2024 College Football Season – Page 2

Who is leading in the Power Four conference title pictures after Week 8

Who has the best path to a conference title in 2024? Check out how the title pictures look in the Power Four.

It is time to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Teams that were in the top 10 in preseason are still hanging around for the most part except for teams like the Florida State Seminoles, who are sitting at 1-6 with five games left on the schedule. Likewise the defending champion Michigan Wolverines were viewed as a preseason contender and after Saturday’s loss are very much out of the Big Ten title picture.

There are roughly 23 teams that are vying for their respective conference title, more could still be in the picture if chaos ensues over the next six weeks. For now the focus will be on these teams.

Here is how the title pictures are shaping up in each of the Power Four conferences after Week 8:

ACC Title Picture

It’s just the Clemson Tigers’ world and we are all just living in it. After watching the Florida State Seminoles take over the ACC last season, the Tigers have reclaimed the throne this season so to speak. The Miami Hurricanes will clearly have something to say about who wins it all, but all signs point to a Clemson-Miami showdown in Charlotte, North Carolina. However, don’t forget about the SMU Mustangs and Pitt Panthers, who are still very much in this race.

ACC Picture:

Team	ACC Record	Overall Record
Clemson	5-0	6-1
Miami (FL)	3-0	7-0
SMU	3-0	6-1
Pittsburgh	2-0	6-0

Big 12 Title Picture

Despite both of the remaining undefeated teams in the Big 12 facing scares in Week 8, BYU and Iowa State remain at the top of the pecking order. Given that they won’t face each other in the regular season the Cougars and Cyclones could be on a collision course in Arlington, Texas, for the Big 12 championship. The only problem is that there are four more teams only one game out. Of the four chasing only Texas Tech lost in Week 8. This race could be a tight one down the stretch.

Big 12 Picture:

Team	Big 12 Record	Overall Record
BYU	4-0	7-0
Iowa State	4-0	7-0
Kansas State	3-1	6-1
Texas Tech	3-1	5-2
Cincinnati	3-1	5-2
Colorado	3-1	5-2

Big Ten Title Picture

Please stand up if you had both the Oregon Ducks and Indiana Hoosiers at the top two in the new-look Big Ten. That is exactly what we have at the moment and potentially that could be the title game matchup. Especially since neither team faces each other in the regular season. Behind the top teams we still have the Penn State Nittany Lions, Illinois Fighting Illini, Wisconsin Badgers, and Ohio State Buckeyes lurking behind them.

Big Ten Picture:

Team	Big Ten Record	Overall Record
Indiana	4-0	7-0
Oregon	4-0	7-0
Penn State	3-0	6-0
Illinois	3-1	6-1
Wisconsin	3-1	5-2
Ohio State	2-1	5-1

SEC Title Picture

The Georgia Bulldogs had the biggest win of the week but it is the Texas A&M Aggies and LSU Tigers who are at the top of the standings, for now. LSU and Texas A&M will face off at Kyle Field in Week 9 to determine the top spot in the SEC. Much like the Big 12 and Big Ten, the SEC is quite crowded at the top with three others joining Georgia, LSU, and Texas A&M at the top. The most unlikely contender is Vanderbilt at 2-1 in the conference with wins over Alabama and Kentucky. They now face Texas in Week 9.

SEC Picture:

Team	SEC Record	Overall Record
Texas A&M	4-0	6-1
LSU	3-0	6-1
Georgia	4-1	6-1
Tennessee	3-1	6-1
Missouri	2-1	6-1
Texas	2-1	6-1
Vanderbilt	2-1	5-2

There is still plenty of action to unfold as we march to the first-ever 12-team playoff field.

Omarion Hampton a shocking omission from which Midseason All-America team

The CBS Sports Midseason All-American team made a shocking omission…

It’s easy for a great player on a good team, such as Clemson running back Phil Mafah, to get overlooked amongst his talented teammates.

When there’s a great player on a bad team, such as Omarion Hampton on the North Carolina Tar Heels, that talent is easier to be recognized.

Hampton rose to prominence for UNC last season, recording 1,504 rushing yards to finish fifth nationally amongst FBS running backs. Hampton is already on track to surpass that production through just seven games this year, sitting third amongst FBS running backs with 901 rushing yards, second to Iowa‘s Kaleb Johnson and Boise State breakout star Ashton Jeanty.

With Hampton clearly being the best player on a bad North Carolina squad, it was surprising to see him left off the CBS Sports Midseason All-America team.

The team only had two running back slots, though, with both Johnson and Jeanty taking them. Johnson and Jeanty are both outperforming Hampton, though, so they deserve the two slots.

I know this isn’t fantasy football, but if there were a flex spot, Hampton would be on the All-American list. Hampton has five consecutive 100-yard games, including his second career 200-yard outing in the Tar Heels’ 45-10 domination of NC Central (also their last win), plus seven touchdowns.

UNC still has five more regular-season games left in 2024 – and Hampton still has plenty of gas left in the tank. Hampton needs 819 more rushing yards to set North Carolina’s single-season record, which Don McCauley did in 1970.

It’s disappointing to not see Hampton on CBS Sports’ Midseason All-America team, but he’s focused on helping the Tar Heels turn their season around, as they’re in great danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since 2018.

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Where does Omarion Hampton rank amongst ESPN’s Top 25 college football players?

There’s a lot of good college football players, including UNC running back Omarion Hampton. Where does he rank on ESPN’s Top 25 players list?

There’s a simple offensive formula for the North Carolina Tar Heels’ football program: as Omarion Hampton goes, so does the whole team.

You would think that because of Hampton having the third-highest yardage total amongst FBS backs this season (901), UNC would be cruising through its season.

Sadly, such isn’t the case. Hampton has five-consecutive 100-yard outings, including a 210-yard, 3-touchdown performance in the blowout win over NC Central Week 3, but North Carolina is tied with NC State and California for the ACC’s worst record at 0-3. The Tar Heels are 3-4, but should really be 4-3 after blowing a golden chance to beat Georgia Tech last weekend.

You would also think that Hampton is amongst the best players in college football, but not according to ESPN, who made the shocking decision to leave Hampton off its midseason Top 25 players list.

I’m not saying that Hampton is THE best player in college football, but especially given that Hampton’s the best player on a bad UNC team, he should be on the list. It’s easier for people to pick out stars on a bad team, given they’re typically the only ones performing, but North Carolina doesn’t have a bad offense.

Hampton is already having a better 2024 than last year, as he could very well break the 1,000-yard mark next weekend at Virginia. If Hampton hits 1,000 yards, he’d be the first Tar Heels to do so in consecutive seasons since Michael Carter, who achieved the feat in 2019 and 2020.

Hampton not making ESPN’s Top 25 midseason list isn’t the end of the world, but it’s just shocking to virtually anyone who watches UNC football.

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Which Big 12 head football coaches are vastly overpaid? Here are three to consider

The stats are out, and we can see how much money Big 12 football coaches are making and can see how they rank compared to their peers. But who’s the most overpaid in the conference?

On Wednesday USA TODAY Sports released its most up-to-date list of college football coach salaries. Some of the numbers are shocking. Mike Gundy of the Oklahoma State Cowboys is the highest earner in the Big 12 Conference. Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime, brings all of his pomp and circumstance to the Colorado Buffaloes and is the fourth-highest-paid coach in the Big 12.

Fanbases across college football want to know where their coach ranked. In all actuality, they want to know if their head coach is overpaid. Fans scoured the list, found their favorite program’s coach, and looked above and below to see what “class” they were in. Three fanbases in the Big 12 might be disappointed to see where their head coach ranks among the most overpaid in college football, or at least among their peers. Who are the three most overpaid head coaches in the Big 12?

Dave Aranda, Baylor Bears

2024 Salary: $4.54 Million

Dave Aranda is 25-29 in his time at Baylor and has seen the program fall from 12-2 his second year to 3-9 last year and 2-4 this year. But what has to sting the folks in Waco? Jeff Traylor, head coach of the UTSA Road Runners, is making just over half of that. While Traylor has coached in Conference USA and the American Athletic Conference, he’s 41-18 in his career.

In the Power Four, former Baylor assistant Joey McGuire is the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders making $250,000 less annually than Aranda. McGuire is 20-12 in his three years at Tech and is 3-0 in the Big 12 this year. And if Baylor wanted to pony up a little more? For $5.25 Million the Kansas State Wildcats have Chris Klieman, who’s built one of the Big 12’s best programs.

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State Cowboys

2024 Salary: $7.75 Million

It’s not that Mike Gundy has never been a good coach. Just last season, the Cowboys were 10-4 and in a Big 12 title game. It’s that the roller coaster seems to be ending, and the 2023 season feels like it’s going to be more of an outlier. After three straight 10-win seasons from 2015-2017, OSU has just two 10-win seasons since.

Admittedly, part of what works against Gundy is that his high price tag is, bluntly, that of a top-tier coach. Mario Cristobal, current head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, has revamped their entire program and has them as a favorite in the ACC in just his third year for just $33,000 more. At Oregon, he took the program to the College Football Playoff as well. What’s most impressive about Cristobal has been his work within the transfer portal and NIL spaces. Cristobal is a coach for the future of college football, where Gundy feels like its past.

Sonny Dykes, TCU Horned Frogs

2024 Salary: $5 Million

Dykes was just in a National Title game, where he and a large number of players he inherited from the previous regime lost in historic fashion. Since then, Dykes’ Horned Frogs are 8-10, with some embarrassing losses. Dykes makes just $250,000 less than Klieman, but it gets worse when you see his losses. Of his eight Big 12 Conference losses, five are to programs paying their head coach less money. It’s not that Kirby Smart, Georgia Bulldog head coach, is undefeated as the highest-paid coach in the sport. But Georgia has lost just 3 games in four years, and trends like that do tend to have people connecting the dots between paychecks and winning.

Tar Heels drop into bottom half of FBS teams in USA Today’s re-rank

There’s 134 FBS teams. Where the UNC football team lands, in the latest USA Today re-rank, might surprise you.

We don’t need to tell you how much the North Carolina Tar Heels are underperforming on the gridiron.

Even with a team that includes stars like running back Omarion Hampton, Kaimon Rucker, Alijah Huzzie and Bryson Nesbit, UNC sits a meager 3-4 and winless in the ACC, tied for last with fellow in-state rival NC State.

North Carolina nearly upset Georgia Tech in Kenan Stadium last weekend, but as you might be able to guess, the defense was a massive letdown again. The Tar Heels allowed 70 to James Madison, a 20-point comeback against Duke and lost to a ranked Pitt team, which may have been their only good loss.

There are 134 FBS teams – and UNC is in the bottom half.

In USA Today’s latest re-rank, North Carolina fell 12 spots to 79th out of 134 teams, sandwiched between Northwestern and Maryland.

The Tar Heels weren’t expected to have a great season, as they lost Drake Maye, Devontez Walker and Cedric Gray to the NFL, but they weren’t expected to drop the ball like they are currently. UNC had an easier schedule on paper this year, highlighted by playing three non-Power 5 schools at home, but the ACC is surprisingly a better overall conference.

North Carolina needs three more wins to reach a bowl game, which doesn’t seem very doable at this point. The Tar Heels are off this coming week, then head to Virginia on Saturday, Oct. 26. UNC has a surprisingly winnable game at Florida State, is off again, returns to Kenan on Nov. 16 to play Wake Forest, heads to Boston College on Nov. 23, then ends the year at home against NC State.

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Game time announced for Auburn’s showdown with Kentucky

Game time, broadcast details have been released for Auburn’s trip to Kentucky to close out its October slate.

Auburn football is in the middle of a month-long road stretch in its schedule, taking all of October for games away from Jordan-Hare Stadium. As it starts the back half of the schedule, it needs to perform well in order to have momentum and to have a chance at making a bowl game.

Following its showdown with the Missouri Tigers, the Tigers from the Plains make a trip to Lexington, Kentucky, to take on the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field. As that game gets closer and closer, we now know more specifics, including kickoff time for the game on Oct. 26.

Auburn and Kentucky will officially face off at 6:45 p.m. CST, and the game will air live on the SEC Network. The Tigers and Wildcats have played each other a total of 34 times in the history of the series, which Auburn leads 27-6-1.

The two teams have not played since 2020, when they opened the shortened COVID season up at Jordan-Hare Stadium. That win is part of three-game win streak in this series, which Auburn hopes to extend.

Heading into this week, the Tigers are 2-4 overall and winless in the SEC, while Kentucky is 3-3 on the year and 1-3 in the conference, with its lone conference win being on the road at Ole Miss.

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What does Auburn need to put its focus on in the bye week?

The second half of Auburn football’s schedule features several challenging opponents. Hugh Freeze has an idea on how to help his team perform at a high level.

Heading into its first bye week of the regular season, Auburn football is not sitting in a comfortable spot, ending the first half of its season with a 2-4 overall record and 0-3 conference showing. Now in the midst of a massive road slate, the Tigers are in need of both rest and a change of focus.

During the weekly SEC coaches media teleconference on Wednesday, head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag], answered questions on how his squad is spending the open week, trying to give an idea as to what the focus is and how they can bounced back.

The biggest thing that Freeze has noticed through the first six weeks of the season is that the team needs to be able to execute a lot more and more consistently than it has been.

Freeze knows that his team is young, but also admits that Auburn is at the point in the season where it should be running a very smooth operation on both sides of the ball.

“You know, we can talk about how young we are and all of that. We’re six games in. But it’s our job to make sure our kids are consistent in whatever the execution of the calls are,” Freeze said. “I think it comes back to us being able to execute the given calls. And sometimes the other team wins because they have good athletes and good coaches also. But when you look at it, and we feel like the failure is because we’re not executing enough calls properly, then we’ve got to correct that somehow.”

On the other side of his team being young, a large question has resided with how the secondary is playing.

Freeze has made a point to get his young guys some time in game action to help them mature and feels optimistic about where the defense will go in the future.

“They’re really talented kids and we’re looking forward to the future with them. But we still make some freshman mistakes, for sure. But the experience they’re getting right now is invaluable,” Freeze said.

As far as what he saw from last week’s loss to Georgia, Freeze believes that the Tigers had the plan necessary to perform well, but lacked clear execution, something he is frustrated with.

“I thought our effort was good. I thought we had a good plan. I thought — we’ve got to be better coaches in demanding the execution of what we expect to use in the game plan to win the game,” Freeze said. “We can keep talking about how young we are and all of that. But at some point, we’ve got to look at ourselves and make sure we’re getting taught the exact way that it’s going to get executed. And you can show it on film that we’ve done it properly.”

Auburn looks to capitalize on the execution of its game plan over the course of this open weekend, but will need it when it takes the field next Saturday against Missouri.

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UCLA football loses to Penn State in embarassing fashion

UCLA dropped another Big Ten game after another dismal offensive performance.

The UCLA Bruins dropped their third straight game of the 2024 college football season to No. 7 Penn State 27-11. Their second-straight loss to a Big Ten opponent, after losing to Oregon last week, not even a quarterback change could bolster the Bruins offense.

Head coach DeShaun Foster made the change from the struggling Ethan Garbers to sophomore Justyn Martin, who finished with 167 yards on 22-30 passing with a touchdown. Though Martin showed some surprising success in a hostile environment, the change was not enough to be a deciding factor.

The Bruins offense mustered only 11 points, with eight of them scored within the final thirty seconds. Unable to run the ball once again, with the team accumulating a meager 93 yards on 29 carries, UCLA’s offense was as ugly as it was inefficient.

Where the Bruins go from here, however, will be interesting to watch unfold.

The quarterback change will likely stick, as the younger, more dynamic Martin offers the Bruins a higher upside with the potential to grow. But if UCLA’s offense continues to underwhelm, Bruins fans could be in for a long season as they take on a frisky Minnesota team at home in only one week.

Oct 5, 2024; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster claps his hands from the sideline during the second quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images

Auburn has 8.8% chance to beat Georgia on Saturday

Auburn’s first road game of the season will provide them with a challenge according to ESPN analytics.

Auburn football’s five-game home stretch is officially complete, and the Tigers leave Jordan-Hare Stadium for the next month with a 2-3 record following a heartbreaking 27-21 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Heading into a giant road trip, ESPN does not have a good feeling that Auburn will succeed in the month of October, starting with Saturday’s matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs.

The ESPN Football Power Index and matchup predictor shows the Tigers to only have an 8.8% chance to take down Kirby Smart’s squad in Athens. Auburn has not had luck in Sanford Stadium as of late, having not won there since 2005.

According to ESPNBet, the current spread shows a -24-point favorite towards the Bulldogs, with an over/under set at 52.5. Those numbers indicate a dominating performance from Georgia’s offense, trying to once again dominate the Tigers for another year.

The Bulldogs are coming off of a devastating loss after their comeback efforts fell short against Alabama in Tuscaloosa, but shockingly, they rank just below Auburn in both total offense and points per game.

Georgia has some struggles on defense as well, ranking No. 14 in the SEC in rush defense, giving up 126.3 yards per game in that category. On the flip side, its pass defense is superb, just giving up 162 yards on average (No. 5).

The newest edition of “The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry” will kick off at 2:30 p.m. CST at Sanford Stadium, and will be broadcast on ABC.

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What did we learn from Auburn’s loss to Oklahoma?

Auburn made very few, but costly mistakes in its recent loss to Oklahoma.

Auburn football finished its five-game home stand in less than desirable fashion, which seemed to be the name of the game throughout the entire start to the 2024 season.

The Tigers saw a late pick six become the difference in Saturday’s 27-21 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners, dropping them to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the SEC heading into the month of October.

Unlike the team’s other two defeats, this one felt like things were going right for Auburn. While it only scored 21 points, plays were being made and the team was moving the ball. Despite that, it gave up the lead late and horror struck once again for a team with high hopes.

Here is what we learned about the Tigers after the loss.

Quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag] was benched a short couple of weeks ago and thrown back into action last week against Arkansas after struggles shown by [autotag]Hank Brown[/autotag]. He responded this week in one of the biggest games of Auburn’s season by playing well, which is what fans desperately needed to see.

There were many good deep throws made with smart decisions, but what fans will remember were the other decisions made, the ones that had them holding their breath and just hoping the ball would not be interceptions.

For the most part, they were relieved of that, that was until the Sooners’ Kip Lewis intercepted a ball on a slant route and ran it back to give his squad a late lead. It answered the question of if Thorne had improved in crunch time, which was no.

On the receiving end, [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag] and [autotag]Malcolm Simmons[/autotag] have become two of the team’s most reliable targets in the early going, and when they get the ball, it always feel like a big play is in motion.

Running back [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag] is also still who every Tigers fan knows him as, a powerful weapon. Despite not breaking 100 yards, Hunter continues to make explosive plays that provide a spark to the offense.

The defense still has many kinks to work out. Containing the quarterback has consistently been a problem all year, and while things improved on Saturday, it gave up two of the more crucial plays of the game in the opening drive touchdown by Michael Hawkins Jr. and his two-point conversion that gave Oklahoma a 24-21 lead.

[autotag]Demarcus Riddick[/autotag] had an explosive game and proved what he can do with six tackles, including a tackle-for-loss and sack. Look for him to continue growing down the stretch.

For the first time this season, Auburn saw its special teams struggle, as [autotag]Towns McGough[/autotag] missed both of his field goal attempts on the day, including one right before the half that would have given his team a 17-7 lead and raised the momentum heading into the break. For a young kicker, he still has a lot to grow on, but those two turned out to be a major miss for the Tigers.

Auburn takes the road for the entire month of October, beginning with a trip to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs. That game is set for 2:30 p.m. CST and will be broadcast live on ABC from Sanford Stadium.

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