1. Ohio State will be No. 1 for a while. The Buckeyes were challenged by Virginia Tech, trailing at halftime, but got serious in the second half Monday night. The 42-24 victory might be OSU's closest game for several weeks. The Bucks looked unstoppable, and they weren't even at full strength. Poor Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors get a rested, angry Joey Bosa. Urban Meyer's biggest challenge will be getting his parade of stars enough touches to keep them happy.
2. Alabama's the team to beat in the SEC. The Crimson Tide rolled Wisconsin 35-17 in North Texas. I'm not even sure who played quarterback — some pretty-looking kid — but I am sure that Derrick Henry will be a Heisman Trophy contender. Bama's defense is scary and stout, and Nick Saban's bunch appears to be on a collision course with Ohio State.
3. Malik Zaire was the correct choice at QB. The Alter grad looked great in Notre Dame's 38-3 thumping of Texas. Say what you want about the Fighting Irish, but they play a challenging schedule. Opponents in the coming weeks include Georgia Tech, Clemson and Southern Cal. Too bad ND dumped Michigan. That always was a great Week 2 showdown.
4. The Big Ten has work to do. Coming off a great bowl season, the conference with the wimpy theme song — I can't stand that "live forever" promo — recorded one signature win: Northwestern 16, Stanford 6. Minnesota gave TCU a game, but Penn State was awful and Michigan and Wisconsin lost to tough opponents. Nebraska had a nice win locked up before its defense melted down as BYU went all Hail Mary on the Huskers.
5. Larry Culpepper is awesome. I love the Dr. Pepper commercials featuring the know-it-all concessions worker. The new one features Larry chiding some third-stringers (with a nod to Cardale Jones), chatting up Marcus Allen, and testing a deflated football. Looking forward to more good stuff this season, although it'll be tough to top last year's tribute to the College Football Playoff championship trophy.
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