Tag: winners and losers

College Football Week 5 Winners and Losers: Ole Miss and Notre Dame bounce back, LSU still haunted by defense

We’re approaching the midway point of the season, and no team has truly separated from the pack.

Nothing good lasts forever, and that includes the college football season, which approaches its midway point this week.

The 2023 season feels particularly puzzling so far. No one has really separated from the pack, and while some top teams struggled during Week 5 on Saturday in USC, Georgia and Notre Dame, all ultimately escaped with wins.

Other top teams like Michigan and Oregon haven’t really faced significant tests, at all.

We’re still trying to make sense of it all, and it feels like we could be heading toward a College Football Playoff race filled with chaos, chalk or anything in between.

For now, here are the winners and losers from Week 5 of the college football season.

College Football Week 4 Winners and Losers: Nick Saban puts Lane Kiffin in his place, Notre Dame misses colossal opportunity

Though it wasn’t quite as compelling a slate as we though coming in, there’s still plenty we can glean from Week 4 in college football.

Everyone from college football casuals to hard-core fans had Week 4 circled as a can’t-miss slate of games.

With six matchups between ranked opponents on tap, we certainly got our fair share of excitement. Unfortunately, most of those games didn’t prove to be particularly compelling, and we don’t seem to have many more answers about the sport’s balance of power following the week’s conclusion.

Still, as we do every week here at For The Win, we’ll do our best to contextualize the weekend, from the top-10 matchups to lower-level wackiness. Here are the winners and losers from Week 4 of the college football season.

College Football Week 3 Winners and Losers: Florida gets a signature win under Billy Napier, trouble brewing in Tuscaloosa

What looked like a weak slate on Saturday turned out to be more exciting than we anticipated.

On paper, Week 3 of the college football season looked pretty bleak.

The end result was far from the most exciting weekend we’ll see this season, but it still featured more thrilling matchups than we anticipated. Several top teams struggled early with Georgia, Texas, Florida State and Alabama all battling to put away opponents they were heavily favored against.

Only one major upset ultimately played out as No. 9 Tennessee fell in Gainesville against Florida for the 10th-straight time, sending the Volunteers spiraling down the polls and likely out of contention in the SEC East.

It seems like a chaotic season could be in the works as we still have significant questions about a number of teams. Many of those questions are likely to be answered in what is an absolutely loaded Week 4 slate.

In the meantime, here are the winners and losers from Week 3 in college football.

College Football Week 2 Winners and Losers: Texas is actually back, Alabama dynasty may be over

Texas is back, the Alabama dynasty might be crumbling and other takeaways from Week 2 of the college football season.

Week 2 of the college football season has come and gone, and it was certainly a doozy.

The highlight came in Tuscaloosa as Texas handed Alabama its first non-conference loss at Bryant-Denny Stadium since coach Nick Saban’s first season in 2007, sending a message to its future SEC foe.

In addition to the Longhorns announcing themselves under Steve Sarkisian, Miami seems to have made some strides in Year 2 under Mario Cristobal after handing Texas A&M a loss that will surely be frustrating for Aggies fans.

Deion Sanders kept Colorado rolling in its home-opener against Nebraska, as well, setting up a potentially fascinating matchup between likely unbeaten teams when the Buffs travel to face Oregon in Week 4.

With the second weekend of the season now behind us, here were the winners and losers.

Prime Time arrives in Colorado, LSU crushed by expectations: Winners and losers from Week 1 of the college football season

Colorado’s stunning 45-42 win over TCU and Florida State’s huge second half against LSU headlined this weekend’s slate.

This weekend’s slate wasn’t the strongest Week 1 college football lineup that we’ve seen in recent years, but like a wanderer lost in the desert, we’ll be grateful for any oasis we can find.

With that being said, the opening weekend was far from devoid of action and intrigue. We saw the beginning of the Deion Sanders era at Colorado, which culminated in an early contender for Game of the Year as the Buffaloes knocked off a ranked TCU team that played for a national championship last year.

We also saw Florida State assert itself as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender with a decisive second-half performance against LSU, while North Carolina looked to be improved in a two-touchdown win over border state rival South Carolina.

There’s still one more game on the schedule as Cade Klubnik and Clemson will travel to Durham to open ACC play on the road against a rising Duke team.

We have the opportunity for even more chaos before we turn the chapter to Week 2, but for now, here were the winners and losers from Week 1 of the college football season.

College Football Week 0 Winners and Losers: Pair of ranked teams kick off 2023 season

The Sam Hartman era at Notre Dame got off to a hot start while USC’s defense looked a bit concerning in a blowout win.

It’s finally here. We made it.

After a depressing offseason — unless you’re a television executive — filled with existential crises for many programs around the country, we finally kicked off a ball on Saturday to begin the last season of college football as we’ve known it.

Week 0 was, admittedly, a bit thin on substance. However, we did see a pair of ranked teams in action for the first time as No. 13 Notre Dame easily took care of Navy in Dublin, Ireland, while No. 6 USC and defending Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams won its season opener against San Jose State in a game that featured 84 combined points.

To cap off the night, Hawaii gave Vanderbilt quite a scare on its home field/active construction zone.

Talking season is finally over, and we have some real, honest-to-God college football to break down. With that being said, here are the winners and losers from the first weekend of the college football season.

Winners and losers following first week of Bears training camp

After seven days of Bears training camp practices, here are our winners and losers up to this point.

Seven training camp practices have come and gone for the Chicago Bears up at Halas Hall and things are starting to fall in place at certain positions. There’s been some good, some bad, and even a little ugly at certain points depending on your perspective. But it’s all with a goal to grow as a team and prepare for the 2023 regular season that lies ahead.

Over the course of those seven practices, specific players have risen to the top and shined at crucial moments. Others, however, haven’t had the camp many envisioned they would up to this point.

It’s still early, but it’s clear some are in better spots than others. Here are the winners and losers of the first week of Bears training camp

Winners and losers following the Bears 2023 offseason

As we await the arrival of training camp, here are some of our winners and losers following the Bears offseason.

It’s been an eventful offseason for the Chicago Bears and general manager Ryan Poles. Armed with the most available cap space of any team in the league, coupled with holding the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Bears had plenty of resources at their disposal and made the most of the opportunities to improve the team. In just his second offseason as general manager, Poles took plenty of swings and now has the Bears effectively set as they prepare for training camp.

The offseason isn’t quite over just yet and a surprise move or two could still be on the way, but the majority of the work has been completed. As we await the arrival of training camp, here are the winners and losers of the Bears offseason.

Broncos’ winners and losers following 2023 NFL draft

Whose stock is up and whose stock is down for the Broncos following the NFL draft?

The Denver Broncos came away from the 2023 NFL draft with five new rookies, plus a veteran tight end acquired via a trade with the New Orleans Saints.

The Broncos will now fill their 90-man offseason roster by signing undrafted free agents, and Denver might consider one or two budget veteran free agents who are still available as well.

When it’s all sorted out, the Broncos will go into organized team activities with a full roster later this month and then return for a minicamp in June. Players will then get a break until training camp begins in late July.

There are likely a few tweaks still to come, but Denver’s offseason roster appears to be mostly set. With that in mind, here are the team’s winners (risers) and losers (fallers) following the 2023 NFL draft.

LSU an obvious winner from the first transfer portal window

The Tigers’ transfer haul currently ranks third nationally.

Every coach is learning on the fly to an extent when it comes to the new reality brought upon by the transfer portal, but [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] is adjusting better than most.

He landed one of the nation’s best transfer classes last offseason, and after reaching 10 wins with that group, he’s using the portal to retool once again. LSU once again aggressively went after help in the secondary, landing four game-ready corners, and the Tigers also landed former five-star Alabama receiver [autotag]Aaron Anderson[/autotag] in addition to Oregon State linebacker [autotag]Omar Speights[/autotag], a First Team All-Pac-12 selection in 2022.

With those additions, LSU boasts the No. 3 transfer portal class in the country, per the 247Sports transfer rankings, and 247 named the Tigers one of the winners from the initial window.

The Tigers have gone heavy in the transfer portal for the second season in a row. And while they’ve had nice additions outside of the secondary, I really want to zero in on the team’s cornerback takes. LSU didn’t just land one impact corner. The Tigers brought in FOUR. Here’s the breakdown:

Denver Harris – No. 3 overall prospect, No. 2 cornerback
Zy Alexander – No. 16 overall prospect, No. 4 cornerback
Duce Chestnut – No. 63 overall prospect, No. 8 cornerback
JK Johnson – Transfer portal rating of 91

LSU had to be aggressive in the portal last year fixing its cornerback room after several notable departures. This class did much the same, only it added future depth as well. There are plug-and-play experienced players, like Chestnut and Alexander, with young, talented pieces like Harris and Johnson also coming over with multiple remaining years of eligibility.

Note: The article from 247Sports was written prior to Speights’ addition on Thursday.

The Tigers have proven they can be successful with transfer additions, and with a number of veterans moving on, this team will look to transfers to make a major impact once again.

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