It’s getting to be that fun time of year when the air starts turning a bit cooler and we get our first meaningful conference games. Here are some of the big storylines this week:

What? This Is Not the Bill Snyder Way!

As one of the first programs to regularly schedule FCS opponents, Bill Snyder’s Kansas State program was built on a steady diet of creampuffs in non-conference play. And to be fair, it worked—Snyder turned the Wildcats from the worst team in America (0-26-1) in the three years before he got there) to a national title contender. And while the results haven’t been quite so dramatic in his second stint on the KSU sideline, the fact that he has the Wildcats back in the Top 25 is a testament to his coaching ability.

So you can imagine my surprise when I saw that the No. 20 Wildcats had scheduled No. 5 Auburn this week. Forget that time you saw Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster co-piloting a UFO—no, the story you’ll family will never believe is about the time you saw a Top 25 non-conference game in Manhattan, Kansas.

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Can Trevor Knight Carry the Sooners?

At the start of the season, I thought Oklahoma was maybe a little bit overrated and people were putting too much stock in Trevor Knight’s out-of-his-mind performance against Alabama in last year’s Sugar Bowl. But so far, the Sooners have looked solid and every bit the contender some thought they were.

However, Knight is now going to have to show he can carry the team on his back after starting running back Keith Ford suffered a broken bone in his foot and will miss the next three weeks. While the Sooners’ defense has improved, West Virginia should still be able to put points on the board. And for the Sooners to keep rolling, this will be Trevor Knight’s time to shine.

How Ugly Will Things Get at SMU?

It's hard to imagine a worse start than what SMU is going through right now. They lost their first two games by a combined score of 88-6 and rushed for a grand total of minus-16 yards. Then their coach, who just signed a contract extension, abruptly resigned. And now No. 6 Texas A&M and sudden Heisman candidate QB Kenny Hill are coming to town for a nationally televised game. Pretty sure Mustang fans might want to keep young children and people with heart conditions away from this one.

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Is This the Worst Play of the Year? Or Ever?

And speaking of heart conditions, I’m still at a loss to explain what exactly Arkansas State was doing with its patented “Have the slot receiver fake his own death on a fake punt” play:

If the play had worked, people might have been calling this a stroke of genius. But since it ended with an interception that led to a Miami touchdown drive, it could be a while until someone comes up with a worse gimmick play.

Is the SEC as Strong as Ever?

This week, the SEC became the first conference ever to land seven teams in the AP Top 15. But is the conference really that good? Or only in comparison to the overall down state of college football this year?

The ACC has Florida State. The Big 12 features Oklahoma and Baylor. But recent struggles by USC and UCLA leave Oregon as the only clear choice from the Pac-12. And then there's the Big Ten ... well, we’ll just leave them out of this discussion.

After that, your guess is as good as mine. While I don’t doubt that the SEC is still the strongest conference out there overall, are there any SEC teams this year that you really think of as unbeatable? All of them have chinks in the armor this year that will definitely keep this season interesting.

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