COTTRELL COLUMN: A lot of pretenders unmasked so far this season

What do we know, and when did we know it?

The answer? Very little, and we don’t yet.

The first four weeks of the college football season have done little to tell us who the team to beat may be in 2009, but at the very least we have learned who quite a few of the pretenders are.

Oklahoma State? Pssh.

USC? Nah.

Ohio State? Why would this year be any different?

Ole Miss? Why did we ever think the Rebels were one to begin with?

And those are just a few.

Heading into October, the only team we can say is good with absolute, definitive proof is Alabama.

The Crimson Tide looked strong coming in, and have taken impressive wins over a very good Virginia Tech team and a pretty good Arkansas team.

Beyond that, the closest teams we have are Boise State and Houston, with their big wins over BCS conference schools.

I know, I’m duct-taping the windows as I type this.

Florida and Texas are, of course, very good, but they haven’t beaten anyone of note yet. They’ll get their chances this month.

Things are shaping up eerily similar to the upset apocalypse of the 2007 season, as it’s become pretty clear there are few, if any, elite teams.

Another season just like that is unlikely, but just be on the lookout for chaos and anarchy. It could be coming once again.

Back To Reality
Two early season darlings saw their bubbles burst in a big way Saturday.

Miami, which was looking like a budding juggernaut in its first two games, got waxed at Virginia Tech, while Washington, which had no business being ranked despite its win over USC, got pasted by Stanford.

There was nothing to be ashamed about in the Hurricanes’ loss, other than maybe how ugly it got. They were a team that was a year away, and we just got a little too excited by a win over a clearly not-very-good Florida State team and the win over Georgia Tech.

Washington, on the other hand, is still pretty awful.

They caught lightning in a bottle against USC, but couldn’t recapture that in the Fightin’ Harbaughs’ place.

Both teams, however, should be a lot better next year.

Georgia On My Mind
Can anyone figure out Georgia?

Would someone please help me out here?

They light up the scoreboard against a good South Carolina defense, but can’t even move the ball against Oklahoma State and Arizona State.

Their defense keeps the Cowboys and Sun Devils in check, but completely folds against the anemic Gamecocks and not-so-anemic Arkansas?

Stupid play and lack of effort have been hallmarks of the Mark Richt Era, but this year we’re only getting the former, rather than the latter.

Regardless, their game against LSU this week could go in about 1,000 different directions, especially when you have the Mad Hatter and his shaky team involved.

Speaking Of Mysteries
The Big Ten has been fairly underwhelming for most of this decade, but there’s a good chance this year could take the cake.

The two preseason conference favorites — Ohio State and Penn State — have lost at home while looking at least semi-putrid, the current undefeated teams — Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin — are vulnerable, at best, and everyone else looks incredibly mediocre, at best.

The conference is slowly shifting into the 21st century on offense, but it’s looking more and more like a painful transition.

At the very least, it appears the Big Ten title race could be fairly captivating, at least if you’re a fan of pillowfights.

Tim Cottrell is sports designer of the Opelika-Auburn News. He will write a weekly column on college football during the season. You can also read him on the O-A Sports Blog at oanow.com. He can be reached at 737-2511 or .