Big Ten scheduled to begin play in late October
Some Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, formerly known as Division I) teams already began their seasons with many more kicking off this weekend.
And, the Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday morning play will begin on the weekend of Oct. 23-24.
The logical perspective is the teams will play their division opponents and two crossovers in an eight-game schedule.
A big question is if the Big Ten champion will be eligible for the College Football Playoff (CFP). The 10 FBS conference commissioners will have to vote on this topic, but don鈥檛 look for it to take place any time soon.
All-American tight end Pat Freiermuth will play this season after all, while it is unknown if All-American linebacker Micah Parsons will be allowed to play. He signed with an agent, but will the NCAA allow players who have signed with agents play because of the circumstances?
The guess here is no.
The Big Ten鈥檚 decision leaves the Pac-12 as the only Power-5 conference who won鈥檛 be playing by the end of October. It is looking to begin play in mid-November.
Pitt moves into AP Top 25
Pitt moved up to No. 25 in the Associated Press poll following the Panthers鈥� 55-0 dismantling of Austin Peay.
The move is not a surprise after head coach Pat Narduzzi complained last week that his team was not ranked. In fact, during the last poll (the preseason poll), 46 teams had registered at least one vote and Pitt was not among them.
As of this week鈥檚 poll, all five Big Ten teams who were ranked in the preseason poll, as well as the three Pac-12 teams who were ranked, dropped out of the polls.
The Panthers still aren鈥檛 ranked in the Coaches Poll and only had one vote in that specific preseason poll, but Pitt has a chance to move up.
The Panthers have three ACC home games over the next three Saturdays against Syracuse, No. 18 Louisville and North Carolina State.
Three wins would get the Panthers going in conference play as they look to pad their record with the hopes of playing for an ACC championship.
With the outcome never in doubt against Austin Peay (who lost the previous week to Central Arkansas), the score could have been worse had the teams not agreed to play a shorter second half.
WVU rolls over Eastern Kentucky
Saturday was a bad day for the Big 12, but West Virginia cruised to a 56-10 win over Eastern Kentucky.
The Big 12 teams went 4-3 with Iowa State and Kansas State suffering what are construed as bad losses, while Kansas, one of the worst FBS programs, also lost.
With a week off before heading to No. 11 Oklahoma State on Sept. 26, head coach Neal Brown and his staff get to iron out any issues they saw this past weekend from WVU.
The Mountaineers find themselves just outside the Top 25 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. A win over the Cowboys next weekend will undoubtedly help WVU find itself ranked.
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