The Beginning of Fall (Part I)

Always a bittersweet moment, the start of October is the precipice of the best month of college football - when teams are hitting the meat of their conference schedules and playing at their top level - but the beginning of the month also marks the end of a third of the season.

But after four weeks, the 2009 season is beginning to become clear. After three straight weeks of going to games (La Tech, South Carolina and West Virginia), I was able to sit back and enjoy a Saturday of football (thankfully Sheena declined the trip back to Athens for Arizona State, which would have been a second weekend of rain). But I was able to finally see teams play and coupled with Week 1 through 3 highlights, I'm ready to say what I've learned through the first four weeks:

Alabama is the best team in the nation. They have my No. 1 spot, and they had it prior to Tebow being knocked out. Alabama is the only team that looks to be a complete and they can back it with a competitive schedule. The Crimson Tide may have the best defense in the country (Oklahoma could also lay claim to that), but Bama shut down a Virginia Tech running game that dominated Miami and has now stifled a versatile aerial attack in Arkansas. Texas looks like they're getting better, but it's really hard to judge until the Red River Shootout, and Oklahoma is going to be better following their win next week in Miami.

Who knew Marcus Gilbert had a Kryptonite knee? Florida is the most talented team in the country and is deserving of being No. 1, but the team has lived on Tebow throughout the season, and now there will be questions of not only whether he can play but should he play. He's the the most dominant college football player on the field today - and perhaps ever - but once a concussion happens - especially one as severe as Tebow suffered - a lot of people have to begin to wonder about what happens after the playing days are done.

Numerous examples can be given for the dangers of concussions, but a more personal example is Auburn's Terry Beasley, who was the go-to receiver for Heisman winner Pat Sullivan. Due to 19 career concussions, Beasley is now a shell of his former self.

The pounding Tebow has taken over the years has been exorbitant, and he's had his bell rung many times; now the question is whether the coaches can honestly continue to put him in those same type of situations. Of course, if it's up to him, Superman will play the rest of the way.

"UF's back-up would start at 9 SEC schools." That's been the joke going around commentator booths through the first month of the season; now it looks like super-star recruit John Brantley might actually be tested. Brantley is a better passer than Tebow, so it could be possible that the Gators would have a more potent offense. But that means replacing a Heisman winner with an untested back-up.

Of course, Tim Tebow won't take a back-seat, and he will play against LSU in two weeks, but what happens when he takes another head shot - which you know the Tigers will be aiming for? And not to be too macabre, but if the coaching staff can't call the Tebow-bull rush plays for fear of concussions, might it be more effective to have Brantley in to open up the attack?

USC looks to be their most vulnerable since 2001, but... Was it because of USC's early loss to 2008's hapless Washington and Oregon's loss at Boise? Or maybe the fact that Cal hadn't blown an early kickoff in Minnesota? Or just that I picked Jahvid Best with the first pick of my fantasy football league? No matter, I bought into the Cal hype, and I did it fully knowing that the Bears never, ever, will take advantage and actually have a shot at winning the Pac-10.

With Washington's loss to Stanford, the Cardinal now are atop of the conference. Oregon still has a chance to right the ship (and I know that they will), but after this weekend, I still wouldn't put money on any other team being in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl than USC.

All eyes on Ohio. So Iowa tagged Penn State for the second year in a row. The Auburn game was on at the same time, so I didn't get to focus as much on this game as I'd like, but from what I saw, it appears that Iowa was able to knock around Daryll Clark and stuff Evan Royster. Iowa has a stellar defense, but their offense is awful and they were just able to keep Penn State honest and let the defense win the game.

Even though Iowa played well in Happy Valley, Purdue is good enough to tag someone, Wisconsin is (narrowly) unbeaten and Michigan is playing above it's head, who doesn't think that this conference is going to be won by the Buckeyes? Ohio State is a late Joe McKnight (not Matt Barkley) drive away from being in the top 4, and the Buckeyes are going to once again wind up in a BCS bowl.

It's a Red River World. Keep naming new, hot teams ready to finally take the Big XII. I'll stick with the winner of the Red River Shootout. After the first month, Oklahoma and Texas are clearly the top two teams in the conference and I can't see anyone else representing the South ... unless Houston can somehow petition to take Baylor's spot since the Cougars have already beat Oklahoma State and Texas Tech and have an offense that's humming along. Texas has a tough stretch in October, so even a win over the Sooners might not be enough to knock OU out of the championship game.

From the North, Nebraska hasn't beaten anyone of note, but the heartbreaking loss to Virginia Tech looks really good after the Hokies dominated Miami. Missouri is getting by, but Nevada stuck around for a while and the blowout win over Illinois might not be as impressive as it was after Week 1 - the Illini might just not be any good. Dan Hawkins can't seem to get Colorado playing anywhere near decent (after having promised 10 wins), the Bill Snyder Redux is failing at Kansas State, Kansas is beating up on nobody's as usual and Iowa State is, well, Iowa State.

I'm going on record for a Oklahoma-Nebraska championship game, making the Sooners 2-0 against the Huskers in '09.

Part II to follow on Thursday