Well, there were some statement games on Saturday, whether they were the big ones from Knoxville or Austin or some more interesting ones that happened in Columbia or Norman…or, oddly enough, Gainesville.

Net YPP, Week 8:

Turnover margin:

Notes:

• Hugh Freeze might be the most underappreciated coach in America. How he can manage to have a team that is at the top of the Net YPP list among Alabama, Missouri, and Georgia, while only having two wins on the year is nothing short of amazing. Hats off to you, Dear John.
• Alabama has been decreasing in YPP for a minute since the Georgia game. Amazingly, they won the turnover battle in Knoxville but their OYPP and DYPP have been reversing trend lately, which isn’t good. Milroe is showing his true colors as a QB, and teams have since learned how to take his legs out of the equation. Maybe Georgia showed everyone, including themselves, the secret sauce in the second half of the Alabama contest, and the gig is up. Whatever is happening in Alabama between the Tide and the Tigers, I’m happy to have a front seat to it and watch with glee. The Iron Bowl is looking to be Auburn’s only chance at a Bowl, and Kalen made the crucial mistake of saying Tennessee was a bigger rivalry than Auburn this past week. That’ll work out well, won’t it?
• Speaking of wheels coming off the wagon, Oklahoma is in a tailspin of Texas-sized proportions. I’m thinking Venables wished they’d joining the BIG or CUSA at this point. Despite South Carolina’s not-so-great offense, the DYPP for Oklahoma increased slightly, but when this team isn’t getting turnovers, they’re downright terrible. They fired their Offensive Coordinator, though having zero healthy receivers and a starting quarterback who was benched and has now had to burn a redshirt to come in to salvage what’s left of this season will make for some good watching the rest of the way. Not the football kind, but the personal injury kind because I’m betting he won’t be happy with the results of burning the redshirt as well as the rest of the season and how it affects his QB NIL valuation. Who is “him”, exactly? Take your pick.
• This pains me to say, but Billy has overperformed in Gainesville this year. Florida is trending at the right time, though BVG having his worst game of his short starting career didn’t help (2 picks). DJ Lagway completed only 7 passes…for 259 yards and a pick. He also rushed for 46 yards. Something tells me Florida will be pulling out all the stops for the WLOCP, and we know how Georgia does against mobile quarterbacks not named Manning as of late. Suddenly, the Party has gotten way more interesting than we imagined at season’s start.
• Regarding what’s the “magic number” for Net YPP this year? I still can’t tell you. Check out the Top 15 right now:

If there’s one thing I can say about the expansion era, it’s that it is lending itself to the cries for a relegation and promotion model where competition is stouter at higher levels than lower. When I peruse the top 15 here, what I see is some teams that have great state, bolstered by an incredibly light schedule. Two service schools are in the Top 15 here, with Navy drawing Notre Dame this weekend so it’ll be interesting to see that unfold.

Beyond that, Indiana (109th Strength of Schedule per ESPN’s Power Index), Clemson (59th), Ole Miss (38th, but already lost twice), Penn State (70th) , Pittsburgh (#103), and San Jose State (#125)? Not the most impressive resume of schedules out there while other teams are slogging it out against each other. Georgia (#1 SOS) has already faced two of these teams and convincingly beat both, yet is 39th on this list in terms of Net YPP. Tennessee, at the bottom of the Top 15, has the 28th SOS. Navy and Army have played the #132 and 133rd SOS, respectively.

Honestly, in making these lists each week, it still shocks me to think that I’m informing measures on updates and there are teams still playing out of conference cupcakes or already having a second bye week in the midst of a relatively light schedule. The computers and perspectives of media, for some odd reason, still heavily favors Ohio State and Alabama, both of whom look like they could make it in to the playoff conversation easily with two losses. On ESPN’s FPI, they have Oregon at 8th and Georgia at 4th, still behind two loss Alabama and the Texas team that Georgia just roped, branded, and slaughtered on Saturday night. Ole Miss, surprisingly, is one behind Georgia with Tennessee a not far behind, and LSU is dead even with Clemson.

That’s a lot of words and numbers to essentially say this: it’s not your standard College Football season anymore. Georgia seems to have taken one of the worst scheduling beatings of all the college football world, outside of say, Florida and Oklahoma, while others are getting to coast through the year. Ohio State has two ranked opponents ahead – Penn State and Indiana – Oregon has one in Illinois, while Texas has Vandy and TAMU left to compete with. Sadly, this will roll on repeat next year and hopefully some balance will be achieved past the 2025 season…or maybe this is exactly what they wanted it to be – guaranteed entry for tOSU and Oregon, a Texas team in the CFP, and a southeastern team or two in there, as well, to ensure the market value and ratings necessary to captivate a national audience and justify the realignment and CFP expansion in its first year.