College Football Begins with a Bang

The 2016 college football season got off to an exciting start this weekend, as upsets and spectacular plays were not in short supply.

The SEC got off to a rough start, with No. 11 Ole Miss, No. 5 LSU suffering tough losses to perennial contenders Florida State and Wisconsin, respectively. No. 18 Georgia manage to squeak out a win against No. 22 UNC while No. 9 Tennessee and Mississippi State both looked underwhelming, with the Bulldogs losing to underdog South Alabama and the Vols struggling to overcome Appalachian State. No.1 Alabama, on the other hand, looked as polished as ever as the Crimson Tide cruised to a 52-6 blowout against No. 20 USC.

Two of the more notable upsets of the week No.15 Houston over No. 3 Oklahoma and Texas over No. 10 Notre Dame.  The Cougars looked impressive as they handled the Sooners with relative ease in a game highlighted by a 100-yard kick -six by the underdogs.

Both the Irish and the Longhorns played with a lot of heart on Sunday night in Austin, with Texas taking the win in the second overtime period with a touchdown run by backup quarterback Tyrone Swoopes. In one of the weirder plays you’ll see this season, Notre Dame returned a Texas extra point attempt to the end zone for 2 points, tying the game and eventually sending it into overtime.

The B1G had a good week overall, with only Northwestern and Rutgers falling to their opponents. In its blowout of Bowling Green, No. 6 Ohio State rewrote its record books, racking up 77 points and 776 total yards of offense. No. 7 Michigan was efficient as well, totaling 512 yards on the way to a 63-3 rout over Hawaii.

As for the rankings, Houston, Washington, Michigan, Ohio State, and Louisville all climb going into next week while the top three teams – ’Bama, Clemson, and FSU – keep their spots. Teams breaking into the top-25 this week include Texas A&M at No.20, Wisconsin at No. 10 and Texas at No. 11.

Notre Dame plummets to No. 18, Tennessee drops to No. 17 and LSU drops to No. 21.

No top-25 teams are facing each other this week, but, as usual, be on the lookout for some upsets.