Latest College Football News

With Saturday’s announcement that the Pac-12 has a schedule, all Power 5 conferences are either back in action or scheduled to be shortly. The SEC, ACC, and Big XII are already at least two games into their schedule. Meanwhile, the Big 10 gets underway October 24, with the Pac-12 joining two weeks later.
Upheaval in the Big 12
The last three weeks have not been kind to the Big 12. First, they suffered three home non-conference losses to the Sun Belt, then Oklahoma fell from No. 3 in the AP Poll to unranked in two weeks with losses to Kansas State and Iowa State.
No. 9 Texas also suffered an upset loss to TCU, leaving only one unbeaten team just three weeks into the season. No. 10 Oklahoma State is that 3-0 team, and they had to rally to squeak past Tulsa in their home opener.
New Champion?
It’s early, but it is tough to see LSU repeating in 2020 after the Tigers suffered a season-opening 44-34 home loss to Mississippi State. MSU turned around and lost to Arkansas, who had lost 20 straight SEC games.
LSU likely needs to run the table now to get back to the playoffs, and that would include wins over No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 Florida, No. 13 Auburn, No. 21 Texas A&M, and an SEC Championship Game win.
The Favorites
Even though the Big Ten and Pac-12 haven’t started playing, their teams have odds for the 2020 Championship. Clemson is the current favorite at +230, just ahead of Ohio State at +250 and Alabama at +350.
The next wave of teams includes Florida and Georgia, both at +1400 with Penn State at +2800. Miami heads into their contest with Clemson this weekend at +6000, just behind Notre Dame and Michigan, who check in at +4000.
Heisman Odds
Quarterbacks sit in the top five spots in Heisman odds, including one who hasn’t played yet this season. Clemson junior Trevor Lawrence is the favorite at +350 with seven touchdowns passing, three rushing, and no interceptions. Florida senior Kyle Trask has 10 TD passes in two games, and he checks in at +400. Ohio State junior Justin Fields won’t see his season start until October 24, but his Heisman odds are +500.
Senior D’Eriq King can make a big jump from +600 if he leads Miami to an upset of Clemson this weekend. The fifth quarterback is Alabama junior Mac Jones at +1000. The top non-quarterback on the board is Alabama wide-receiver Jaylen Waddle at +1400 with Clemson running-back Travis Etienne at +2500.
Cancellations/Postponements
The toughest part of the first month has been the schedule interruptions, with 25 games affected by COVID-19. Every week has seen multiple games postponed or canceled, and the Houston Cougars saw their first four scheduled games impacted.
Conference games haven’t been immune either as multiple ACC games have been moved, including Virginia/Virginia Tech and Notre Dame/Wake Forest. With three more conferences (Big 10, Pac 12, MAC) about to start, the window to get games played before the playoffs start is shrinking.