The SEC is the primary reason why you shouldn’t take too much stock in week 1.
No conference was better than the SEC in week 1. No conference had a worse Saturday in week 2. Go figure. Here’s what we learned in week 2 of college football.
Not your same old SEC
SEC teams played seven games against FCS/non-power 5 conference teams. SEC teams either lost or won by one possession in four of the seven contests.
That doesn’t happen often.
This could have been a disastrous day if Auburn would have lost to Jacksonville State. Instead, it was only a bad day, with nationally rated Arkansas (and dark horse favorite to compete in the SEC West) losing to Toledo and Tennessee blowing a big lead against Oklahoma.
That doesn’t count Florida having to hold off East Carolina late at home, and Missouri winning by seven points against a team that lost to USC last week by 49 points.
Against the spread, the SEC was even worse. In games not featuring inter-conference matchups (there were three of those contests) SEC teams were 2-6 against the spread. Last week, the SEC was 9-4 against the spread.
It wasn’t all bad for SEC teams. Mississippi hasn’t played anyone yet, but it looks like the real deal. The Rebels struggled on offense toward the end of last season, but has already scored 149 points in two games this season.
We still love Georgia Tech, Kentucky…not sure on Okie State
We’ve been all over three teams in the offseason – Georgia Tech, Kentucky and Oklahoma State.
Kentucky didn’t do anything offensively in the second half, but did enough in the first half, to hold off South Carolina. The Wildcats are now 1-1 against the spread, but we assume oddsmakers will start to favor the line toward the Wildcats now.
They were a hot over pick at six wins, and with two wins so far this season, that makes the over even more likely. Kentucky has three more games this season that should be guaranteed, so it needs two wins in toss-up games to achieve the over.
The Yellow Jackets will face a stern test against Notre Dame next week, but with the loss of Irish starting quarterback Malik Zaire, the matchup got a bit easier. Georgia Tech’s offense has been unstoppable so far this season, much like it was last year. Georgia Tech has outscored its two opponents 134-16.
It hasn’t come against anybody, but based on last year’s output and so far what it has done this year, the over of 7.5 wins looks even better. Next week will tell us even more about Georgia Tech.
While those two teams have impressed so far this year, it’s Oklahoma State that’s giving us nightmares. The Cowboys slogged through an opening week win against Central Michigan. In week 2, it did the same thing against Central Arkansas, winning 32-8 (they led only 10-0 at half).
We weren’t concerned at Central Michigan, but another lackluster win has us worried. The Cowboys, 0-2 against the spread, can likely sleepwalk in the next two games, at home against UTSA and Texas, but soon Kansas State and West Virginia will come calling.
At some point, we need to see the Cowboys wake up on offense or we’re hopping off that bandwagon.
ACC has been best against spread
Maybe the nation is overlooking the ACC. Or maybe the schedule has just been that easy.
Against FBS teams, not including the one inter-conference matchup of Syracuse beating and covering against Wake Forest, ACC teams were 5-2 against the spread. That goes along with a 10-3 mark in week 1, giving the conference a 15-5 record against the spread in the first two weeks of the season.
The only problem with the record is this is happening against lesser opponents. In games with power-five conferences, the ACC is 0-5 straight up. In those same games, the conference is 2-3 against the spread.
In other games against non-power-five conference teams and FCS opponents, the conference is 13-2 against the spread and 14-1 straight up.
It’s likely not time to exclaim the ACC as one of the best in the nation just yet. Next week is when we’ll find out much more about the conference, with six games featuring ACC opponents facing teams in power-five conferences.
We’ll see how oddsmakers adjust the spreads for those games after seeing big spreads covered in the early going by ACC teams.
