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HomeFootballNCAA FootballCollege Football Rewind, Week 7: Week-to-Week parity is here to stay

College Football Rewind, Week 7: Week-to-Week parity is here to stay

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The past couple of weeks have shown us something that is going to be much more commonplace across college football.

Week 6 had the huge upsets, with four of the top 11 teams in the country losing to unranked teams.

Week 7 saw a bunch of supposedly overmatched teams hanging with a lot of the big boys.

Obviously the biggest game of the weekend was the best, as Oregon and Ohio State traded punches in an instant classic in Eugene. The Ducks and Buckeyes will see each other in Indianapolis in December, and possibly a third time in January. Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel inserted himself into the middle of the Heisman race, and OSU coach Ryan Day’s team now has questions about play-calling and clock management.

Elsewhere, we saw a lot of underdogs cover big numbers.

South Carolina put a scare into Alabama, despite the Gamecocks being more than a 3 touchdown underdog. Illinois blew a 28-3 halftime lead over Purdue before eeking out a 1-point overtime win as a 22.5-point favorite. Mississippi State battled back to make it a game against Georgia before the Bulldogs pulled out a 10-point win. The Bulldogs were 34-point favorites. Tennessee needed overtime to beat Florida, with the Vols going into the game as two touchdown favorites.

It used to be that these were known as lookahead games. Each of the SEC favorites mentioned previously has a big game coming up this Saturday. Same for Illinois. But this is two weeks in a row that saw the Tide struggle to get stops against overmatched teams. Tennessee’s high-powered offense sputtered again. Illinois let a redshirt freshman who had started one game previously throw for 3 touchdowns and nearly 300 yards.

Parity is here.

Yes, the same handful of teams will dominate the preseason rankings and hype. But new players will emerge each season from unlikely programs to put fear into the hearts of the big dogs.

It’s going to stay that way. Some believe the expanded playoff is bad for the game. It’s going to keep more fanbases engaged longer every year. There are probably people in Bloomington, Indiana, talking about playoff possibilities. Same for places like Provo, Utah, Annapolis, Maryland, and West Point, New York.

Sure, the likelihood of Indiana, BYU, Navy or Army winning the playoff is low, but that’s not the point. It’s why most people love Cinderellas come March Madness. It messes up the matrix when a heavy underdog wins.

For Week 8, five ranked teams enter matchups with unranked foes as at least a 14-point favorite. Tennessee is a home dog to Alabama, and Illinois is a home dog to Michigan.

I’ve said that 2007 is the best college football season ever and that nothing would ever top it.

I’d love to be wrong.

The “If I Voted” Top 25
1. Texas
2. Oregon
3. Ohio State
4. Georgia
5. Penn State
6. Alabama
7. Miami
8. Clemson
9. Notre Dame
10. Texas A & M
11. LSU
12. Tennessee
13. Iowa State
14. BYU
15. Boise State
16. Kansas State
17. Indiana
18. SMU
19. Nebraska
20. Army
21. Ole Miss
22. Navy
23. Illinois
24. Michigan
25. Syracuse

Week 7 Heisman ballot
1. Ashton Jeanty
2. Cam Ward
3. Dillon Gabriel
4. Jalen Milroe

Best of the Week 8 slate
1. Georgia at Texas
2. Alabama at Tennessee
3. Nebraska at Indiana
4. Michigan at Illinois
5. Iowa at Michigan State
6. Louisiana at Coastal Carolina
7. Miami at Louisville
8. Notre Dame at GT
9. LSU at Arkansas
10. UNLV at Oregon State

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