire status in limbo.
Oregon State is a top 25 team this year, but it was Wazzu who made the statement on Saturday.
The Cougs welcomed Big 10 team Wisconsin into their home, and beat them at their own game.
The crowd storming the field and the post game interview from Wazzu coach Jake Dickert says it all.
Screw the TV networks.
Screw the nationalization of college football.
The scene in Pullman, Washington is why we love college football, and no amount of people in suits drawing maps for the benefit of their own wallet will change that.
