Many bettors and analysts are shaking their heads and asking themselves who is really good? A number of big upsets will do that.

Well we will start in the SEC. Alabama is really, really good and I can start seeing that this is Saban’s best team that I can recall. Alabama has a legitimate offense and it is impossible to see how teams will attack that defense

LSU pulled off a major upset as Auburn as Gus Malzahn called a game that was beyond conservative. LSU threw the ball 34 times and while completely inefficient, they connected on just enough big plays. Auburn doesn’t look like a Malzahn-coached team from just a few years ago where their offenses were prolific. I’ll never understand the Malzahn and Kevin Sumlin types who are offensive minds but curl into conservative mindsets only to lose games while depending on their defenses.

Missouri has the best quarterback in the nation and wanted to slow the game down this season and rely on a now very experienced defense. But when David Blough can get your improved defense for 570 yards passing, you might want to scrap that idea…like now.

We learned Boise might not be bad but the stage was far too big. While Brett Rypien was fine, there was no ability to run and once they fell behind they showed some quit. That’s not something you want to see with a team that will be laying 14 or more from here on out.

Tulane and head coach Willie Fritz, who is one of my favorite coaches in the nation, is in bad shape in 2018 I believe. Tulane is built on a running offense and a stout run defense. After losing his entire front seven in the offseason, he has no answer for the run on defense and has largely abandoned the run on offense. They’ll be forced to play high scoring games and Fritz has stumbled in that area in the past.

We learned that Georgia Tech is not very good. USF looked terrific on offense in week 2 but were lifeless for three quarters versus Illinois while Georgia tech allowed numerous big plays versus a mediocre Pitt offense. Next up Clemson and Paul Johnson who was mentioned as on the hot seat all summer and might not survive another off season at this rate.

I didn’t understand the hire of Kendall Briles to Houston. Houston has a legitimate top five defensive line in the nation with the incredible Ed Oliver and two monster pass rushers. As much heat as Jim Harbaugh catches, I have always liked that he has coached to his strengths much like David Shaw, Dabo Swinney and Nick Saban. I love a shootout and they can be easy to spot a bettor, but Houston giving up 63 to a backup quarterback makes me a little concerned backing Houston going forward.

Well we learned that if Maryland can’t run the ball then they are as good as dead. Question marks on defense were exposed and further questions of the pass attack were severely noticeable as they went with both high recruits at quarterback who went 8-21 for 70 yards versus a ridiculously young Temple defense.

We learned that Oklahoma has the same cruise control 35 ppg on a bad day offense without Baker Mayfield. We also learned that they can give up the same chunk yardage as last season. Lincoln Riley would have it no other way.

Kansas had 544 yards versus Rutgers! No not Kansas state but the Jayhawks. They are the most experienced team in the nation. So much for the dead under team we thought they would be in games they could compete in. This is Kansas after all, who just two weeks ago we were talking about them scrapping the FBS title and dropping down to FCS.

Baylor gave up 40 points to Duke who ran maybe 10 different plays the entire game. Baylor while wanting to go hurry up to keep an identity that fans and boosters want, does not have the personnel to do so on defense and Matt Rhule has never run an offense that played with tempo. I still think they’re massively improved from a year ago but maybe not as so many hyped them to be.

After watching Texas and USC I thought I have no idea if USC is at an all-time low or is Texas finally becoming what everyone in the media has been trying to sell me for around a decade now? I think USC has a long way to go. They also have a head coach in Clay Helton who is lost as a play caller and refuses to develop a run game. I think Texas will teach us what they are really are about on Saturday versus TCU. For USC, the current game plan will lose you games versus teams like Washington State on Saturday.

Boston College has an explosive offense that can attack you in several different ways. They also might have a defense that can be exploited in a lot of different ways. As great as I feel about my regular season win total cashing to the OVER, I fear that one key injury to the offense looms and I have a defense who is glowingly fine at getting gashed it seems.

FSU, you hired the best offensive mind that money can buy. But 240 total yards against Syracuse? Your quarterback was a Heisman nominee and your running back was the highest recruit in the nation last year. Your offensive line is awful and your pace of play is one that I don’t recognize from a Willie Taggert offense. Can someone else see a 5-7 finish? Taggert went from the most loved man on campus to the least liked ever in three weeks.

Now onto the Big Ten. What’s going on here exactly? Wisconsin proved that if you can stop their run offense, they have very little to offer on offense and even a couple of big plays against their defense will put them in a place they aren’t comfortable in. Lucky for them they play a schedule of teams that have similar qualities…oh wait this is a new type of year. Hello Penn State and Purdue on the road. Games that once looked easy to me certainly don’t any longer.

Akron beat Northwestern. That’s shocking. Akron is an always overlooked program built on defense who has a couple of NFL prospects at linebacker but should never be in the same game as Northwestern – especially when trailing 21-3 at half. We learned that quarterback Kato Nelson, Akron’s highest touted recruit of 2016, has serious promise. Northwestern and their two-quarterback system is officially not working. We learned that Thorson can still toss interceptions but is no longer mobile and that Northwestern might not have the defense that they leaned on for so long.

Louisville is struggling. They squeaked by WKU who has no offense. Louisville might not have an offense. After so many years of relying on Lamar Jackson, they look like a shell of themselves compared to past years.

The cat is out the bag. Rocky Long loves a power 5 team coming to town. Arizona State had 12 total plays in the second half with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. If you give Long a lead at home in the beginning of the fourth quarter at home, he is undefeated in the past five seasons. We also learned that ASU can be gashed by the run. And if you eliminate the big pass plays, they don’t have a ton to get excited about. They’re at Washington next week. Have fun Herm and stop arguing with your players on the sideline. You’ll lose your 19-year olds’ attention.

Next week we will attack the MAC, Sun Belt and Conference USA where the gap of talent in some programs is closing rapidly. We are learning more than we could have ever expected in such a young season.

Get on board with professional sports bettor Eddie’s college football picks each week at BettorIQ. He’s coming off of a nice weekend on the gridiron hitting 63%!