What We've Learned From Non-Conference Play

As Week Three of the college football season approaches, athletic directors nationwide have blessed us with a delectable amount of non-conference football match-ups which give the keen observer an indication as to which conference boasts the best overall talent.  Non-conference play will reach it climax this Saturday night as Ohio State limps in to USC.  One of these two programs has played in five of the last six national championship games.  The vest against the best.  And although Beanie Wells isn’t (allegedly) 100%, could we really ask for anything more? 

And don't forget about a less heralded, non-conference match-up this Friday night that pits two, top-tier major conference teams against one another:  # 13 Kansas vs #19 South Florida.

When it comes to forming opinions about the conferences and their strengths, here’s what we’ve learned so far….

USC, the best team in the Pac-10, if not the nation, went on the road to Virginia, a bottom tier ACC team, and clobbered them 52-7.

Illinois, an up-and-coming Big Ten team, played Missouri, a top-tier Big-12 team, and lost 52-42 at a neutral site in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicates.

Alabama, an underrated SEC team, played Clemson on a neutral site and manhandled what was largely expected to be the best team in the ACC.

MWC front-runner, Utah, went on the road to Ann Arbor and beat a mid-tier Big Ten team in Michigan.

East Carolina, a surprisingly good Conference USA team, upset traditional ACC powerhouse, Virginia Tech, then beat the highest ranked Big East team, West Virginia, the following week.

UCLA, a possible Pac-10 contender, knocked off a middle-tier SEC team, Tennessee, who traveled cross-country in their opener only to lose a heartbreaker in overtime.

Another middle tier SEC team, South Carolina, hosted a poor ACC team in NC State in the season’s opener and shut them out, 34-0.

Kentucky, a mid- to bottom-tier SEC team went on the road and beat a Brian Brohm-less Louisville team, 27-2.

Fresno State, likely the best team in the WAC, flew to New Jersey to beat up on Greg Schiano and the Ray Rice-less Rutgers Scarlet Knights, however, after last night’s home loss to UNC, which gave Butch Davis his first road victory, that Fresno State victory seems a touch less impressive.  We’ll know more about Fresno State - the best college football team in the nation whose initials are FSU - this weekend when they host Wisconsin.  Is there anyone who doesn’t think Schiano should have taken that Miami job when he had the chance?  

 We’ve seen Florida, a top-tier SEC team take care of a mid-range ACC team in Miami… at least in the fourth quarter.

And Ole Miss, a bottom-tier SEC team lost on the road to possibly the best team in the ACC in Wake Forest…. barely.

So what have we learned? 

We’ve learned that PAC-10 fans still think their conference is on a par, if not better than, the SEC.

We’ve learned that the Florida-Georgia game will once again mean something.

We’ve learned that the “Big House” should no longer be called that until Michigan can win a home opener.  

We’ve learned that the best teams in the ACC and the Big East are simply not that good.

We’ve learned that if Ohio State gets run off the field by USC, the Big Ten will continue to be criticized as a conference.

We’ve learned that after consecutive losses in national championship games, going into Saturday’s match-up against USC, we’ve seen a new, concerned Buckeye fan… one that harkens back to the John Cooper days prior to a big Michigan game.  (Where’s the confidence, guys??)

We’ve also learned that the outcome of the OSU-USC game will likely mean that one BCS champion will come out of the conference whose team wins that game.  The other will likely be the SEC Champion once again.  Unless the Big 12 features an undefeated team.  Then one major conference will once again be slighted.

Prepare yourself for another wild weekend, college football fans.  One in which the college football landscape will simultaneously become more clear, yet more muddied.