NCAA Football 2018 Week 1 review and Top 25

Well, we are now in a new college football season!  I hope to maintain my weekly schedule for this blob, but I have a very busy semester planned, so things might get difficult.

Let's start with the Top 25.  For those who have followed me for previous years, you know the following:
1. Preseason Top 25 rankings are bogus.  You have not seen the teams and the new starters play, so it's pure guesswork.  That's why I don't do them.
2. To be eligible to be on my Top 25, a team must have a winning record against FBS teams.  Since many teams play a FCS team in the first two weeks, it isn't usually until Week 3 that my Top 25 starts looking more "normal" (whatever that is)

Top 25
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (1-0)
2. Wisconsin Badgers (1-0)
3. Oklahoma Sooners (1-0)
4. Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0) : Some flaws on defense, but that offense kicks butt!
5. Virginia Tech Hokies (1-0)
6. Stanford Cardinal (1-0)
7. LSU Tigers (1-0)
8. USC Trojans (1-0)
9. UCF Golden Knights (1-0)
10. Boise State Broncos (1-0)
11. Colorado Buffaloes (1-0)
12. Oregon Ducks (1-0)
13. Washington State Cougars (1-0)
14. West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0)
15. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-0)
16. Iowa Hawkeyes (1-0)
17. Auburn Tigers (1-0)
18. Duke Blue Devils (1-0)
19. Cincinnati Bearcats (1-0)
20. Houston Cougars (1-0)
21. Maryland Terrapins (1-0)
22. Ole Miss Rebels (1-0)
23. Northwestern Wildcats (1-0)
24. Fresno State Bulldogs (1-0)
25. Arizona State Sun Devils (1-0)

Big Ten Report
Not a stellar day.  The Buckeyes allowed Oregon State too much yardage, but their offense was unstoppable!  Minnesota, Illinois, and Rutgers performed about as expected.  Wisconsin proved to have the stiffest defense in the conference this week (NOT expected!) while Michigan State's defense seemed out to lunch!  It looks like a long tough season for the Spartans if they don't get defense in gear.

Maryland duplicated their feat from last year, opening with a win over ranked Texas.  They gave Texas a chance to get back into the game.  If not for a couple of Longhorns screw ups, the Terps might have lost that game.  They need to sharpen their fourth quarter before conference play begins.

Northwestern won their first head-to-head conference game, but Purdue looked more improved.  Of course, they basically had nowhere to go but up.  Still, Purdue looks like a team who can contend in enough games to earn a bowl bid.

Michigan's offense looked even worse than last year (is that possible?), and the defense lost a step.  If they don't sharpen up their game, they may not finish with a winning record.  Penn State nearly let Appalachian State beat them.  After holding them in check for three quarters, the defense allowed Appalachian State to score touchdowns on four consecutive fourth quarter drives.  If they hadn't intercepted that touchdown pass in overtime, the Mountaineers may have pulled that one out!  Linebacker U needs remedial classes!

The most impressive performance, aside from the Buckeyes offense, was Iowa.  Here is a team that typically struggles in non-conference games, yet destroyed a decent MAC team.  Watch out, Wisconsin, you may have some competition in your division!

Pac-12 Report
Not a great week for the Pac-12.  Utah, Stanford, USC, Oregon, and Arizona State beat weak teams.  Cal struggled against North Carolina.  Washington and UCLA both lost in games they were favored to win. Arizona got beat by BYU.  Oregon State's offense looked good, but their defense was ineffective against Ohio State.

The bright spot was Washington State.  The Cougars handily beat Wyoming, a team who did quite well last year.  Colorado performed well, too, trouncing in-state rival Colorado State.  The rivalry may have had something to do with that, so let's see how the Buffaloes continue to perform.

SEC Report
Hard to make a report, with so many of them playing FCS teams:  A&M, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Florida.  Alabama toasted Louisville, but that wasn't much of a surprise.  South Carolina played weak Coastal Carolina. Kentucky struggled against Central Michigan. Tennessee was scorched.

We did have some interesting performances, though.  Ole Miss scored 47 points against Texas Tech.  Granted, Tech has never had much of a defense, so we need to see if this is normal or an aberration, but it shows promise.  But definitely the highlights were Auburn and LSU.  LSU pounded Miami, and Auburn's defense confounded the Huskies.  We could be setting up for some interesting matchups in the SEC this year.

ACC Report
Not looking too good.  Wake Forest struggles against Tulane.  Syracuse allows Western Michigan 42 points.  NC State beats an FCS team by only 11 points.  Boston College wins easily, but UMass scores 21 against them.  Favored Miami and Florida State both get creamed.  Most of the rest of the conference beat FCS teams.

Duke and Virgina Tech were the bright spots here.  Duke handily beat Army, a team who seemed to have turned their woes around last year.  Duke often starts well, though, and then fades in conference play.  Perhaps their only bright spot is Virgina Tech, who is a team of mostly underclassmen yet they outplayed Florida State.  If they can maintain that, and gain some field savvy along the way, they can contend for a New Years Day bowl.  Playoffs might be a bit much to hope for.