Contenders and Pretenders: What we’ve learned through college football’s first month

By Chris Marler

I’ve been covering college football for nearly a decade, and every offseason for college football is usually the same. Fodder, hot take, useless lists and rankings. Rinse and repeat.

However, this season was unlike any we’ve seen in a long time. We had conference expansion come to fruition, blue blood programs with new conference logos, NIL, transfer portal, new coaches, new hot seats, new expectations, and oh by the way, Nick Saban retired. 

I thought the last one I just listed would honestly have the biggest impact on the sport in 2024, at least in the SEC. We came into this season with certainties. Or at least I did. Or thought I did?

Saban is gone, so Bama would take a step back and probably go 9-3. No chance Kalen Deboer would be elite in year one, especially with that schedule. And, even if he’s good on the field, there’s no way he’d recruit well.

Wrong.

Georgia would clearly be the new standard, and on an absolute mission to win a third national title in four years after losing in Atlanta last season. And Kirby would clearly be the new king of college football, or, again, at least in the SEC.

Wrong.

Who else? Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss would finally turn the corner and be a deserving top five team in the country, right? Especially with how they dominated everyone in front of them in their first four games. Jaxson Dart for Heisman. Lane Kiffin becoming an elite coach.

Wrong.

South Carolina isn’t any good. Kentucky really can’t be good after losing to them in week two. And then Georgia barely beat Kentucky, so maybe they aren’t any good either? Transitive properties are real and factual, right?

Wrong.

Hugh Freeze would get things turned around down in Auburn right? At least the offense and quarterback play would be a huge improvement, right?

Wrong.

Rinse. Repeat.

What about nationally? Notre Dame will return to glory, especially after beating Texas A&M. Nope. Michigan sucks and will take a huge step back. In week two, yes. By week five? No? Maybe? Who knows?

So, what do we know at this point? Nothing. Nothing besides there are truly only two certainties about college football so far through the first month of the 2024 season:

1) We are already watching one of the best and most exciting seasons in college football since 2007

2) The refs still suck. And that might be the only thing that never changes in this sport.

So, strap in. We haven’t even gotten to October yet.