Nine things we learned this week in college football

1. The SEC isn’t that far ahead of everyone else

The SEC is the best conference in college football in that Alabama is the best team in college football. The SEC has a higher ceiling for the potential of its teams than anyone not named Ohio State — but after Alabama, the conference looks exceedingly mediocre after week one. Tennessee needed overtime and some rather embarrassing mistakes from Appalachian State to come out unscathed, at least in terms of wins and losses. LSU’s offense is still too reliant on Leonard Fournette to be able to contend with top teams on a regular basis. Florida was held in check by UMass.  Mississippi State was knocked off by South Alabama. Texas A&M managed to throw away its fourth quarter lead in grand fashion against UCLA, barely recovering in overtime and Kentucky blew a massive lead playing against Southern Miss. If it weren’t for Alabama and Georgia putting up impressive showings against ranked teams, the conference’s best showing may have been Auburn hanging tough with Clemson while playing three different quarterbacks during the game. The SEC is still a good conference, but it might be time to stop thinking they’re light years ahead of everyone else.

2. The Heisman race is wide open

No one was really able to distinguish themselves from the pack this week. Dalvin Cook probably had the best game, going for a combined 192 yards running and receiving, though he failed to find the end zone. Deshaun Watson looked impressive at times, but failed to take over a game he probably should have. Fournette, Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen all played underwhelming in their losses. Louisville’s Lamar Jackson put his hat in the ring with an eight touchdown first half against Charlotte. The Heisman certainly isn’t won or lost on opening weekend, but the early favorites each had chances to take the early lead and failed. We’ll have to see how the race settles out as the season progresses.

3. Nebraska and Fresno State are full of class

Over the offseason, Nebraska suffered the worst loss of any college team in America — losing their starting punter Sam Foltz in a car wreck. Foltz passed away along with former Michigan State punter Mike Sadler in a car crash while returning from a football camp in Wisconsin. In his honor, the Cornhuskers lined up for a punt on Saturday without a punter — willfully taking a delay of game penalty for doing so. Fresno State, recognizing the importance of the moment, then declined the penalty. “We had to take a delay of game, weren’t able to get all 11 guys out to punt in time. Missing one of them,” according to Nebraska Football’s twitter account. I don’t care who you are or who you root for, that’s classy and touching and Nebraska just earned a whole lot of respect from me.

4. Houston might win the Big 12 next year

Based on athletics and geography, Houston is the best candidate for Big 12 expansion. At this point, the only reason Houston hasn’t been invited yet is because its members know Houston would likely win the conference next year. Looking at their last two games: 33-23 over Oklahoma and 38-24 over Florida State, neither of those games were a nail-biting finish where Houston had to hung on for dear life. Houston is following the same route as TCU and Utah, dominating among Group of 5 schools and proving they can play with and beat Power 5 teams. It’s only a matter of time before they become one of them.

5. It’s not a good time to be a Cougar

Well, it never was. But this weekend it especially wasn’t. The Bronco Mendenhall era at the University of Virginia opened with a 37-20 loss to FCS Richmond. Washington State’s opened their season just like last year’s, with another loss to an FCS opponent, this time to Eastern Washington. And BYU? BYU struggled against a weak Arizona team who is probably at best their seventh-best opponent of the year. It’s definitely not out of the realm of possibility to see BYU fail to be bowl-eligible by the end of the year and it’s certainly plausible that USU could beat BYU on Nov. 26 on BYU’s home turf.

6. James Conner is your favorite player

Nine months ago, University of Pittsburgh running back James Conner broke the news to his teammates of his diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma. A massive tumor was found in his chest while he was rehabbing from a season-ending knee injury suffered in last year’s opener. Saturday, he ran for 53 yards and the first touchdown of Pitt’s season in a 28-7 win over Villanova. The best news? He’s now cancer-free.

Pitt’s James Conner (24) leads the team onto the field against Villanova at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016. Pitt won, 28-7. (Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS)

7. Joey Julius is your second favorite player

First of all, his nickname is “Big Toe.” Second of all, he’s a 259-pound kicker for Penn State. Third of all, just google “Penn State kicker hit” and thank me later.

8. Next week’s easy money pick

Ohio State is listed as 28 point favorites over Tulsa. The same Ohio State team that just beat Bowling Green by 67 points. Friendly reminder: Bowling Green went 10-4 last year and won the MAC, so they’re not a complete doormat either. Tulsa played well against San Jose State this week, to the tune of 45-10, but to state the obvious, San Jose State is not Ohio State. Ohio State should easily beat Tulsa by 30+.

9. The College Football Playoff is actually fixing college football

This week was billed as the best opening weekend of college football in history. In the third year of its existence, schools now see how important it is to have quality out-of-conference wins and strength of schedule. A 70-0 win over an FCS opponent is a low-risk dress rehearsal to help prepare your team for the conference schedule, but it does nothing to help your standing with the Playoff Selection Committee. Meanwhile, teams like Alabama, Clemson, Wisconsin and Georgia will be rewarded for scheduling a tough team on opening weekend and beating them. More schools are realizing the Playoff Committee’s propensity for rewarding schools who schedule more quality out-of-conference games and following suit. For college football fans, that means this weekend will start to become the norm. #blessed