College Football, I love you. What an unbelievable day. What an unbelievable night. Overtimes, fantastic finishes and upsets. That is what college football is all about.
It all started on Tuesday when Northern Illinois clinched the MAC West Division by beating Ball State 41-38 on a Mathew Sims field goal at the end of the game. Then Wednesday, Ohio clinches the MAC East Division with a Matt Weller field goal as time expired to beat Bowling Green 29-28.
Thursday night, Southern Miss was upset by UAB on a field goal in the final minutes, but Southern Miss still clinches the C-USA East Division and Virginia Tech able to hold off North Carolina's final drive to hang on to win 24-21 and still control its own destiny in the ACC.
Friday night, No. 2 Oklahoma State went down in double overtime to Iowa State to a redshirt freshman quarterback.
That brings us to today, Saturday, the greatest day of the week during college football season.
Most of the SEC thought it had a bye week with South Carolina struggling with The Citadel, Florida struggling with Furman, Alabama struggling with Georgia Southern and Auburn struggling with Samford, but all four won big in the end. Georgia, on the other hand, kept Kentucky in the game until the end but with the win, clinch the SEC East Division.
My upset pick of Rutgers over CIncinnati turned out to be good as Rutgers beat Cincy 20-3 and created a, wait for it.... a five-way tie for first place in the Big East. It might end up being Louisville that comes out of it and they might finish 6-6.
In the afternoon games, Arkansas State clinched the Sun Belt Conference and accepted a bowl bid to the GoDaddy.com Bowl. BYU also accepted a bid to the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.
Clemson, with the ACC Atlantic Division already clinched, laid an egg at NC State, giving up 30 unanswered points to lose 37-13. After how the rest of the day played out, Clemson is kicking itself now because they might have been in the best 1-loss team conversation.
Houston's defense rose to the occasion. After a sluggish first half leading 13-0, Houston beat SMU 37-7 as Case Keenum broke Graham Harrell's record for most career completions.
Penn State kept its Rose Bowl dreams alive with a win in the Horse Shoe as Ohio State's last attempts to win the game failed. Around the same time as Penn State's defense clinching the win, South Florida's defense allowed Miami into field goal range tied 3-3 and the Hurricanes' Jake Wieclaw kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired. After that, Missouri came back to beat Texas Tech and pick off Seth Doege's pass in the interception to hold onto the 31-27 win. Awesome finishes. But that was just the beginning.
Louisiana Tech clinched a share of the WAC Title by beating Nevada on a Taulib Ikharo touchdown pass with 51 seconds to go. Staying in the WAC, Utah State rode Robert Turbin into double overtime to beat Idaho 49-42 and then Utah's Coleman Petersen kicked the game-winning 38-yard field goal in overtime after Washington State sent the game to overtime with Andrew Furney's field goal as time expired.
Then Tennessee got us warmed up for the classic finishes to come as the Vols beat Vanderbilt in overtime on a pick-six.
Virginia hosts Virginia Tech next week in the game that will decide the ACC Coastal Division as the Cavs beat Florida State 14-13 with a chaotic ending. If you missed it, FSU had no timeouts and were driving into field goal range. Bert Reed caught an out route but didn't get out of bounds and time expired as FSU couldn't get the kick off and Virginia won. But wait, there's more. The catch was reviewed and it was ruled incomplete that Bert Reed did not maintain control of the ball so it worked out great for FSU that the clock stopped and Dustin Hopkins was able to kick what could be the game-winning 47-yard field goal. But wait, there's a flag! Neutral zone infraction on Virginia and now it's a 42-yard field goal to win for Dustin Hopkins who's usually money. And he MISSED and after that, Virginia won.
Texas tried its best comeback against Kansas State getting within 17-13 with a chance to drive down the field in the final minutes but again, the quarterback play has been bad for Texas and was again tonight and Case McCoy couldn't manage the clock and time expired before Texas could take a shot at the endzone.
Then it looked like we were having two more overtime games tonight, but no! Oregon comes back from down 24 points and it looked like the game was going to overtime if Alejandro Maldenado could make the 37-yard field goal as time expired and he hooked it left. The Oregon Ducks went down in Autzen. But, still have the Pac-12 North Division clinched and will face....UCLA. Or Arizona State. Or Utah.
And then Baylor capped off greatness with not settling for overtime. Oklahoma tied the game 38-38 on Blake Bell's fourth rushing touchdown of the night with 51 seconds to go and Baylor scored the game-winning touchdown with eight seconds left. Mayhem.
And to finish the night, Stanford was able to hold off California 31-28 by recovering Cal's onside-kick attempt.
So what now?? Three of the top five loses and four in the top ten.
My New Top 25
(x) = previous ranking
1. LSU (1) - beat Ole Miss 52-3; Next: vs. Arkansas
2. Alabama (2) - beat Georgia Southern 45-21; Next: at Auburn
3. Arkansas (6) - beat Mississippi State 44-17; Next: at LSU
4. Oklahoma State (3) - lost to Iowa State 37-31 (2OT); Next: vs. Oklahoma (Dec. 3)
5. Virginia Tech (8) - beat North Carolina 24-21; Next: at Virginia
6. Oregon (4) - lost to USC 38-35; Next: vs. Oregon State
7. Stanford (9) - beat California 31-28; Next: vs. Notre Dame
8. Oklahoma (5) - lost to Baylor 45-38; Next: vs. Iowa State
9. Boise State (10) - beat San Diego State 52-35; Next: vs. Wyoming
10. Michigan State (15) - beat Indiana 55-3; Next: at Northwestern
11. Wisconsin (10) - beat Illinois 28-17; Next: vs. Penn State
12. Houston (16) - beat SMU 37-7; Next: at Tulsa
13. Clemson (7) - lost to NC State 37-13; Next: at South Carolina
14. USC (17) - beat Oregon 38-35; Next: vs. UCLA
15. Michigan (19) - beat Nebraska 45-17; Next: vs. Ohio State
16. Penn State (13) - beat Ohio State; Next: at Wisconsin
17. South Carolina (18) - beat the Citadel 41-20; Next: vs. Clemson
18. Georgia (14) - beat Kentucky 19-10; Next: at Georgia Tech
19. Nebraska (12) - lost to Michigan 45-17; Next: vs. Iowa
20. Kansas State (23) - beat Texas 17-13; Next: vs. Iowa State (Dec. 3)
21. Baylor (NR) - beat Oklahoma 45-38; Next: vs. Texas Tech
22. TCU (21) - beat Colorado State 34-10; Next: vs. UNLV (Dec. 3)
23. Notre Dame (22) - beat Boston College 16-14; Next: at Stanford
24. Virginia (NR) - beat Florida State 14-13; Next: vs. Virginia Tech
25. Tulsa (24) - beat UTEP 57-28; Next: vs. Houston
Dropped: Florida State (20), Southern Miss (25)
Bubble: West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Auburn, Southern Miss, BYU
BCS Mess:
LSU and Alabama will probably be No. 1 and No. 2. No. 3 could be Arkansas or Oklahoma State. Even though Oklahoma State just lost, thanks to the other losses around the country, the Cowboys are still in the national championship mix because they shouldn't fall farther than No. 4. Oklahoma State has its final game in Bedlam, Dec. 3. vs. Oklahoma.
LSU and Alabama are the two best teams, hands down. And the goal of the BCS is to match up the two best teams. There's no rule saying it can't be a rematch. There's just never been a rematch before. I was anti-rematch because hypothetically, if Alabama wins then they go 1-1 against LSU and that means nothing. But now I'm for it. I want to see these two teams again, they are clearly the two best teams.
If LSU loses to Arkansas, Arkansas could jump to the No. 1. spot because of strength of schedule with Alabama being No. 2 and LSU at No. 3, but Alabama would go to the SEC Championship Game. If LSU beats Arkansas (which they should), there's a great chance for LSU-Alabama in the title game. Even if LSU loses to Georgia in the SEC Championship, they should only drop to No. 2 (unless they get dominated) and Alabama will be No. 1 with LSU No. 2.
But what if the voters don't want a rematch? The human voters are two-thirds of the BCS. The computers will pull for the SEC schools but there are two other one-loss teams could get consideration: Oklahoma State if it wins the Big 12 and Virginia Tech if it wins the ACC. The computers love Oklahoma State so OkSt has that going for it. For Virginia Tech, they'd have to really impress the human voters in the next two games. Not saying it'll happen, but don't rule out the possibility.
Who is the best one-loss team in the country? Oh wait, Alabama. Let me rephrase that, who is the best one-loss team not named Alabama? Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech and Boise State are your candidates. Stanford is out because they were dominated by Oregon. Could Virginia Tech also be ruled out because they were dominated by Clemson?
LSU and Alabama are the two best teams, but this is the BCS we're talking about and they rarely get it right.
Click Here for my Bowl Projections
It all started on Tuesday when Northern Illinois clinched the MAC West Division by beating Ball State 41-38 on a Mathew Sims field goal at the end of the game. Then Wednesday, Ohio clinches the MAC East Division with a Matt Weller field goal as time expired to beat Bowling Green 29-28.
Thursday night, Southern Miss was upset by UAB on a field goal in the final minutes, but Southern Miss still clinches the C-USA East Division and Virginia Tech able to hold off North Carolina's final drive to hang on to win 24-21 and still control its own destiny in the ACC.
Friday night, No. 2 Oklahoma State went down in double overtime to Iowa State to a redshirt freshman quarterback.
That brings us to today, Saturday, the greatest day of the week during college football season.
Most of the SEC thought it had a bye week with South Carolina struggling with The Citadel, Florida struggling with Furman, Alabama struggling with Georgia Southern and Auburn struggling with Samford, but all four won big in the end. Georgia, on the other hand, kept Kentucky in the game until the end but with the win, clinch the SEC East Division.
My upset pick of Rutgers over CIncinnati turned out to be good as Rutgers beat Cincy 20-3 and created a, wait for it.... a five-way tie for first place in the Big East. It might end up being Louisville that comes out of it and they might finish 6-6.
In the afternoon games, Arkansas State clinched the Sun Belt Conference and accepted a bowl bid to the GoDaddy.com Bowl. BYU also accepted a bid to the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.
Clemson, with the ACC Atlantic Division already clinched, laid an egg at NC State, giving up 30 unanswered points to lose 37-13. After how the rest of the day played out, Clemson is kicking itself now because they might have been in the best 1-loss team conversation.
Houston's defense rose to the occasion. After a sluggish first half leading 13-0, Houston beat SMU 37-7 as Case Keenum broke Graham Harrell's record for most career completions.
Penn State kept its Rose Bowl dreams alive with a win in the Horse Shoe as Ohio State's last attempts to win the game failed. Around the same time as Penn State's defense clinching the win, South Florida's defense allowed Miami into field goal range tied 3-3 and the Hurricanes' Jake Wieclaw kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired. After that, Missouri came back to beat Texas Tech and pick off Seth Doege's pass in the interception to hold onto the 31-27 win. Awesome finishes. But that was just the beginning.
Louisiana Tech clinched a share of the WAC Title by beating Nevada on a Taulib Ikharo touchdown pass with 51 seconds to go. Staying in the WAC, Utah State rode Robert Turbin into double overtime to beat Idaho 49-42 and then Utah's Coleman Petersen kicked the game-winning 38-yard field goal in overtime after Washington State sent the game to overtime with Andrew Furney's field goal as time expired.
Then Tennessee got us warmed up for the classic finishes to come as the Vols beat Vanderbilt in overtime on a pick-six.
Virginia hosts Virginia Tech next week in the game that will decide the ACC Coastal Division as the Cavs beat Florida State 14-13 with a chaotic ending. If you missed it, FSU had no timeouts and were driving into field goal range. Bert Reed caught an out route but didn't get out of bounds and time expired as FSU couldn't get the kick off and Virginia won. But wait, there's more. The catch was reviewed and it was ruled incomplete that Bert Reed did not maintain control of the ball so it worked out great for FSU that the clock stopped and Dustin Hopkins was able to kick what could be the game-winning 47-yard field goal. But wait, there's a flag! Neutral zone infraction on Virginia and now it's a 42-yard field goal to win for Dustin Hopkins who's usually money. And he MISSED and after that, Virginia won.
Texas tried its best comeback against Kansas State getting within 17-13 with a chance to drive down the field in the final minutes but again, the quarterback play has been bad for Texas and was again tonight and Case McCoy couldn't manage the clock and time expired before Texas could take a shot at the endzone.
Then it looked like we were having two more overtime games tonight, but no! Oregon comes back from down 24 points and it looked like the game was going to overtime if Alejandro Maldenado could make the 37-yard field goal as time expired and he hooked it left. The Oregon Ducks went down in Autzen. But, still have the Pac-12 North Division clinched and will face....UCLA. Or Arizona State. Or Utah.
And then Baylor capped off greatness with not settling for overtime. Oklahoma tied the game 38-38 on Blake Bell's fourth rushing touchdown of the night with 51 seconds to go and Baylor scored the game-winning touchdown with eight seconds left. Mayhem.
And to finish the night, Stanford was able to hold off California 31-28 by recovering Cal's onside-kick attempt.
So what now?? Three of the top five loses and four in the top ten.
My New Top 25
(x) = previous ranking
1. LSU (1) - beat Ole Miss 52-3; Next: vs. Arkansas
2. Alabama (2) - beat Georgia Southern 45-21; Next: at Auburn
3. Arkansas (6) - beat Mississippi State 44-17; Next: at LSU
4. Oklahoma State (3) - lost to Iowa State 37-31 (2OT); Next: vs. Oklahoma (Dec. 3)
5. Virginia Tech (8) - beat North Carolina 24-21; Next: at Virginia
6. Oregon (4) - lost to USC 38-35; Next: vs. Oregon State
7. Stanford (9) - beat California 31-28; Next: vs. Notre Dame
8. Oklahoma (5) - lost to Baylor 45-38; Next: vs. Iowa State
9. Boise State (10) - beat San Diego State 52-35; Next: vs. Wyoming
10. Michigan State (15) - beat Indiana 55-3; Next: at Northwestern
11. Wisconsin (10) - beat Illinois 28-17; Next: vs. Penn State
12. Houston (16) - beat SMU 37-7; Next: at Tulsa
13. Clemson (7) - lost to NC State 37-13; Next: at South Carolina
14. USC (17) - beat Oregon 38-35; Next: vs. UCLA
15. Michigan (19) - beat Nebraska 45-17; Next: vs. Ohio State
16. Penn State (13) - beat Ohio State; Next: at Wisconsin
17. South Carolina (18) - beat the Citadel 41-20; Next: vs. Clemson
18. Georgia (14) - beat Kentucky 19-10; Next: at Georgia Tech
19. Nebraska (12) - lost to Michigan 45-17; Next: vs. Iowa
20. Kansas State (23) - beat Texas 17-13; Next: vs. Iowa State (Dec. 3)
21. Baylor (NR) - beat Oklahoma 45-38; Next: vs. Texas Tech
22. TCU (21) - beat Colorado State 34-10; Next: vs. UNLV (Dec. 3)
23. Notre Dame (22) - beat Boston College 16-14; Next: at Stanford
24. Virginia (NR) - beat Florida State 14-13; Next: vs. Virginia Tech
25. Tulsa (24) - beat UTEP 57-28; Next: vs. Houston
Dropped: Florida State (20), Southern Miss (25)
Bubble: West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Auburn, Southern Miss, BYU
BCS Mess:
LSU and Alabama will probably be No. 1 and No. 2. No. 3 could be Arkansas or Oklahoma State. Even though Oklahoma State just lost, thanks to the other losses around the country, the Cowboys are still in the national championship mix because they shouldn't fall farther than No. 4. Oklahoma State has its final game in Bedlam, Dec. 3. vs. Oklahoma.
LSU and Alabama are the two best teams, hands down. And the goal of the BCS is to match up the two best teams. There's no rule saying it can't be a rematch. There's just never been a rematch before. I was anti-rematch because hypothetically, if Alabama wins then they go 1-1 against LSU and that means nothing. But now I'm for it. I want to see these two teams again, they are clearly the two best teams.
If LSU loses to Arkansas, Arkansas could jump to the No. 1. spot because of strength of schedule with Alabama being No. 2 and LSU at No. 3, but Alabama would go to the SEC Championship Game. If LSU beats Arkansas (which they should), there's a great chance for LSU-Alabama in the title game. Even if LSU loses to Georgia in the SEC Championship, they should only drop to No. 2 (unless they get dominated) and Alabama will be No. 1 with LSU No. 2.
But what if the voters don't want a rematch? The human voters are two-thirds of the BCS. The computers will pull for the SEC schools but there are two other one-loss teams could get consideration: Oklahoma State if it wins the Big 12 and Virginia Tech if it wins the ACC. The computers love Oklahoma State so OkSt has that going for it. For Virginia Tech, they'd have to really impress the human voters in the next two games. Not saying it'll happen, but don't rule out the possibility.
Who is the best one-loss team in the country? Oh wait, Alabama. Let me rephrase that, who is the best one-loss team not named Alabama? Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech and Boise State are your candidates. Stanford is out because they were dominated by Oregon. Could Virginia Tech also be ruled out because they were dominated by Clemson?
LSU and Alabama are the two best teams, but this is the BCS we're talking about and they rarely get it right.
Click Here for my Bowl Projections
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