Biggest winners and losers from College Football Week 1

Other College Football Week 1 winners:  Pac-12/ACC

It was a good first week of the college football season for the Pac-12 and the ACC. Colorado knocked off TCU and Utah beat up Florida in another national TV game.

The perception of the league as weak is changing. I know it’s the final season of Pac-12 football, at least as we know it now, but the conference could go out with a bang and get a team into the College Football Playoff.

The ACC is also off to a great start. The fact that Florida State rolled LSU, sets up the league to have 2-3 potential playoff contenders. North Carolina also won by double-digits against South Carolina

Both conferences were pretty weak in 2022, so Week 1 was a positive start for both, at least until Duke took out Clemson which is still good for the ACC in a way but not for its playoff hopes unless the Blue Devils are much better than we expected.

And after watching TCU go from 5-7 to the College Football Playoff, you can’t rule out anything, especially not after the way Duke looked on Monday night.

Loser: Clemson

Clemson’s blowout loss at the hands of Duke, 28-7, was among the worst of any in college football during the first week.

The Tigers hope of reaching the College Football Playoff and winning the ACC took a big hit. Clemson is going to have to run the table to have any shot of making the playoff.

Beyond that, the Tigers are looking less and less like a college football power with each season. Clemson won the ACC last year, but repeating will be a big challenge and if Monday night was a clue, the Tigers aren’t one of the best teams in the ACC.

Cade Klubnik was average at best. He completed 27-of-43 passes but just for 209 yards. The Tigers turned the ball over three times in the second half. They were also mired with penalties and had two kicks blocked.

It was brutal and Clemson is a clear loser from College Football Week 1.