ANTHONY GETTINO
Sports Editor
This season is starting like many before it.
There are the few teams who can compete for a National Championship, then the rest. While most of these top tier teams are the usuals, there are some teams that are trying to show that they too belong.
At the top of the totem pole, there’s Alabama. The Crimson Tide are clearly the favorite to repeat for the title, with a team stacked with NFL talent including sophomore quarterback Bryce Young.
Others in the SouthEastern Conference include Georgia, Texas A&M and the wildcard Florida Gators. Each of these teams has talent that needs to perform at the top of their ability to compete with Alabama, but it can be done.
From the Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson was the only team who had a chance, until it lost to the Georgia Bulldogs in the first week of the season. Even if the team wins out, it seems as though its chances to go to the College Football Playoff in the post-Trevor Lawrence era will have to wait another year.
The Big 10 took a big hit with its top contender Ohio State’s loss to Oregon at home this past weekend. The team was ranked third in the nation but will see its ranking fall dramatically. Others that can move up in the conference are Iowa and Penn State. Both of these teams have their faults and don’t have the talent of a championship team on their roster, however.
The Big 12 and the Pac 12 seem to be an enigma. Oklahoma is seen as the cream of the crop in the Big 12, but in their first game they looked bad against a mid-major program, barely squeaking past them in a shootout. Iowa State looms as a team that is built for a one year Cinderella story with a returning group of players that have plenty of experience and talent.
For those of you waiting, no, Texas is not back.
USC may be, though. They have a competent quarterback and always have talent all over the field. They just need to put it all together for an entire season and not just small stretches of play.
Oregon made Ohio State look silly in their 35-28 road victory and will undoubtedly be the Pac 12 team to watch. They have been rolling in the recruiting trail and seem ready to put their name in that upper echelon of teams that stay in the top 10 year in and year out.
Notre Dame is decent, but they made it last year, so it’s unlikely they make it two in a row when not in a conference.
Cincinnati should be considered in the mix for a championship run. They have the talent, the quarterback and the moxy of a championship team.
They just aren’t in a Power Five conference, so there’s no chance it’ll happen. Sorry Bearcats fans.
In a local look at college football, we have two main teams in upstate New York we can examine. Neither is a championship caliber team, but that doesn’t mean we can’t root for our local teams.
The University of Buffalo has a solid team. They lost their head coach very late in the offseason to Kansas, so there may be an adjustment period as they get used to the new style of play.
This shouldn’t be a problem for them, as they were a team that made a bowl game last season. I expect them to once again be in the running for a Mid-American Conference title and another bowl game appearance.
As for Syracuse football, it’s a rebuild. They won just one game last season, but have already matched that total.
They should be a much improved squad. Not on par with the team in 2018 that won 10 games and beat West Virginia in a bowl game. They should win between four and six games which gives hope of a bowl game appearance at least.