A new-look College Football begins the season
Zander's Weekend Facts #134: Sunday, September 1, 2024
It was Week 1 of the college football season yesterday and while 2024 marks the beginning of a new era in the sport, some things still stayed the same. Here’s what happened on Saturday:
One thing that stayed the same? Georgia is still pretty good at football. The Bulldogs, who came into the season ranked #1 in the Associated Press preseason poll, throttled #14 Clemson 34-3 in Atlanta. The game showed that Georgia will once again be a dominant force atop the college football landscape this season, but also that the once-almighty Clemson Tigers and their head coach Dabo Swinney have lost a step. The Tigers went 9-4 last season, their worst record since the 2010 season and Swinney has come under fire for refusing to adapt to new evolutions in the game such as the transfer portal.
What’s changed? New teams in new conferences. Oklahoma and Texas played their first games as members of the SEC on Friday and Saturday, respectively, and each had a pretty easy time (against non-conference inferior opponents).
The ACC, Big Ten, and Big 12 also added schools for this season, with all but one of them coming from the Pac-12. California and Stanford, known for their ease of access to the Atlantic Ocean, are now in the Atlantic Coast Conference, along with SMU. Oregon, USC, UCLA, and Washington have all joined the mid-western-based Big Ten, and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah are now in the Big 12.
Something else that’s changed? A time-honored tradition that took place every fall Saturday at 3:30 pm ET. The SEC on CBS is no more, with the Big Ten taking up the mid-afternoon slot full-time beginning this season. Ohio State decided to use the conference’s new national window by beating up an in-state MAC opponent, walloping Akron.
Instead, the top SEC games of the week will now be played on ABC, where a new theme and graphics were introduced specifically for SEC games. Unfortunately for the conference where it’s supposed to just mean more, it was the ACC team that came into the swamp and drowned the Florida Gators, with Miami winning by 24 points.
And in the game of the day, #7 Notre Dame spoiled the opening game for new #20 Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko, pulling away in the second half to win 23-13.
Thankfully, Week 1 is not done. Tonight, another top 25 clash takes place, this time in Las Vegas, as #23 USC takes on #13 LSU at 7:30 pm ET on ABC. Then on Monday night, #10 Florida State, who already lost to Georgia Tech in Week 0 in Ireland, hosts Boston College at 7:30 pm ET on ESPN.
For more on the opening weekend of college football, here’s an article from ESPN - College football Week 1 highlights: Top plays, games, takeaways
What Zander’s been reading
You’ve probably never head of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, but it’s a major reason why North America and Europe feature the temperate climates they currently do. Yet, thanks to climate change, the flow of the AMOC is slowing and could soon cross a threshold that could eventually have catastrophic consequences.
Check out this week’s featured article in WIRED - How Soon Might the Atlantic Ocean Break? Two Sibling Scientists Found an Answer—and Shook the World
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the latest headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
NFL Week 1: The National Football League’s 2024 season kicks off later this week with the defending Super Bowl champions opening the regular season. On Thursday, the Chiefs host the Ravens at 8:20 pm ET on NBC as they seek to become the first team in history to win three consecutive Super Bowls. The Eagles and Packers continue opening weekend on Friday when they play in São Paulo, Brazil at 8:15 pm ET on Peacock. The game will be the first NFL game played in South America and the first game played on a Friday during the first week of the season since 1970.
US Open: As the final tennis major tournament of the year, the US Open, enters its second and final week of play, the big story has been the early exits of big names. Each of the last two men’s singles champions, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are both out of the tournament after losing in the second and third round, respectively. It is the first time since the 1973 US Open that two of the top three ranked men’s players didn’t reach the fourth round. On the women’s side, 2018 and 2020 US Open champion Naomi Osaka was knocked out of the tournament in the second round.
Paralympics: The 17th Summer Paralympic Games began on Wednesday in Paris, giving some of the world’s top physically disabled athletes the global stage. With three days of competitions down, China has taken an early lead on the medal table, with 20 gold medals and 40 total. Great Britain follows with 11 golds and 24 total medals, with Brazil in third at eight golds and 22 total medals. The U.S. sits in fourth in the medal count with five golds and 19 total medals. The Paralympics continue through the closing ceremony next Sunday on NBC and Peacock.
UEFA Champions League: The draw for the upcoming UEFA Champions League season took place on Thursday, introducing a new format to the competition. A new league phase is being introduced this season to replace the group stage, with all clubs playing eight games total in the league phase, four at home and four away against eight different clubs. The league phase begins on September 17 and will conclude on January 29. The top eight teams with the most points will automatically advance to the knockout rounds, while the teams placed 9th-24th on the table will advance to a playoff in February before the knockouts begin in March.
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week:
Arlington Cemetery: A recent appearance at Arlington National Cemetery by former President Donald Trump has drawn controversy. An Army spokesperson said last week that an Arlington National Cemetery worker was “ abruptly pushed aside” during an altercation with Trump’s staff. The Army stated that the worker was ensuring rules were being followed that “clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds” when the incident occurred. An NPR report from earlier in the week stated that Trump’s staff had “verbally abused and pushed” a worker who attempted to stop filming and photography in Section 60 of the cemetery, where military personnel who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq are buried. The Trump campaign reportedly was notified earlier that photography was prohibited in the section.
Presidential Debate: The rules for the upcoming presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump appear to have been finalized. The debate, which will take place on Tuesday, September 10, will not feature a studio audience, will not having opening statements, and will have the microphone of the candidate not speaking muted. The Harris campaign recently pressed to have the microphones on at all times, a change from the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, who was running for president at the time. The debate is expected to last 90 minutes, will begin at 9:00 pm ET, and will be hosted by ABC News, with simulcasts on other networks.
New Trump Indictment: The Department of Justice issued a revised indictment of former President Donald Trump last week. A federal grand jury charged Trump with the same four counts as before in the federal election interference case, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. The new indictment comes after a Supreme Court ruling that expanded what could be inferred as a presidential official act. The indictment features less evidence as the previous version, with a trial date not likely before the end of the year.
Listeria Outbreak: At least nine people have died and over 50 have gotten sick in relation to an outbreak of listeria originating from Boar’s Head deli meat. Public health and regulatory agencies investigating the outbreak have centered in on a Boar’s Head plant in Virginia, which has had 69 recorded instances of noncompliance in the last year. The meat plant was recorded to have mold, insects, discolored meat, and puddles of blood. Boar’s Head issued a recall of many of their products back in July. The outbreak comes after the Trump administration changed rules regarding USDA inspections in pork plants that reduced the number of line inspectors in 2019.
X/Brazil: The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has been banned in Brazil. The Brazilian Supreme Court ruled last week that the country’s telecom agency must block the platform after its owner, Elon Musk, refused to comply with previous court orders. The court previously ordered X to suspend accounts that posted content that broke Brazilian law. Justice Alexandre de Moraes alleged that Musk allowed “the massive spread of disinformation, hate speech and attacks on the democratic rule of law, violating the free choice of the electorate.” Musk has threatened to publish the sealed court orders, alleging they are illegal.
Wrapping up the Facts
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return next Sunday, September 8, 2024.