The first month of the 2021 college football season is complete. Here's what we learned:
- Alabama is good.
- So is Georgia.
- And so is the entire non-Vanderbilt SEC.
It's been an opening month with more chaos than usual, from early-season losses from Ohio State and Texas A&M through the troubling collapse of the Clemson offense.
That's made it easier to crown the SEC as the dominant conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision and added a dash of intrigue to what has been a predictable race for the College Football Playoff.
Even in the scenario where two spots in the national semifinals are reserved for the SEC champion and runner-up, an avenue has widened for a party crasher to crack the top four — whether that's Iowa, Group of Five frontrunner Cincinnati or even the best team from the Pac-12.