Clay Travis Starting 11
One of the big questions college football fans have had with the arrival of NIL and the unrestricted transfer portal has been this; what's going to happen to college football now? Frankly, anyone who claims to know for sure isn't being honest with you. Because we've fundamentally altered the game in such a massive way that it's virtually impossible to know what the long-range outcome of these two seismic changes are going to be. (That's especially the case because so many players still have covid years too, meaning the available pool of players is just absolutely massive, unlike anything we've ever seen before.)
But at least so far this year, we may be starting to get our answer in the short term: the duality of NIL and the transfer portals appears to have increased the overall parity of college football. Anecdotally -- and I'd love to see the full data set on all games -- it seems that power five conference teams are being challenged more by non-power five conference teams and that monster blowouts are less common in conferences as well. Again, we're early in the season and I'm judging based on my experience from watching -- and gambling on -- tons of college football games, but my read would be that the bottom teams have been elevated, that is the floor has been lifted, and the top teams have been lowered, that is the ceiling has been lowered too.
The result, while not NFL-like because there are far too many FBS teams, is to provide greater parity.
These were the thoughts I had as I watched Alabama struggle with South Florida and then kept watching all the way through the Colorado and Colorado State overtime rivalry battle that felt like college football's version of "The Longest Yard."
So, let's dive in and discuss what we learned on the third Saturday in September.
The Clay Travis Starting 11
1. Alabama has now played three quarterbacks, and none have taken the job and run with it.
As a result, the Tide quarterback play has received most of the media attention.
But I'm here to tell you the quarterbacks, at least based on what I have seen, are all suffering because the Alabama offensive line is awful.
I mean, South Florida dominated the Tide offensive line for large parts of Saturday's game. I'm not sure that any quarterback would look that good right now. Although there's clearly drama in the Tide quarterback room -- how did Jalen Milroe go from first team to third team in one week otherwise -- the overall Alabama offensive struggles aren't all pegged on the quarterback.
In addition to the offensive issues, something feels off with Nick Saban too. He seems, dare we say it, relatively calm on the sideline? He doesn't seem anywhere near as furious as he usually does. Maybe deep-down Saban knows this team isn't that good? Could Saban also be, dare we say it, stopping to smell the roses and beginning the process of ending his coaching tenure?
Nick Saban seems too calm on the sidelines. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Because games like South Florida haven't happened for Nick Saban. The Tide has rolled over smaller school out of conference opponents for 15 years. At least since Saban lost to Louisiana-Monroe and compared it to Pearl Harbor and 9/11 way back in 2007. Saban said back then, "Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event. It may be 9/11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to catastrophic events. Pearl Harbor kind of got us ready for World War II, and that was a catastrophic event."
And, in retrospect, Louisiana-Monroe may well have set the table for the Alabama dynasty.
But has NIL and the transfer portal made runs of dominance like we've seen from Alabama a relic of the past?
Maybe it has.
Because whereas you might have waited for several years for your chance at Alabama when you had to sit out two years to transfer, now you may bail immediately. I mean, would it stun anyone if one of these Alabama quarterbacks even announced he was transferring before the season is over? It wouldn't stun me. That's the free agency world we live in now.
But in the immediate aftermath of the Tide's performance against South Florida, let me ask you this, would Alabama be ranked in the top 25 if the opponents were the exact same and the name on the front of the jersey had been Mississippi State, Iowa or Washington State instead? Of course not, right? The only reason Alabama is ranked at all is because of the name on the front of their jersey. Through three games this is the worst Alabama has looked since Saban's first year back in 2007.
2. The SEC appears to stink this year
At least by virtue of the standard the league has set over the past 25 years or so, since the debut of the BCS and the beginning of the one champion era.
I know it's still early in the year, but Georgia was the SEC's last, best hope for a dominant team. They were dominated for a half at home by South Carolina, a team that was whipped two weeks ago by North Carolina. Credit to the Bulldogs who outscored the Gamecocks 21-0 in the second half to remain perfect on the year, but through three weeks Georgia hasn't set fear racing throughout college football and the dominant first half from South Carolina had the Bulldog faithful very quiet for much of the afternoon in Athens.
The Bulldogs look like a solid top twenty team so far, nothing more, nothing less.
Georgia overcame first half struggles to beat South Carolina 24-14. (Photo by Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
Maybe that will change as Carson Beck and the offense round into shape and continue to improve, but Georgia looks beatable, like almost everyone has so far this year.
Usually as September comes to a close, SEC fans are arguing about how many national title contenders there are in the conference.
This year some college football fans are even daring to ask whether the SEC will put a single team in the playoff.
And almost no one is arguing for two teams.
At least not right now.
3. Who is the second-best team in the SEC?
I still think Georgia will make the playoff, but with Alabama looking bad, Tennessee looking putrid against Florida, and Texas A&M, LSU, South Carolina, and Florida already notching double digit losses out of conference, it's time to acknowledge that this might be the worst the SEC has been in decades.
Again, maybe it's NIL and the transfer portal, maybe it's simply a downgrade in the quality of the overall quarterback play, but it's impossible to argue the SEC has been impressive so far this year.
I know, I know, Mizzou banged through a 61-yard field goal to beat Kansas State, but Arkansas lost at home to BYU and Vanderbilt lost on the road at UNLV. And when Mizzou has the best out of conference win in the conference, you know it has been a bad year. (I'm sorry Mizzou fans, but even you guys know that's true.)
So who is the second best team?
I think I'd probably vote LSU even with their loss to FSU, but Ole Miss probably has the second-best resume through three games.
And I don't think even Ole Miss fans think Ole Miss is that great.
4. What a comeback win for Colorado over Colorado State.
I'm sitting here writing this column at nearly two in the morning central time because I'm taking two of my kids to the Chargers-Titans game for their birthday tomorrow and won't have time to write in the morning.
So, while I know there's a ton of angles to discuss on Colorado's 3-0 start to the season, I can't get past how incredible it must be for Deion Sanders to be coaching his two sons this year.
BOULDER, CO - SEPTEMBER 16: Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes walks on the field as players warm up before a game against the Colorado State Rams at Folsom Field. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
Especially when they are this good.
That 98-yard drive was phenomenal to see -- truly incredible execution -- and then to top it off with the two-point conversion was next level. What has impressed me the most about Deion so far this season is how calm he is on the sideline. But also, how his team has managed to perform for three straight weeks in such a circus-like atmosphere. I can't even imagine how wild it will be the next two weeks with Oregon in Eugene and then with USC coming to Boulder, but so far Colorado has matched the moment.
And while Jay Norvell's Colorado State team didn't get the win, I was blown away by how well they met the moment too.
Especially given that this was the biggest game in their program's history.
Early on this thing felt like, "The Longest Yard," there were penalties, trash talk, and late hits everywhere.
But by the end it felt like both teams had a grudging respect for each other. (It's also possible that while I'm writing this there's been a huge brawl in the locker rooms. Honestly, nothing would surprise me at this point.)
But I think it's fair to say Deion has been great for college football so far.
5. Florida smoked Tennessee in the first half and held on for the victory.
This was a good win for Billy Napier and a bad loss for Josh Heupel.
Both of these things can be simultaneously true.
Let's start with the Florida win.
The Gators are not very good. But they do have a couple of solid running backs -- Trevor Etienne was very good tonight in particular -- and if they can keep games close, they can be competitive by relying on that running game. Witness the very first drive of the game against Tennessee, it lasted 14 plays and went for fully half the first quarter.
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 16: Trevor Etienne #7 of the Florida Gators runs the ball during the first half of a game against the Tennessee Volunteers. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Yes, it ended in a missed field goal, but the air was taken out of the game from the start.
Tennessee took its first possession and went straight down the field for a touchdown in six plays, but then Florida answered with a big running touchdown, featuring some of the worst tackling you'll see this season, and things were back all square.
Then for the rest of the half Tennessee couldn't get its offense going. The Gators got one big turnover, which led to a nine-yard touchdown drive and the game was effectively over by halftime.
Thanks to Tennessee mostly bogging down in the second half in Gator territory -- partially aided by officiating errors -- the Gators never relinquished a double-digit lead.
Yes, Florida won, but I didn't leave thinking the Gators are much different than I did before the game, maybe a 7-5 team instead of a 6-6 team? But for Tennessee this was an incredibly bad performance and I think you have to question many things after this performance.
6. Put simply, Tennessee had to win this game.
I get it, last year the Vols went 11-2 and won the Orange Bowl so this year is a bit of a house money season for Josh Heupel, at least that's probably the consensus view.
But I don't buy that.
Tennessee never beats Florida.
The Vols are now 2-17 in their past 19 games against the Gators. And many of those Gator teams haven't been very good. There's at least five or six of those games that Tennessee should have or could have won.
But the Vols didn't.
Because they consistently find ways to lose against the Gators.
Yes, last year Heupel beat the Gators, but it may not be the case again for twenty years that Tennessee has this much better of a team than Florida does, especially in Gainesville.
You absolutely, positively have to win this football game if you're trying to make the case that you're a top ten or fifteen caliber program now.
Win this one, beat UTSA and South Carolina and you're 5-0 at the bye week with Texas A&M coming to town. The momentum from last season continues to build and Tennessee officially looks back.
But lose this one, especially the way Tennessee did, and it's fair to ask if the Vols are any better than an 8-4 or 7-5 team. Suddenly that 11-2 season looks like a mirage brought on by Hendon Hooker's extreme talents, a blip on the national radar.
So, let's not sugarcoat this, for Tennessee fans this game is second in importance only to Alabama. And, honestly, given how good Bama has been, you can argue the Gator game is the one the Vols care about the most because it's the game that has been winnable the most.
And what happened?
Clay Travis Says The Vols Followed Old Scripts
The same thing that's happened for most of the past thirty years.
As I tweeted about twenty minutes into this game, I'd seen this movie before.
It's not just that Florida wins, it's that Tennessee finds inexplicable, excruciatingly brutal ways to lose. Last second Gator hail marys, would be winning field goals that miss wide right by a foot, catches that aren't actually caught in the end zone, it's always something.
Hell, even Peyton Manning went 0-3 against the Gators and he's the second-best quarterback in football history.
But the losses are even worse when the Florida teams that win turn out to be pretty bad.
Heck two years ago in the Swamp Tennessee lost to a Florida team that went 2-6 in the SEC.
By 24!
So, Tennessee fans have experience picking ourselves up from debilitating Florida losses, heck it's essentially a state tradition at this point.
But to get completely outcoached and have your team look incompetent in the process? This was a tough loss even by Florida-Tennessee standards. Tennessee was undisciplined, played without intelligence, and looked slow and unprepared. Every time Florida motioned players on offense in the first half it was like Tennessee wasn't aware players could move on the offensive side of the ball and that the defense could adjust to them.
On defense it felt to me like Tennessee allowed Florida to dictate everything. The Vols rushed four and dropped into zone for most of the first half when it came to third down and give credit to Graham Mertz for moving well in the pocket and hitting receivers down field, but this entire UT game plan felt scared to me. Like you were afraid of Florida making a big play and as a result gave up all pace and tempo and allowed the Gators to dictate everything.
The game plan felt fearful to me and the players played like they were scared.
And where was the pressure on the quarterback? It was mostly nonexistent.
Utah dominated this Gator offensive line. Tennessee rarely got to Mertz and when they did he scampered outside and made plays in the passing game there. Or he pump faked for a first down while running. (This play, the late hit on Mertz and the Vols jumping offsides late in the fourth quarter when it was clear Florida wasn't going to run a play were all so dumb I wanted to throw my remote through the TV screen. I don't mind errors of effort, but stupidity drives me insane.)
And I think that fear was palpable on offense too.
Joe Milton isn't Hendon Hooker, we can all see that.
But does that mean you need to call plays scared? Why was Heupel content to go in down 26-7 and essentially burn the final possession of the half? Why did Heupel run on third and 20 in the first half instead of letting Milton uncork a deep ball and hope to make a play there? And why did Milton need to burn two timeouts early in the third quarter, essentially dooming a comeback? I know, I know, the officiating was awful -- how is it even possible for an official to trip over the ball after it's already set? -- but Tennessee was atrocious tonight.
If the Vols play like this the rest of the season, they'll finish 6-6 or thereabouts.
They have a ton to fix in a hurry.
Because right now this is a bad football team.
7. Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State all keep winning, but there appears to be a big drop off after these three.
But it's also not crazy to start thinking about the possibility of another three-way tie in the Big Ten East.
Penn State is at Ohio State on October 21st and then hosts Michigan on November 11th. A three way split where each team wins the game they play at home and loses on the road would put the playoff committee in a messy situation.
We're still a long way from that, but it certainly feels possible.
8. Florida State survived at Boston College and now they head to Clemson.
My preseason college football playoff foursome of 1. Georgia 2. Florida State 3. Michigan and 4. USC is still alive, but Florida State's performance against Boston College was the first time the Seminoles haven't looked fantastic all year.
Was that an aberration or is there something to be scared of there?
We'll see.
And, my goodness, how about the Pac 12 being absolutely stacked in the final year that it will ever exist?
It's just perfectly bonkers.
9. Okay, how do the national title odds look this week?
Georgia +200
Michigan +400
Ohio State 10-1
Texas 10-1
Florida State 12-1
USC 14-1
Notre Dame 14-1
Penn State 18-1
Oregon 25-1
Washington 25-1
There are three Big Ten teams and three Pac 12 teams in the Vegas top ten, but just one SEC team.
Yep, there's really just one SEC team in the top ten of the title odds. I bet that hasn't happened in twenty years.
LSU is 40-1.
Alabama is 60-1.
It's not just a talking point, the SEC really is weak this year.
10. My Outkick national top ten.
Reminder, I rank teams early in the season based on the quality of power five conference wins and road or neutral wins as best I can. This means my polls can change a ton from one week to the next.
I kept Florida State at one, but really don't feel like they deserve to stay there. Just no one else was honestly that much better.
1. Florida State
2. Texas
3. USC
4. Colorado
5. Miami
6. Utah
7. Duke
8. North Carolina
9. Ole Miss
10. Penn State
11. SEC power rankings 1-14
I'm just going to be honest with y'all, these rankings are a total mess right now. I don't think Missouri, Kentucky and Auburn are very good, but they're all undefeated. LSU got absolutely smoked by Florida State, but they have the only road SEC win so far this year and they demolished Mississippi State. Meanwhile surely Alabama is better than this, but if you took the name off the jersey and just watched the last two games would you even have the Tide in the top 25?
1. Ole Miss
2. Georgia
3. Auburn
4. LSU
5. Missouri
6. Kentucky
7. Alabama
8. Florida
9. Tennessee
10. South Carolina
11. Texas A&M
12. Mississippi State
13. Arkansas
14. Vanderbilt