Rob's Rankings: Concerning starts; strange traditions

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It’s week four of the college football season and week four of this column. So as conference play starts to become the norm around college football, we have a look at the five most concerning starts. No team’s destiny is set in stone after just three games, but with a quarter of the season in the books, it’s a good time to start exploring best- and worst-case scenarios. Week four is no time to panic, but it’s certainly a time to worry.

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1. BAYLOR

Record: 0-3

Why it’s so concerning: Because despite having some talent on the roster, the Bears are still searching for win No. 1. This is a team that went 7-6 under an interim head coach a year ago, after all. An 0-3 start isn’t the end of the line, but it’s certainly not a great look for first-year head coach Matt Rhule, whose sanity was widely questioned when he chose to take on the job in Waco this offseason.

Best-case scenario: It’s hard to imagine this team getting bowl eligible, but if the Bears can find a way to salvage four Big 12 wins, it may give them enough to build off of going forward. At the very least, Rhule and company could sell momentum or a marquee upset to recruits looking to be part of a rebuild. If this sounds like grasping at straws, it’s because that’s what it is.

Worst-case scenario: The season turns into a Kansas-esque disaster and Rhule’s program, already surrounded by controversy, finds itself in an even deeper recruiting hole. The only thing less appealing to recruits than a team marred by controversy is a team marred by controversy coming off a two-win season. The Bears could be a few losses away from the road to rock bottom.

2. MISSOURI

Record: 1-2

Why it’s so concerning: Because Missouri fans had convinced themselves the Tigers were a contender in the SEC East. Instead, Missouri has allowed a league-high 109 points through three games and fired defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross. Hey, life comes at you fast.

Best-case scenario: The good news here is that Missouri has games with UConn and Idaho still on the schedule. Also that the SEC appears to be down this season. Bonus points because the Tigers will avoid playing Alabama. Crazy as it sounds, there’s still a feasible path to bowl eligibility here. It takes some optimism to find it, sure, but this isn’t a Baylor situation by any stretch.

Worst-case scenario: Mizzou is as bad as it looks and finds itself in the midst of a second-consecutive four-win season that puts enormous pressure on second-year head coach Barry Odom. Would the Tigers actually can Odom after just two seasons? Who knows? Probably not, but another four-victory showing is a nice way to get that conversation started. It’s also a nice way to inject uncertainty into high-level, in-state recruits such as Trevor Trout and Michael Thompson, who are still considering the Tigers.

3. NEBRASKA

AP

Record: 1-2

Why it’s so concerning: Losing at Oregon is one thing. Getting upset by NIU in Lincoln is another. The fact that the Huskers looked less than impressive in a 43-36 win over Arkansas State is the cherry on top of a mildly disgusting sundae. The 1-2 record isn’t the problem here. The bigger issue is that there’s little reason left to think the slow start is a fluke. It’s hard to find signs of a competitive Big Ten program in the Huskers’ first three games.

Best-case scenario: Next up on the schedule are back-to-back games with Rutgers and Illinois, so Nebraska should find itself over .500 again soon. Logic dictates that the Cornhuskers will find a way to gather six wins, but that won’t be enough to appease fans and boosters that are expecting more from Mike Riley. Rightly or wrongly, the Nebraska faithful still view the program as a blueblood in hibernation, so even the best-case scenario will produce some eye rolls.

Worst-case scenario: Looking at the schedule, you can imagine a way in which the Huskers go 5-7. It’s not particularly likely, as the doomsday scenario includes home losses to Northwestern and Iowa. Then, this is a bunch that just lost to NIU in front of 89,000 of its own fans, so you never know.

4. KANSAS

AP

Record: 1-2

Why it’s so concerning: Because – at least to this point – the Jayhawks lack any sign of progress. Nobody expected KU to contend for a conference title or to even play in a bowl game, but year No. 3 of the David Beaty regime looks stunningly like year No. 2. The Jayhawks’ two losses have come by a combined 30 points to national powerhouses Central Michigan and Ohio.

Best-case scenario: The bar for progress isn’t high here, so the season isn’t lost by any stretch. Beaty is a couple of upsets away from being celebrated and praised unconditionally. If KU finds a way to beat Kansas State in Lawrence and take down an Iowa State-type on the road, all will be forgiven. Aside from the top of the league, the Big 12 isn’t exactly a juggernaut. And, hey, there’s always that Nov. 4 game with Baylor.

Worst-case scenario: The football version of Groundhog Day continues and Kansas, which fails once again to win a single road game, finishes with fewer than three victories on the year. The lack of progress costs KU the two high-profile wide receiver recruits (five-star Devonta Jason and four-star Corione Harris) it currently has in the fold and the administration begins to doubt it has the right coach … again.

5. LSU

AP

Record: 2-1

Why it’s so concerning: Only because last week’s blowout loss to Mississippi State was enough to instill doubt. One loss, even an embarrassing one, isn’t reason to panic. But when you’ve recently decided to fire a coach that went 114-34 at the school, the bar is high. There were plenty of people that doubted LSU’s decision to let go of Les Miles in favor of Ed Orgeron, so LSU’s losses feel bigger than they are. That said, being drilled 37-7 by Mississippi State is not a good look for a new coaching staff hoping to impress recruits.

Best-case scenario: The Mississippi State game was an anomaly and LSU gets back to its quest for 10 wins. As much as it goes against early-season panic culture, this is just as likely as the opposite endgame. The Tigers have plenty of talent and Orgeron has experienced success – in small doses – as a head coach.

Worst-case scenario: Everyone was right to be skeptical of LSU’s coaching change and this thing falls apart quickly. Orgeron’s failures as the head coach at Ole Miss are well-documented, and the fact that he replaced Miles and his 114 wins will only amplify any shortcomings he experiences at LSU. The leash will be short here and Orgeron has to be aware of it.

OVERTIME

This week’s overtime is a ranking of college football’s most bizarre traditions in order of strangeness. Strange isn’t necessarily pejorative here. Part of the college game’s appeal is its tendency to err on the side of inanity, after all.

1. Sod Cemetery: (Florida State)

Florida State captains take grass from opponents' fields with the intention of putting it under … more grass … in a cemetery created for grass outside the FSU practice facility. There are headstones.

A cemetery … for grass.

2. The hissing thing (Texas A&M)

Texas A&M’s yell leaders are anti-booing … or something. So, in the case of a bad call, they encourage the crowd to make a strange hissing noise in place of boos and, well, profanity. This is the college football equivalent of an 11-year-old extending his ring finger in your direction and telling you it’s not naughty because it’s the wrong finger. There’s an ultra-weird serpentine-like arm motion that goes along with this.

3. 4th Year 5K (Virginia)

This is a bunch of Virginia seniors running a 5K race that was created to keep them from attempting to slam a fifth of hard liquor before a football game. The boozy tradition, which is called the Fourth-Year Fifth, probably still takes place on some level. Say what you want about either tradition, but there’s something wonderfully college about creating a tradition solely to combat what is essentially a vodka chugging contest.

4. Jump Around: (Wisconsin)

A mass of drunk students that pronounce the word “flag” with a long 'A' sound going absolutely berserk to a hit song from a 90s Irish rap group led by a guy that later became an acoustic folk singer.

5. Harley Day (Kansas State)

For one game every year, Bill Snyder Family Stadium morphs into some sort of mild-mannered biker bar during pregame festivities. John and Polly from Topeka slap on bandanas, circle the field on motorcycles and create quite a racket. What’s the link between K-State and Harley Davidson? Who knows? But it’s wonderfully strange. Oh, and the mascot, which is just a guy in a giant wildcat head, sometimes wears a leather jacket.