Seeing is believing, or so they say. However, as Robert Greene put it, “When our emotions are engaged, we often have trouble seeing things as they are.” If that doesn’t describe a college football fan, then I’m not exactly sure what does. I’m no exception, as my record picking games last week would suggest. Fortunately, I worked a 24-hour shift on Saturday and saw very little college football. Hopefully this was a prime opportunity to cleanse my doors or perception and see the college football world as it is…dynamic.

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

Texas showed up yet again on Saturday. It took a few quarters, but the Longhorns pulled away from a Kansas team on the up-and-up. We keep waiting for Texas to have a week where they no-show but what if they don’t? Red River Rivalry week is here, and this has classically been a week that reveals at least one of the two Big XII title game participants.

Florida State really needed a week off to let Jordan Travis continue to heal from a left shoulder injury. The Seminoles have cooled off after a red-hot start, but there are reasons to believe that their high-level play early was not a fluke. This is a team with talented playmakers on both sides of the ball, and after Clemson’s impressive road win in Syracuse last week, Florida State’s overtime win in Death Valley looks better by comparison.

Rose Bowl (#2 vs. #3)- Ohio State vs. Washington

The Buckeyes earned a week off after their grueling win over Notre Dame last week. Ohio State showed its toughness and their defense proved that it’s more than just a collection of talented individuals. The offense will need to take a step forward, though, if Ohio State is going to beat both Penn State and Michigan, who have equally if not more impressive defenses, and take the Big Ten East crown. Hosting Maryland this week will provide another test on both sides of the ball. The Terrapins have flashed a high-powered offense this year and Kyle McCord may have to step up and try to win Ohio State a game for the first time, instead of just being a “game manager.”

Washington finally looked human against a mediocre opponent last week. So far, most of the Huskies’ ranking has been based on their “eye test” and less on their strength of resume, with Washington having a back-loaded schedule. This is still one of the most complete teams in college football with a devastating pass rush, an elite quarterback and a pair of All-American caliber receivers. If they are going to survive the upcoming gauntlet, however, they will need to avoid any more lackadaisical performances like Saturday’s.

Orange Bowl- North Carolina vs. Penn State

There hasn’t been anything overly impressive about North Carolina’s season so far…except the fact that they are undefeated. Drake Maye’s stats are pedestrian. The Tar Heels have no wins over currently ranked teams. They have beaten teams by an average of 13.75 points this season, which means they don’t have any last-second thrillers, but they also aren’t thrashing people. They only rank in the top 20 in one major statistical category, passing yards per game, and they rank exactly 20^th. Mack Brown has seemed to find the cure for having his teams become overrated.

Penn State could honestly just have what I said about them last week copied and pasted. In fact, I almost did it just to see if anyone would notice. The Nittany Lions got off to a slow start against Northwestern and were tied 10-10 against the Big Ten cellar dweller, but the offense woke up in the second half and they still won by four touchdowns (and covered the spread for those who care about such things).

Cotton Bowl- Oklahoma vs. Oregon

Flashback: The year is 2006. Justin Timberlake is bringing sexy back. The Fray is teaching us how to save lives, or just one life. You are listening to both of those songs on your iPod Nano. Crocs are starting to become a thing. Oregon, led by Dennis Dixon (a.k.a. the greatest quarterback in the NCAA Football video game’s history), is an upstart program with this funky new jersey design with reflective shoulder designs playing a dominant Oklahoma program led by Bob Stoops. Replay review is in its infancy and fraught with complications. Oregon storms back late and recovers an onside kick (or do they?) that they may or may not have touched a yard early. Replay awards them the ball and Dennis Dixon takes the Ducks straight down the field to score and win 34-33, but only after the Oregon special teams block a field goal as time expires. This was the scene and win that put the Oregon football program on the map.

Fast forward back to 2023. Several successful seasons and millions of uniform iterations later, Oregon is one of the “haves” that will be leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024. Oklahoma is trying to regain its lost glory with a defensive-minded head coach before its jump to the SEC. Justin Timberlake still has sexy firmly in the camp of “back.” This would be a fun “I remember when…” bowl game, not to mention the likelihood of whichever ESPN color commentator calls this game lamenting the “new state of college football” while mentioning 578,369 times that both teams are led by transfer quarterbacks and both teams are changing conferences at the end of the season.

Fiesta Bowl- Fresno State vs. Washington State

Fresno State and Air Force seem destined for a collision course to determine this year’s Group of Five New Year’s Six representative. Fresno State already has three Power Five wins, albeit against bad Power Five teams, so they get pole position. James Madison is lurking though. The Dukes don’t have any marquis games and the Sun Belt has looked weaker overall than the Mountain West this year, but if James Madison manages to go undefeated and no other Group of Five team does there’s precedent for giving them the nod.

I will probably write this every week until Washington State ascends to national recognition or loses, but in a conference of strong quarterback play Cameron Ward deserves mention with Bo Nix, Caleb Williams and Michael Penix. Ward has been electric this season. He is completing almost 75% of his passes for almost 1400 yards, 13 touchdowns and zero interceptions. The Cougars travel to UCLA this weekend, which probably still wouldn’t be a good enough win to get Wazzu the fanfare it deserves.

Peach Bowl- Georgia vs. Michigan

Georgia continues its march toward being 2014 Florida State reincarnate. We knew Brock Bowers was a large man, but he embodied Atlas last weekend on The Plains putting an entire team of large men on his back.

Michigan has not allowed more than 7 points in a game all season. They haven’t played anyone particularly good, but we are into October, and nobody has scored more than a single touchdown on this defense. In 2023, that’s especially remarkable. The offense has been fine, but it hasn’t had to be anything other than fine so far. There will come a time when J.J. McCarthy and Blake Corum will have to win this team a game, but it might be a while.

Cover Photo Courtesy of Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman