If asked to name the most universally beloved musical artists in the college football community at-large prior to Saturday, how many artists/bands would you have named before reaching Jimmy Buffett? Big and Rich kicked off ESPN’s College Gameday forever. Other modern country artists who know five guitar chords and sing about chugging beers and hitting on girls (or guys) tend to fare well too, but Jimmy Buffett never seemed to really fit the stereotype of “college football music”. And yet, when the news of Jimmy Buffett’s passing broke early Saturday morning every cable network and streaming service took quick action to pay homage to Jimmy, not only with a tribute but also with well-placed bumper music of some of Buffett’s biggest hits. Honestly, this makes me feel marginally better about the college football world. Money may be the rule of the land on the other six days, but maybe on Saturday the Buffett escapism ethos counts for something. Rest in peace you son of a son of a sailor. I hope that cheeseburger tastes delicious in paradise.

Here is my annual reminder that the Playoff Picture is not intended to be predictive in any way. This is merely a week-to-week snapshot of how I think the New Year’s Six games should be filled (abiding by the committee rules because otherwise what’s the point) based on how the season results to-date.

Sugar Bowl (#1 vs. #4)- Florida State vs. Colorado

This would be a wild outcome for the first season of the Deion in Boulder experience. Sanders leading his team and son against his alma mater in a playoff game? It would be appointment viewing, but this won’t happen, mostly because Colorado is still not a playoff team. The difference in Colorado’s talent and effort levels from last year to this year is astounding, though. You may not like or approve of Deion’s methods, but the results are starting to speak for themselves. Travis Hunter is a bona fide problem for anybody. The issue for the Buffaloes is that eventually teams will learn that they will score every possession if they avoid throwing the ball within Hunter’s catch radius. Shedeur Sanders needs to start his Heisman campaign now, because at this rate Colorado will have more shootouts than a Spaghetti Western.

Florida State notched the most impressive win of the opening weekend on Sunday night and looked baaaaack in the process. Gone are the days when Florida State looks like a shell of itself athletically. Gone of the days of the cheesecloth offensive line and stale offensive play-calling. Jordan Travis didn’t play a flawless game, but he came up with a big play every time Florida State needed it. Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson looked like a special receiving duo and the Seminoles defense looked big, fast and physical, which is something we haven’t seen in Tallahassee in a few years either.

Rose Bowl (#2 vs. #3)- Washington vs. North Carolina

Florida State had the most impressive win of the opening weekend, but Washington had the most impressive performance. Michael Penix looked like a Heisman frontrunner. Jalen McMillan and Rome Odunze ran roughshod. McMillan, by the way, is 14/1 to win the Biletnikoff. Bet that now. On the other side, the Huskies pestered Taylen Green early and often and had him visibly rattled by the second quarter. At one point, he threw nine consecutive incomplete passes. Washington has elevated itself from trendy pick to great pick to win the conference and punch a playoff ticket.

North Carolina is who we thought they were (shouts to the late Dennis Green), which is an obviously flawed but talented team. Drake Maye is exceptionally talented and made enough plays to win the game, but also enough mistakes to keep South Carolina in the game. Mack Brown still channels those “drunk dad who wandered onto the sidelines” vibes at times. How do you give up an onside kick to start the second half? The major reason for optimism for a better overall season in Chapel Hill is the defense. They looked pretty sound for most of the game and stand to give the Tar Heels the best chance to have a better year than last year. Spencer Rattler gave them a few gifts and there were times when it was hard to determine how much of South Carolina’s offensive sputter where their own doing, but there were at least some signs of improvement from last season.

Orange Bowl- Duke vs. Tennessee

The Cutcliffe Bowl! Duke had one of the more surprising wins of opening weekend on Labor Day night and pulled an NCAA video game special: get outgained by 100 yards and still win by three touchdowns. This felt more like a red-flag game for Clemson than a red-letter game for Duke, but at the same time Riley Leonard flashed why he adds to a strong quarterback draft class with a 44-yard touchdown run. Clemson’s offensive ineptitude was a big reason why they only scored 7 points, but this is still a big conference win for the Blue Devils in what looks to be a wide open race for the right to play Florida State for the ACC title.

Did you know that Joe Milton III can throw an orange 100 yards? If you looked at any Tennessee preseason football material, you have probably read/heard that 5,407 times already. That factoid does make it fitting for the Vols to return to South Beach again to end the 2023 season. Most of the SEC hit snooze on their alarm clocks to open the season, either losing to Power 5 teams or kicking the season off with gimmes. This iteration of Virginia is a gimme for a top-25 team too, but how Tennessee looked was enough to earn this spot after week one. There were a lot of questions about what Tennessee’s offense might look like without Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt and others, but this looks like a team with a lot of speed all over the field still, especially in comparison to how Florida looked at Utah on Thursday night.

Peach Bowl- Penn State vs. Notre Dame

I haven’t decided if I was less impressed than others were by Penn State or if I just expected less from West Virginia. James Franklin punching the ball into the end zone with 0:06 left on the clock to cover the spread is definitely the kind of BDE (don’t look this acronym up at work or if you’re under 13) I’m here for, but the Nittany Lions shouldn’t have needed it. Drew Allar mostly looked good. He’s probably the biggest singular reason to remain optimistic about Penn State as a playoff team coming out of Saturday, but Penn State didn’t impose its will physically like I thought they would. That still may come and West Virginia may just be a little better than I thought, but the running game did not convince me on Saturday that they will be able to control a defense like Michigan’s or Ohio State’s.

Notre Dame, like USC, earned their way in by virtue of pounding two inferior teams. This is a reflection of an uninspired opening weekend slate of games, which is further proof that the NCAA (or whatever entity eventually replaces it) should consider adopting my “Opening 8” idea. Back to the Irish, Sam Hartman looks like he has command of this offense and looks like the missing piece to unlocking Notre Dame’s hopes to return to the playoff. We will learn a little more about Notre Dame when they travel to Raleigh this weekend, but for now things are looking promising in South Bend.

Fiesta Bowl- USC vs. Oklahoma

USC #aintplayednobody yet, but they have done exactly what they should have done against two inferior teams. Caleb Williams has picked up right where he left off last season, a.k.a. winning the Heisman trophy. There are still some concerns about this defense and physicality up front and those questions remain unanswered, and the biggest concerns about USC as a playoff or championship contender. Those concerns are amplified by how dominant Washington looked against Boise State and how physically imposing Utah’s defense was on a hapless Florida offense. USC certainly shouldn’t panic, but eventually the question of, “How tough can we be?” will have to be answered if Lincoln Riley is going to end the season flashing the “V” for victory.

Welcome back to the top of the Big XII Oklahoma! As a conference, it was a lackluster opening weekend for the Big XII. TCU lost to emerging powerhouse Colorado. Texas Tech and Baylor lost to perennial powerhouses Wyoming and Texas State, respectively. Texas won comfortably, if sleepily, against Rice. Oklahoma, on the other hand, looked like a team that was pissed off about 2022 and ready to take it out on anyone they could. The Sooners found their offense again and Brent Venable flexed his defensive mastermind muscles shutting out the Red Wolves. Arkansas State is a bad team, but there is cause for optimism in Norman, which is more than several of their conference rivals can say after the first week.

Cotton Bowl- Utah vs. Texas State

Before we talk about Utah, I just want to extend a big “thank you” to Spectrum for trying so hard to ruin my opening weekend of college football. Honestly, please just sell you shares and close your doors and let someone competent provide cable and internet to your service areas. I was undeterred however and streamed the Florida-Utah game, legally of course, despite Spectrum’s asinine decision.

Utah avenged last season’s loss to Florida in boring but competent fashion. Without Cameron Rising and Brant Kuithe, Utah’s offense did look like it was missing pieces at times, but the line play was still up to the quality we have come to expect from the Utes. The defensive identity that has so long been the hallmark of the Kyle Whittingham era in Utah of toughness and grit look to embody the 2023 iteration as well. Utah is the zag to the rest of the conference front runners’ high-octane offensive zig and that’s the way they like it. If Utah is to defend its 2022 conference crown, the Utes will likely need to find a little more offense, but with this defense they may not need to find too much more. Cam Rising returning at full strength later this year might be enough.

How ‘bout them….Bobcats? The most surprising result of the opening weekend was undoubtedly Texas State’s road, 27.5-point underdog upset of Baylor. More people probably had Texas State as a bottom 5 team coming into the season than upsetting a Power 5 team, but here we are. TJ Finley, formerly of LSU and Auburn, led a Bobcat attack that hung 42 points on a Baylor team that prides itself on defense in the Dave Aranda/post-Art Briles era. In fairness, Blake Shapen going down for Baylor was a bad break for the Bears, but that doesn’t excuse the defensive collapse. Time will tell if Finley is the answer for competence in San Marcos and Texas State can actually make waves in the Sun Belt, but for one week at least the Texas State Bobcats are your guaranteed Group of Five bid.

Cover Photo Courtesy of Rick Diamond/Getty Images