College football 2011: So far, kinda dull

We hit the halfway mark of the college football season Saturday. Seven weeks done, seven to go.

And it hasn't been that great.

There simply haven't been a lot of marquee matchups yet, and most of the ones that have been played were one-sided.

LSU controlled Oregon. Boise State rolled over Georgia. Oklahoma won at Florida State by 10, but it was a lackluster game. And then Florida State lost to Clemson and Wake Forest.

Oklahoma and Texas were unbeaten. Then they played, and the Sooners destroyed the Longhorns. Wisconsin welcomed Nebraska to the Big Ten by clobbering the Cornhuskers, 48-17.

Maybe the best game of the year to date was Baylor's 50-48 win over TCU in Week 1. But Baylor has lost twice, and TCU fell to SMU, so that game has largely been forgotten.

Alabama 278, Opponents 49. LSU 269, Opponents 82. Oklahoma 272, Opponents 95. Stanford 275, Opponents 67. Boise State 266, Opponents 87. Wisconsin 301, Opponents 58. Ugh times six.

Illinois and Michigan were both 6-0. Until Saturday, when both went bust-o.

Utah and Colorado joined the Pac-12 this year. They are a combined 0-5 in league play. And they may be no worse than fellow conference members Arizona and Oregon State.

The story of the half-season isn't getting much notice. No, I'm not talking about the endless tale of conference realignments. Rather, Kansas State is 6-0 and has four straight upset victories.

Closer to home, Iowa enjoyed a rally from a 24-3 deficit to beat Pittsburgh, 31-24. Pitt proceeded to lose to Notre Dame at home, Rutgers on the road, and Utah at home. And the Iowa State team that beat the Hawkeyes in triple-overtime (OK, that and the Pitt-Iowa game weren't dull) didn't fire a shot in losses to Texas, Baylor and Missouri to start its Big 12 season 0-3.

Luckily, the best is yet to come. LSU-Alabama. Oklahoma State-Oklahoma. Oregon-Stanford. Boise State almost surely taking a 12-0 record to a BCS bowl for the third time in six years. (It won the first two.)

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to begin preparations to cover Indiana-Iowa this Saturday. I'm counting on the Hoosiers to rise up and make it a very competitive ballgame. Or maybe I'll find one somewhere on TV after I get home Saturday night.