As we near the halfway point of the college football season, we look back on a first half, which has seen a fair share of upsets, close games and blowouts.

Big three takeaways:

1. Ohio State is not as good as advertised:

The inaugural college football playoff champion has not wowed anyone yet.  With all due respect to the champs, they aren’t looking strong this season.  The Buckeyes are 6-0; however, their wins have come against teams who are not highly regarded.  They started the season with a win in Blacksburg, VA over Virginia Tech, who is clearly rebuilding.  They then had a stretch of non-power five conference opponents and their only convincing win was against Hawaii.  Two weeks ago they barely escaped Indiana, saving their fate on the final play of the game.  This team has the potential to be very good, however, we have just not seen anything too impressive thus far.  They will have their work cut out for them at the end of the season when they face Michigan State and Michigan back-to-back.

Pitch Prediction: Either Michigan or Michigan State will beat the Buckeyes, thus jeopardizing their playoff status.

Junior Jonah Renbaum feels that the Big Ten conference has the power.

“The Big Ten is going to  win it all,” Renbaum said. 

This very well might be possible as Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan State are all still undefeated going into this week.

Senior college football fan Kasey Carroll thinks Ohio State will not repeat their championship win from last season.

“I do not believe that Ohio State will win the championship this year because they just haven’t been playing like a championship team.”

2.  Utah is still very, very, good

Despite their recent loss, the Utes have still showed the nation they can compete with top teams like Michigan and an underrated Arizona State team.  The Utes are ranked 13th right now and just came off a big loss against an under-rated USC team in Los Angeles.  The Utes started the season with a statement win over Michigan that is looking better and better as Michigan continues to play very well.  The Utes then won easily against state rival Utah State, and handled Fresno State before going to Oregon and crushing the Ducks, who at the time, were ranked in the top ten.  The Utes can keep stating their case as a playoff team with wins against Washington, Arizona, and UCLA still up.

Pitch Prediction:  Utah will go undefeated the rest of the season and avenge their loss to USC and will still be in contention for a playoff spot.

3.   The SEC

The Southeastern Conference is not playing like the best conference in the country.  With top teams like Alabama, Ole Miss and Georgia no longer in perfect condition, we aren’t exactly sure who the favorite is.  Alabama has been the most consistent team in the SEC, but showed a weakness in a loss at home to Ole Miss.  After Ole Miss went into Tuscaloosa, AL and won, they followed it up with a very dismal performance against Florida. Georgia played Alabama a week after the Crimson Tide lost to Ole Miss and Georgia was considered the favorite at home.  However, Alabama again reigned supreme in a commanding beat-down of the Bulldogs.  A week later, Georgia went up Knoxville, TN, where they were considered the favorites, even in the hostile environment.  The team got outplayed by a young Tennessee Volunteer squad in a loss, eliminating the Bulldogs from the playoffs.  Only talking about these teams would not do justice to three of the overlooked teams in the SEC, Texas A&M, LSU and Florida.  The Aggies have the best quarterback in the league right now in Kyle Allen.

Pitch Prediction: LSU will come out on top in the SEC.

“I think Ole Miss definitely has a shot to still contend in the SEC West,” senior Noah Sullivan said.

Sullivan believes this could happen despite the Rebels’ losses to Florida and Memphis.

We are definitely looking forward to the rest of the CFB season with big games and the potential for big upsets and statement wins.