The beauty in every college football season comes in its imperfections.
By that definition, the first two months of the 2024 season is Miss America meets the woodchipper.
Even some of the best teams are flawed.
Neither team from last season’s CFP national title team is even receiving votes in this week’s Associated Press poll from which Vanderbilt just dropped out after nearly beating No. 6 Texas. Yes, we’re talking Vanderbilt in the fourth paragraph of a story about national college football relevance.
We’re not talking about 2023 CFP boo-hoo Florida State, preseason No. 10, who now sits at 1-7. One win. Seven losses.
Through October, eight of the preseason AP top 25 teams don’t have winning records. That includes the preseason picks to win the Big 12 (Utah at 4-4) and ACC (Florida State).
But where there’s a bow-wow in Tallahassee, there’s a beauty in Bloomington. Indiana was picked to finish 17th in the 18-team Big Ten-plus 8, is undefeated and No. 13 in the Associated Press poll.
The only contender left for the Hoosiers is a Nov. 23 trip to No. 4 Ohio State, perhaps the most talented team in the nation whose fans booed its remedial offense Saturday. The Buckeyes managed just 285 yards in a 21-17 escape against Nebraska.
It’s the week-to-week unpredictability that’s made this season so fun to observe and stressful for fans.
Preseason No. 1 Georgia looked bad enough to fall behind 28-0 at Alabama but good enough to take a 23-0 halftime lead at then-No. 1 Texas.
Current No. 1 Oregon struggled with FCS Idaho for a 24-14 opening week win but played like title contender in a beating of Ohio State.
Preseason No. 5 Alabama beat Georgia on one Saturday then lost to Vanderbilt the next — the same day No. 4 Tennessee fell at unranked Arkansas. Nobody’s safe. There’s carnage everywhere.
Four SEC teams that were ranked in the top-10 lost to unranked teams.
Before that, No. 5 Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois, a team that’s 4-4 overall and 1-3 in MAC play (scoring just 66 points in four league games).
Just look at the preseason AP poll with the current records.
Ten of the preseason top 25 are no longer ranked.
Of their 10 replacements, six didn’t even receive votes in that August forecast. That includes BYU, now up to No. 9. Iowa State, now the highest-ranked team from the Big 12, was outside the preseason poll.
You also have heartwarming stories like Indiana, No. 15 Boise State and its top Heisman contender Ashton Jeanty and No. 21 Army. The fellas from West Point are legit CFP contenders as the fight for the G5 bid is up for grabs. Navy was in that conversation before Notre Dame humbled the Midshipmen, 51-14 on Saturday.
Then there’s Vanderbilt, not a CFP candidate, but among the stories of the year. The doormat of the SEC already has five wins, already the program’s most since 2018 and it was ranked for the first time in 11 years last week. With its band of transfers led by Diego Pavia, the Commodores slayed then-No. 1 Alabama and took No. 6 Texas to the brink in a 27-24 loss Saturday.
Vanderbilt was picked to finish a distant last in the league this year.
Ranked ninth in July was Texas A&M, a team that happens to be the last unbeaten in league play entering November. New coach Mike Elko’s only loss so far came opening night against Notre Dame. Since then, the Aggies beat then-No. 10 Missouri 41-10 and then-No. 8 LSU, 38-23.
Texas A&M is up to No. 10 in this week’s AP poll and doesn’t face a team with a winning record in SEC play until No. Texas visits on Thanksgiving weekend.
The range of possibilities is vast for the Aggies and everyone else in the hunt.
A week from today, we’ll get a first look at the inaugural CFP standings in the 12-team playoff era.
There’s no precedent for reference so we’re in for a November of white knuckles and endless scenarios, tiebreakers and a merciful end to political ads.
Either way, we’re zombie-walking into some apocalypse when the calendar flips Friday.
And we’ll look for the beauty in the ugly as this college football season in a world turned upside down.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
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