College football Week 10 overreactions: Careful firing coaches in seller's market, ACC doesn't need a CFP spot

Sometimes, especially in college football, it's an overreaction to preach patience -- especially when it comes to the future of a coaching staff. Fans are very quick to fire a head coach the moment a team's season turns sour. 

Clemson's Dabo Swinney -- as the Tigers hurdle towards a losing record -- and Miami's Mario Cristobal -- who fumbled another College Football Playoff worthy roster -- may very well sit upon manufactured hot seats after poor Week 10 results. Wisconsin's Luke Fickell and Florida State's Mike Norvell had, admittedly, been hanging on by a thread for a while, though both received midseason votes of confidence from their respective administrations. 

While it's fair to be upset with the results, and to put some pressure on embattled coaches to make the necessary internal changes to try and spark a turnaround, maybe this is the year to kick the can down the road on actually firing a head coach. Except for Auburn. Hugh Freeze needs to go. 

Otherwise, some of these universities would be wise to use Penn State as a cautionary tale. The Nittany Lions shocked the college football world with their reactionary firing of coach James Franklin just six games into the 2025 season. Admittedly, it was disastrous six-game start for Penn State, which plummeted from No. 2 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll to 0-3 in Big Ten play. 

But all that firing has done for Penn State thus far is earn extensions and raises for Indiana's Curt Cignetti and Nebraska's Matt Rhule -- two of the bigger names tied to the vacancy. Unless Penn State pulls a stunner, it's going to have a very difficult time finding a direct upgrade over Franklin. 

Athletic directors need to take heed from that, and they also must consider that any school that makes a coaching move at this point has to contend with Penn State, LSU, Florida, UCLA and Arkansas -- just to name a few -- to fill their opening. Any university that hasn't fired its coach is already far behind in the process, with some of the sport's biggest names to contend with. 

Before making a rash decision about a coach's future, take a beat. There's always next year. 

The Big Ten's reign of dominance will not end 

Anytime soon, at least. While the SEC demands a majority of the national attention, most of its statements are nothing more than bluster. You have to turn your eyes towards the north to find true dominance. 

The Big Ten will extend its national title streak to three straight this year. That almost feels like a given. No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana look like they're playing an entirely different sport. But it will go beyond that. 

The stage is set for the Big Ten to run things for quite some time. It's scary to think Ohio State will get at least one more year out of quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Those two alone are enough to keep the Buckeyes in the upper echelon, let alone all the other incredible talent that Ohio State collects like Infinity Stones on a yearly basis. 

It will never be smart to bet against Curt Cignetti's Indiana -- or any team coached by Cignetti for that matter. He has never lost more than three games in a single season since 2019 and he's on track for a third-straight 11-win record. 

Don't forget about Oregon, either. Michigan won't be down for long and Penn State feels like a sleeping giant that just needs the right guy to wake it up. 

Georgia is a very average football team 

At least by Georgia standards. The Bulldogs also happen to be an extremely lucky football team. They are a couple of plays away from potentially staring down a 5-3 record. 

They struggled against a bad Florida team Saturday. The Gators had a chance to take the lead with around three minutes left in the fourth quarter when, on third-and-4 from their own side of the field, quarterback DJ Lagway underthrew a wide open J. Michael Sturdivant, who was running behind Georgia's secondary. 

If that throw was inches closer to Sturdivant, he could have walked into the end zone. 

Fortune also favored Georgia in its SEC opener against Tennessee over a month ago. Though Tennessee coach Josh Heupel horribly mismanaged the end-of-game clock, he did get his team within reasonable field goal range. 

But kicker Max Gilbert badly missed his 43-yard boot and Georgia won in overtime as a result. Georgia's made it a habit of falling behind early -- it did so against Auburn, as well. While the Bulldogs can erase those lackluster starts against lower-tier teams like Florida, Auburn and Tennessee, they're going to get run off the field against opponents of equal caliber. 

Keep Texas away from the College Football Playoff 

There's no doubt Texas will have a lofty spot in the initial College Football Playoff rankings reveal. The selection committee will likely be tempted to slot the Longhorns inside the field after a chaotic Week 10 that saw several contenders fall, paired with Texas' impressive win over a top-10 Vanderbilt team.

The truth is, though, this year's version of Texas is nowhere near playoff caliber. Beating Vanderbilt at home should be the baseline expectation, even if the Commodores are legitimately good this season -- well beyond their usual reputation. The Longhorns also did everything possible to squander that game, nearly blowing a 24-point fourth-quarter lead.

That one win shouldn't erase the broader body of work. Texas needed overtime to beat Mississippi State and Kentucky, who are a combined 2-9 in SEC play, and it lost to Florida, which fell to 3-5 after Saturday's action.

Texas should not be discussed among the nation's best. 

The ACC shouldn't have a playoff spot 

I am aware that the ACC quite literally has to have a team in the College Football Playoff field. Normally, I'm a proponent for as many non-SEC and non-Big Ten teams as possible, too. 

But maybe the ACC should just sit this one out. It's pretty clear how a playoff appearance will go for whatever team makes the field, and it will not be pretty. 

Granted, it would be quite the achievement for a team like Louisville or Virginia to get that far. Their efforts should be applauded, especially since they have avoided the general chaos that has befallen the ACC this season. 

At the very least, only the ACC's champion deserves to represent the conference on college football's biggest stage.