The value of Ohio State’s opening-day win against Texas is being questioned as the Longhorns have not looked sharp since.
LSU’s early-season wins have lost significance after their opponents, Clemson and Florida, continued to struggle.
Notre Dame, an independent team, had a mixed weekend as the performance of its past and future opponents impacts its playoff chances.
We’re going to do things a little differently this week here at Overreaction HQ. Sure, there were plenty of happenings around college football that prompted strong responses from fans, from Indiana’s statement win against Illinois to the – ahem – interesting officiating in Oklahoma-Auburn.
But rather than focus on those, we’ll instead check in on a few playoff contenders with notable results from the first month of the season and discuss how their resumes stack up.
Some have held up well, while others have taken collateral damage from subsequent performances by their opponents. At this still early stage of the season, this entire exercise is probably an overreaction in itself, but that’s what we’re here for.
Ohio State
In terms of the polls, the Buckeyes’ opening-day win against Texas is still the best one on the board. Of course, the polls are not considered by the playoff committee, but it’s nevertheless fair to wonder if that win will retain its value. The Longhorns haven’t lost again since that trip to Columbus, but neither the team as a whole nor Arch Manning in particular, despite ironing out some kinks against winless Sam Houston State this week, has looked especially sharp.
In truth, the Buckeyes probably won’t have to concern themselves with how Texas fares the rest of the way. If Ohio State manages its own schedule, starting next week with its longest Big Ten road trip of the season to unbeaten Washington, the opportunity for back-to-back championships will be there.
LSU
Despite winning easily themselves, the Tigers had arguably the worst weekend imaginable. The continued implosions of Clemson and Florida made what appeared to be significant wins for LSU seem not so impressive after all.
The good news for the Tigers is there are a lot of quality opportunities in the SEC. But the Tigers are undoubtedly going to need to win a majority of them since the assets they have in the bank have depreciated.
Florida State
At first glance, the Seminoles’ victory against Alabama has held up quite well. It still will in all likelihood, but the Crimson Tide’s subsequent thumping of Wisconsin might not carry much weight in the end, as the Badgers had an equally bad offensive outing against Maryland.
Like Ohio State, FSU must be more concerned with its own performance the rest of the way. But unlike the Buckeyes, the ‘Noles have fewer true resume boosters on their ACC slate. Not that it needs any more of a buildup, but the looming Oct. 4 showdown with archrival Miami will be kind of important.
Iowa State
While the Cyclones picked up the first meaningful win on the calendar against Kansas State last month in Ireland, it might ultimately be the win against Cy-Hawk rival Iowa that holds up better should Iowa State need at-large consideration. That leads to the bigger question of whether the Big 12 can in fact send multiple teams to the playoff.
But, to alter a common metaphor more appropriate for agriculture country, the Cyclones can’t put the plow before the horse thinking about at-large possibilities. There’s a path back to the conference championship game for them, especially with no Texas Tech on the schedule, but one week at a time.
Notre Dame
For the team more dependent upon what its opponents do than any other on this list, the weekend was a mixed bag for the Fighting Irish. First and foremost, they got into the win column themselves, though taking down Purdue isn’t likely to yield future dividends. There were some positive developments, most notably Southern California keeping its record clean and potentially giving Notre Dame another opportunity for a ranked win.
But a couple other future foes didn’t do Notre Dame any favors. Arkansas suffered a come-from-ahead loss to Memphis, the second winnable game in succession that the Razorbacks couldn’t finish after coming up short at Ole Miss. Then there was North Carolina State’s loss to Duke that effectively ended any chance the Wolfpack would crack the Top 25 by the time they meet the Irish in three weeks. Even the big win by Syracuse, which will visit Notre Dame in November, came with bad news with Orange quarterback Steve Angeli out for the season. Again, all the Irish can really do is win the rest of their games and hope for the best.