College Football Spotlight: You Cannot Script Drama As Good As This
No matter how much hype you bought into for the week six schedule in college football, nobody could have seen the week playing out with as much drama as it did. The state of Mississippi is suddenly the center of the college football universe. The Pac-12 saw its top three teams lose. The race in the Big 12 sees a new challenger approaching. Five teams in the AP top 10 took a loss. BYU's big bowl dreams were dashed, but Notre Dame is making a playoff argument. Two top 15 teams that met in week one are now sitting outside the top 25 this week. Kentucky is 4-1 and SMU scored 24 points. Yes, it was quite the weekend for college football. How in the world can this week compete with the energy around the country?
This coming weekend may not have quite the line-up of this past weekend, but there are a number of great games with so-called playoff implications riding on the outcomes. It starts, as it did last weekend, in the state of Mississippi. Mississippi State is riding on the back of quarterback Dak Prescott and his growing Heisman campaign. That has included two straight wins against top ten teams, and this week Mississippi State hosts Auburn, the defending SEC champions and the second-ranked team in both major polls. Can Mississippi State score one more huge victory and make a case for number one in the polls? The way this season has been going, who would count them out?
The Big 12 also has quite the intriguing match-up this week with TCU making some serious noise this past weekend. The Horned Frogs took out Oklahoma at home this past weekend. That put Gary Patterson's program in the middle of the Big 12 race, which was thought to be a two-team competition between the Sooners and Baylor. This week, TCU looks to take firm control of the Big 12 on the road against Baylor. If any team is playing the style of defense needed to take down Baylor inside the Big 12, it is TCU.
Now that October is here, the playoff chase is very much on. Forget the past month of speculation and commentary regarding the playoff hunt. Last weekend helped to prove that nobody really knows what he or she is talking about as it pertains to the College Football Playoff. The month of September was nice, but October is when things really start to heat up and we begin to see the separation between the contenders and the pretenders.
Is Mississippi State a contender? Is Ole Miss? TCU? Each won a huge game this past weekend, but now each must prove those were not flukes on a crazy weekend of college football. A win this weekend and each will be highly regarded in the playoff discussions moving forward.
Remember to proceed with caution. Each week tells a different story in college football, and just when you think you have it all figured out, you will be thrown a curve ball. Each week should be seen as a chapter, and the season the full novel. The only thing is, you cannot script drama this good.
Kevin McGuire is a Philadelphia area sports writer covering the Philadelphia Eagles and college football. McGuire is a member of the FWAA and National Football Foundation. Follow McGuire on Twitter @KevinOnCFB. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
