Nothing has changed: SEC looks dominant, Big Ten offenses are still slow, ACC is a mess

The first full week of college football is officially two days (27 games) underway and, for the most part, the Power-4 conferences look exactly as expected.

By the end of Friday's games, three SEC teams, five Big Ten teams, five ACC teams, and five Big 12 teams had taken the field to kick off their seasons.

Categorically, and somewhat stereotypically, each conference member represented their home base to a tee.

The ACC looks messy

Coming off of Georgia Tech's upset over the Florida State Seminoles and the SMU Mustangs' slow performance in their first game as an ACC member, the conference was hoping for good showings from its other programs.

However, the No. 24 NC State Wolfpack struggled to put points on the board for three quarters of its game against Western Carolina.

Duke, in its first Manny Diaz Era game, forced out a 26-3 win over the Elon Phoenix (yes, I had to triple-check their mascot).

When UNC and Minnesota took the field, it was a complete barn burner where the Tar Heels eked out a lowly 19-17 win.

Wake Forest kind of beat up on North Carolina A&T and ACC-newcomer Stanford had a flag-filled, back-and-forth performance against the Big 12's TCU Horned Frogs.

However, all around, the ACC only had uninspiring results.

The Big Ten offenses look slow

The conference of incredibly talented punters and defensive linemen continued its legacy during its four games over the last two days.

Minnesota's abysmal performance against the UNC Tar Heels was about as classic of a Big Ten showing as you can get.

After slow starts, Rutgers and Illinois found their footing but played against unimposing opponents: Howard and Eastern Illinois, respectively.

Michigan State got a jump start on Florida Atlantic but the Owls came storming back in the second half. The Spartans, luckily, earned the win with a 16-10 final score.

On Friday night, Wisconsin closed out Big Ten football against Western Michigan and once again, the Badgers' Big Ten colors showed.

At halftime, Wisconsin was up just 10-7. By the end of four quarters, the Badgers scraped past the WMU Broncos.

The Big 12 looks fairly unimportant

Sure, Utah and Kansas demolished the teams that they faced but, similarly to Illinois and Rutgers, were matched against easy targets.

The Utes ran through Southern Utah and the Jayhawks got the easy win over Lindenwood.

Deion Sanders' Buffaloes were almost as disappointing as they were in 2023 with an underwhelming performance against the North Dakota State Bison that resulted in just a five-point victory for Colorado.

Despite UCF's impressive final scoreboard (57-3) against New Hampshire, starting quarterback KJ Jefferson had a terrible outing, completing just seven passes for 164 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.

All in all, the first two days of Big 12 games were, almost entirely, give or take.

The SEC looks dominant

The Southeastern Conference is back on top and it was more apparent than ever on Thursday and Friday, and the top teams (Georgia, Texas, and Alabama) still have yet to play.

The Arkansas Razorbacks routed Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a 70-0 blowout while Missouri clobbered Murray State 51-0.

The Oklahoma Sooners welcomed the Temple Owls without open arms and blew past the American Athletic team, winning 51-3.

So, yes, in the SEC's first three games of the season, the conference outscored its opponents 172-3.