NCAA Football Week 1: Stock Up, Stock Down

Overreaction is a natural thing, especially during the first week of college football.

Now, I'm not saying I'm overracting, but here are just a few of my observations from the weekend:

Stock up: The Alabama offense. Blake Sims played well at QB, and both Crimson Tide running backs notched over 100 yards.

Stock down: Alabama's secondary. The Tide gave up 345 yards in the air to West Virginia.

Stock up: Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill. Johnny Huh? was the cry all over college football this weekend after Hill's performance at South Carolina.

Stock down: South Carolina. That was the worst performance by a Steve Spurrier team in a long while. They did the double, looking bad on both offense and defense.

Stock up: UCLA defense. If it wasn't for the D-team, UCLA would've been upset this weekend by Virginia.

Stock down: Florida State. What was that Saturday night? Jameis Winston had two turnovers despite the impressive run, and the Seminoles defense gave up 31 points to an allegedly down Oklahoma State team. Hell, if Cowboy QB JW Walsh hadn't been so concerned about bracing for a landing when he got spun tail-over-teakettle after a decent gain in the second half, he might have protected the ball, avoided a key fumble, and been celebrating an upset right now.

Stock up: LSU's comeback. The Hat does it again despite his team looking like garbage in the first half. Bummer about Badgers QB Joel Stave, too. And Wisconsin losing super-back Melvin Gordon for the second half didn't help their cause, either.

Stock up: Arizona. Rich Rod looks he finally has it rolling in the desert.

Stock down: Miami. Remember when they used to be good? Wonder if ESPN will do a 30 for 30 on how bad this program is now. 

Stock up: Steve Sarkisian. Dude dealt with a shock suspension and some totally unwarranted crap and still oversaw USC's pounding of what's supposed to be a decent Fresno State squad.

Stock down: The weather. It affected a number of games over the weekend, causing lightning delays all over the country and one cancellation.

Stock up: Dr John Risher. Dude's a Virginia prof who charts plays for the Cavaliers. He's 104 years old. The good doctor saw his first Wahoo game in 1920 and played for them in 1930 when Scott Stadium opened. He kicked off his 94th season on Saturday.

This weekend, we'll discover -- at least in the Big Ten -- who the contenders and pretenders are in the national championship race. Michigan State travels to Oregon, Michigan faces Nôtre Dame for the last time in the foreseeable future, and Ohio State hosts Virginia Tech.

Explain to me again why there's a need for playoff?