I’m sorry, but am I in the twilight zone here? Did I miss something? Did I not see Louisville lose on Thursday and open the door for all of the one-loss teams to make a serious run at a national championship? Not including the Cardinals loss, three other top 10 teams fell to upsets and were essentially eliminated from playing in the NCAA title game on Saturday. What a day.
Top 10 Rewind:
1. Ohio State (11-0) and 2. Michigan (11-0)
Lets just cut through the old crap cake shall we? I might as well lump these two programs together, because I’m going to say the same thing about both of them. They both rolled over inferior Big 10 opponents on Saturday (the Buckeyes 54-10 winners over Northwestern and the Wolverines 34-3 victors over Indiana), they both are clearly the two best teams in college football and they both will meet in the ultimate death match next Saturday in Columbus. The Big Ten, a national championship and total pride in not disgracing your school by losing to your rival will be on the line. Ohio State will bring the offense, Michigan will bring the defense – lets meet at halftime for milk and cookies. It’s time to rumble: let the weeklong rivalry-smack begin NOW.
Next Game: Michigan at Ohio State, Nov. 18 (I just told you this – pay attention).
3. Louisville (8-1)
Click here to read and respond to my recap of the Cardinals 28-25 loss to Rutgers last Thursday night.
Next Game: vs. South Florida, Nov. 18.
4. Texas (9-2)
Kansas State’s 45-42 win over the Long Horns had absolutely everything. Blocked punts, big kick returns, bone-crunching hits, dropped passes, back up quarterbacks, long drives, short drives, halfback passes and I can’t confirm it but – a penguin and a circus clown were on the field at some point too. In an absolute wacky day in college football, this game must seem like the norm. Even though freshman phenom Colt McCoy was knocked out of the game after scoring a touchdown on Texas’s first drive early in the first – nothing should take away what an incredible win this was by the Wildcats. K-State (led by a freshman QB themselves in Josh Freeman) really pulled out all the stops in order to crash the Long Horns’ season. I’m sure head coach Mack Brown is going to look back at what could have been after losing a sloppy game like this to a Big 12 school he normally crushes.
Next Game: vs. Texas A&M, Nov. 18.
5. Auburn (9-2)
Let me put Auburn’s day in perspective with this stat line: Brandon Cox went 4 for 12 passing for 35 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. Cox was intercepted three times in the first half of Georgia’s 37-15 beat down of the Tigers. All three of the picks came at the hands of Bull Dogs defensive back Tra Battle as UGA went on to build a 30-7 lead by halftime. Ya think Cox might have wanted to throw away from Battle after the first two times he was picked off? Not two nights ago, Rutgers swung the door back open for a Tiger run at a national championship with its win over No. 3 Louisville. With Auburn’s only loss coming to surging Arkansas, the Tigers title chances remained high (especially with a huge victory against Florida just a few weeks ago). But no, Auburn losses at home to Georgia – a team that was beaten by Vanderbilt and Kentucky this year.
Next Game: at. Alabama, Nov. 18.
6. Florida (9-1)
I don’t know whether to call Florida’s 17-16 win over South Carolina amazing skill or pure luck. The Gators blocked three kicks in the contest, including an extra point and a game-winning field goal attempt. The extra point came moments before Tim Tebow scattered 13 yards on QB draw into the end zone that pushed Florida up by one point. By all accounts, the Game Cocks probably should have won this game. But in all fairness, “almost” doesn’t count for anything. In a week where favorites #3 Louisville, #4 Texas, #5 Auburn and #8 California fall, you have to hand it to a Florida team that found a way to win in the end. All of the aforementioned teams losing come at an unbelievable time for a Gators team that might see a national championship based on strength of schedule (as long as UF doesn’t fall to Western Carolina and FSU of course).
Next Game: vs. Western Carolina, Nov. 18.
7. USC (7-1)
The first of three knockout opponents has been, well, knocked out by the Trojans. USC easily disposed of Oregon 35-10 to remain at one-loss and now face California next week followed by Notre Dame. Southern Cal will reap a lot of the benefits of Saturday’s crazy finishes. The Trojans will sneak back into the top five, probably right behind Florida at #5. However, with the Gators narrow win over South Carolina, USC might even get the nod ahead of UF in one of the polls. Getting back to the game, USC didn’t do anything real special in the win over the Ducks. The Trojans put the ball in Chauncey Washington’s hands and let the junior rumble for 118 yards and three touchdowns. Stud wide outs Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith combined for 13 receptions for 141 yards and one score (Jarrett).
Next Game: vs. California, Nov. 18.
8. California (8-2)
How the hell does a sub par .500 Arizona beat California 24-20 on the Golden Bears home turf? Three turnovers killed California and they all came at the hands of QB Nathan Longshore who threw three picks (see Brandon Cox, it wasn’t just you who screwed your team this weekend). The Bears let a 17-3 halftime lead dissolve in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats scored on a four yard touchdown run by Chris Henry and an Antoine Cash 39 yard TD on a Longshore interception. Did anybody seriously think that this California team was national championship material? After today, I really think that this BCS thing is surprisingly working itself out (at the moment).
Next Game: at. USC, Nov. 18.
9. Notre Dame (9-1)
Even though the Irish beat an opponent they should have beaten (they defeated Air Force 39-17), I think you have to mention Notre Dame in all of this national championship-talk, too. ND has one loss – to #2 Michigan – and if the Irish can knock off USC at the end of the month, you have to lump them in with all the other one-loss teams. Now, do I think that the Irish deserve to go in ahead of program like Florida? No. And if Michigan ends up the loser in the Ohio State game, I don’t think ND should get in ahead of the Wolverines either seeing has how the Irish already lost to U of M. However, a win against USC will go a long way for the Irish.
Next Game: vs. Army, Nov. 18.
10. West Virginia (8-1)
The Mountaineers had a sluggish start against Cincinnati, but then completely whipped the Bearcats in the second and third quarters of a 42-24 victory. Just watching Steve Slaton and Pat White is extremely fun. Slaton finished with 148 yards and two touchdowns while White added 93 rushing yards and two scores. It was obviously important for West Virginia to bounce back from its loss to Louisville, but the Mountaineers looked sloppy and committed a ton of penalties. WV has three more conference games, including a home game against Rutgers at the end of the year. Spoiler-role anyone?
Next Game: at. Pittsburgh, Nov. 16.
Most impressed with: I have to give some love to Arkansas. The Razorbacks just look good don’t they (Darren McFadden is damn good)? Not only is AU beating decent teams (such as Auburn, South Carolina, Alabama), but its also starting to crush opponents (like defeating #13 Tennessee 31-14 on Saturday).
Least impressed with: Louisville, Texas, Auburn and California – Louisville because it threw away a golden chance after such a huge win over West Virginia last week. And Texas, Auburn and California for throwing away the chance Louisville gave them (or should I say that Rutgers gave them?).
Biggest upset: Kansas State over Texas was huge, Rutgers over Louisville was nice and Arizona over California was crazy. But Georgia’s win over Auburn was shocking. I mean, the Bull Dogs were a team in utter disarray and were losing to programs like Kentucky and Vandy. But yet, Georgia rolls into Auburn and out gains the Tigers 446 to 171. UGA just dominated Auburn on Saturday.
Looking forward: With all due respect to Florida Atlantic taking on North Texas next week, I think the big Michigan vs. Ohio State game might be the most important game next weekend in some folks’ eyes. Call me crazy, but No. 1 vs. No. 2 is just plain exciting. The other big game will be California at USC, although the Bears loss today will put a bit of a damper on this contest.
