By: William Smythe

I can’t believe we’re approaching the end of the season. Can Northwestern still make a play for a share of the Big Ten West  – in the wildest of worlds, the Wildcats have a semblance of a chance to parlay a 1-8 record into three consecutive wins and a 7-way tie. Absolute anarchy. The SEC shares the same issue of a fiercely-contested battle in their Western division, as a 4-1 Ole Miss, 4-2 Alabama and 5-1 LSU will battle it out for the sacrifice to no. 1 Georgia. Nonetheless, it’s approached a point to where we can make some takes about the contenders, the pretenders, and the futures for some heralded programs. Will Lane Kiffin pull the ultimate money-grab and join Auburn? Has Bryce Young doomed the Alabama football program – who will (likely) not revel in a championship for two consecutive years (boo-hoo, Saban)? Let’s begin.

TCU is not a play-off team, and they won’t win out.

Verdict: Not an overreaction.

Don’t get me wrong, I love what Coach Sonny Dykes has done in his first season in Fort Worth. The Titanic iceberg, though, may rear its ugly head with the season winding down. The iceberg,  standing in the form of four backup quarterbacks who were thrust into action against the Horned Frogs, is what may sink this team late into this season. They have only played three starting-caliber quarterbacks – Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders, West Virginia’s JT Daniels and SMU’s Tanner Mordecai – and recently struggled against both West Virginia (3-6) and Texas Tech (4-5). Senior quarterback Max Duggan is quietly making a case for the Heisman, but his team is facing a tricky, tricky schedule before the Big 12 Championship is held. Cue no. 18 Texas (6-3), whose staff member may be somewhat familiar to Horned Frogs fans – Gary Patterson, anyone? Duggan will have to outduel the mulleted freshman Quinn Ewers and the TCU defense will be tasked with staving off arguably the nation’s best running back in junior Bijan Robinson. And, oh yeah, they’ll have to beat a Baylor (6-3) team on a three-game win streak and a surging running game one week later. So, I love what Dykes has done, but I find it hard to believe that his team can reach the CFP unscathed. Their no. 4 ranking may fall dramatically even in a one regular-season loss, Big 12 Championship-win scenario. 

The Alabama dynasty is finally over.

Verdict: Overreaction

“Would you please?” in the words of Connecticut hoops maestro Jim Calhoun. For the first time since 2019 – “gasp” – Alabama (7-2) has suffered two regular season-losses and witnessed their dreams of another national championship likely cut short. Heisman-winner Bryce Young will never taste the ultimate prize as so many Alabama quarterbacks have, yet the narrative surrounding Alabama’s downfall is unfounded. Is it not enough proof that Saban responded with a national championship just one year after Tua’s devastating, late-season injury? Is it also not compelling that the Crimson Tide will bring in yet another no. 1 ranked recruiting class in the fall of ‘23? I’ve found it nearly impossible to doubt Saban year-in and year-out, even after the 2019 letdown or the loss to Georgia last season. The national standard has obviously been put at a ridiculous level, at a point in which two-losses merits the breakdown of a college football institution. Saban doesn’t rebuild, he reloads. He’ll find a way out of this season, likely with an Orange Bowl victory or a surprise triumph over the ‘Dawgs in the SEC Championship, and he’ll keep pushing, whether we like it or not. 

Lane Kiffin will go to Auburn, leaving behind an ascending Ole Miss

Verdict: Overreaction

I’d hate to see Kiffin leave the Ole Miss program in shambles. In only his third year with the program, the Tennessee expat has built a Matt Rhule-esque (college, of course) resume by reaching a no. 11 ranking in 2022 after a 5-5 finish to his 2020 tenure. He’s America’s favorite coach – if you’re not sold on Mississippi State coach Mike Leach’s awesome rants – and he’s revamped Ole Miss’s brand through his boyish swag. He’s also the transfer portal’s best friend: take former USC quarterback Jaxson Dart and TCU tailback Zach Evans as prime examples.  Even despite an 8-1 start, the rumor mill has it that Kiffin may be the one to reclaim Auburn’s glory. It makes sense, he’s at an objectively-smaller brand school with a lesser football pedigree. However, don’t be surprised if Ole Miss pulls out the checkbook to keep Kiffin around. He’s already built an SEC program that has recently surpassed that of the Tigers. Come to the ‘Sip, he famously quips. I believe that, when the smoke clears, Kiffin will still rule the roost in Oxford while Matt Rhule looks to a new rebuilding project at Auburn. 

The ACC should only have one team in the top 25

Verdict: Not an overreaction

The ACC should be thanking its lucky stars that basketball has begun. Despite the three ACC schools ranked in the last AP Poll – no. 12 Clemson, no. 15 North Carolina, and no. 17 North Carolina State – the strength of schedule for all three teams is pretty brutal. Clemson (8-1) – the only team I believe should stay because they are Clemson – just fell completely flat on the road to a ranked but underwhelming Notre Dame (6-3). North Carolina (8-1) took until the final stages of the fourth quarter to defeat my Virginia Cavaliers (3-6), a team without their top three receivers in last week’s contest. N.C. State (7-2) has two decent losses but no big wins – ahem, they beat Virginia Tech (2-7) by 1 and East Carolina (6-3) by 1 to start the season. Simply put, the ACC can’t hold a candle up to the SECs and Big 12s in the 2022 landscape. The talent of Clemson keeps them there, but the Tar Heels and Wolfpack simply have not impressed enough against lower competition. Poor Kentucky (6-3) has to suffer through the worst schedule in America, only to find themselves out of any sort of playoff contention thanks to the mighty SEC. It’s just not the ACC’s year – as I’ve become accustomed to saying – and if you peel back the layers, all three teams have their gaping flaws.