No one is safe.
Leading up to the 2014 college football season, we heard all about the top teams — Florida State, Oregon, Alabama, Oklahoma, etc. — but if this last weekend taught us anything, it’s that this year no team is dominant and no team is safe. On any given night, any team in this country can go down to anyone, and I love it.
Florida State, even without its best player and quarterback, used every ounce of luck to get by a talented Clemson squad. Oregon nearly dropped its Pac-12 opener to what may be the worst team in the conference, and Oklahoma had to use a strong second half to get by a pesky West Virginia team. Those are just a few of the close games that occurred over the weekend, but the message is clear: There truly is no dominant team this year.
Especially in the Pac-12.
The media talked up Oregon, Stanford and UCLA the entire preseason as if one of those three teams would without a doubt win the conference. However, it’s four weeks into the season, and that once-clear picture could not be more hazy.
Stanford lost to a USC squad two weeks ago, which wasn’t a bad loss until the Trojans looked silly trying to defend Tyler Murphy and Boston College the next week. UCLA really hasn’t had a convincing win the entire season, looking iffy in each game played.
And Oregon, well, that’s a different story.
Through the first three weeks of the season the Ducks looked like the clear favorite to take the conference title, and even the national title, but this week, they had to go against Connor Halliday and Washington State. The Cougars were not having a good season up until that point, dropping games against Rutgers and Nevada, so there was really no cause for alarm for Oregon.
But, as we’ve learned this season, not even the Ducks are safe, and they looked vulnerable against Washington State, despite getting the 38-31 victory.
Yes, Oregon is still the best team in the conference, and the teams at the top are still very good and will be hard to beat, but the door for the Pac-12 title is a little more open after Week 4.
This is good news for Ute fans because Utah hasn’t looked this good in quite some time. After making the Big House the Ute house, as Dres Anderson would say, the Utes have a ton of momentum going forward and, with some big games in the coming weeks, have the opportunity to officially slate their names into the conference title conversation.
I don’t think Utah is the best team in the Conference of Champions. I still think Oregon will win the title, but the arrow is pointing up for over half of the teams in the Pac-12.
With conference play starting up and some tougher matchups coming the Utes’ way, everyone will soon find out whether or not they are a contender, but the Utah crystal ball is becoming brighter and brighter with each passing week.
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