Any elite teams 2024?: We're going to get some answers from Ohio State, Texas this weekend

Back in mid-August, Kirby Smart raised some eyebrows when he noted that even Georgia, fresh off its latest No. 1-ranked recruiting class, “has less depth than we’ve ever had.”

After beating Auburn 31-13 on Saturday, the Bulldogs’ head coach repeated similar remarks, stating, “We’re not like we used to be. We’re thin, and it’s gonna be a recurring theme, in my opinion across college football. You’re thinner, and thinner and thinner, and you gotta be smart in how you practice.”

The transfer portal, NIL and conference realignment has altered the landscape of college football as we know it. The talent is a bit more evened out. The bad teams aren’t quite as terrible anymore. And the good (or great) teams aren’t as good, either. 

Thus far during the 2024 regular season at least, parity reigns. 

To be sure, the number of teams actually capable of surviving the gauntlet of a potential 16 or 17-game season to win a national title remains minuscule. It likely will be as small as maybe four or five teams (Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, Alabama) every year for the foreseeable future, too. 

But thanks to all the player movement, on any given Saturday, a 23-point underdog can upset the No. 1 team in the country. In fact, the teams from the Preseason AP Poll Top 10 already have a combined 11 losses. 

So are there any elite teams in 2024?

After last weekend’s historic carnage (five of the Top 11 teams all lost to unranked foes), Texas is now the lone SEC team without a loss. 

In total, there are just 12 unbeaten teams through six weeks of the 2024 college football season. That number is guaranteed to shrink by at least one after this weekend when No. 2 Ohio State tangles with No. 4 Oregon. 

Right now, it doesn’t seem like there’s a 2023 Michigan. There’s no 2019 LSU or 2021/2022 Georgia, either.

Penn State, Oregon and Miami are all among the unbeaten teams this season, but none have performed like elite teams. Same for BYU, Iowa State and Pitt. While we respect The Troops, Army and Navy aren’t going to hold the trophy at the end of the season. 

Ohio State and Texas fans might be screaming reading this right, but we don’t truly know if the Buckeyes or Longhorns are superior to everyone else in the sport right now. 

Both have handled their business against cupcake schedules, but the next two weeks should provide some real answers to the ceilings of each team in 2024. 

The game in Eugene, as well as what happens in Red River and then the following week when Georgia plays at Texas, are important litmus tests for two programs who could be the elite outliers in a season otherwise filled with a bunch of mid teams and a handful of really good, but flawed ones. 

Texas is ranked in the Top 10 of offensive and defensive success rate. That’s really good! They bodied Michigan, and they housed a better-than-expected Louisiana-Monroe. Still, the Longhorns’ overall strength of schedule ranks in the 100s, and they’ve played just two Power Conference teams — and one of those was Mississippi State, which would be an underdog to a bunch of G5 teams right now. 

If Quinn Ewers returns (as expected) this weekend, and Texas throttles Oklahoma, then we’ll have a better understanding at just how good Steve Sarkisian’s team is this season. The real answer will come in two weeks, though, when it faces a flea’d but tested Bulldogs’ team that’s already 

Like Texas, Ohio State’s analytics are very impressive. The Buckeyes have a Top 3 scoring offense and defense. They’re Top 5 in offensive and defensive success rate, too, and whenever they need a spark or big play they can just hit the ‘Jeremiah Smith One-Handed Catch’ button. 

There’s a case to be made that Ohio State should be the top-ranked team in the country. They certainly have the best defense, and Chip Kelly hasn’t gone past Page 1 of the playbook all season. 

He will on Saturday, though. 

We’re going to find out a whole lot about just *how* good this 2024 all-in Ohio State team is against Oregon. The Ducks have not been overly impressive so far, but on a talent vs. talent scale, this is easily the most competitive team OSU will see until the College Football Playoff. 

So will Jim Knowles dial up some exotic pressures to confuse Dillon Gabriel? Is Will Howard going to get involved in the QB-run game? How will Kelly divvy up carries between Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson if the game is tight?

So far this season, Ohio State has done a great job absorbing early body blows (see: first halves against Marshall, Michigan State and Iowa) and then coming out after halftime and delivering knockout haymakers (63-0 margin in the second half the last three weeks). 

That was a hallmark of 2022 Georgia, which mostly cruised to the national championship. 

So maybe Ohio State is an elite team in a season marred by parity. Or maybe not. 

Tune in Saturday.