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This Week in History: Ronald Reagan runs for president
This week (Aug. 19) in 1976, at the Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Ronald Reagan became the Republican nominee for president of the United States — for the year 1980. President Gerald Ford, running for re-election, actually bested…

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Busy week ahead for area teams
It’s crunch time for high school football teams all across Georgia — in more ways than one. Peach State programs make the transition from offseason to preseason this week, signaling the final month of preparation for the 2010 regular season, which starts for most teams on Aug. 27.

Read more on The Dalton Daily Citizen

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

(Editor’s Note: The rankings in this article are from the AP Top 25 Poll of sportswriters and sportscasters, and the ratings are from Jeff Sagarin.)

The great difference why watching college football games is so much more enjoyable than watching pro football is not because it is exciting—heck, pro football can be exciting too—it’s because college football is much more unpredictable. College football’s third week of action is an excellent example.

The fortunes of four teams—Southern California, Brigham Young, Utah and Georgia Tech—changed dramatically after losing this week.

Third-ranked USC, which beat San Jose State 56-3 at home and Ohio State 18-15 away in its first two games, flew north to Seattle and lost 16-13 to a Washington Husky team that was 0-12 last season. The Trojans lost because Steve Sarkisian, Washington’s energetic new head coach, and Nick Holt, Washington’s excitable new defensive coordinator, played key roles for USC last season; Sarkisian was offensive coordinator for the Trojans and Holt was the defensive coordinator.

Washington started its season by playing hard and losing to 9th-ranked Louisiana State, 31-24, before knocking off Idaho 42-23 to record its first win in 16 games. The Huskies now believe they can win and, believe you me, USC now knows they can get embarrassed by a team that believes they can win.

Washington’s Huskies were rewarded for their effort by jumping into the AP Top 25 Poll at No. 24. USC dropped from 3rd to 12th in the same AP Poll. Washington’s Sagarin rating also jumped 39 places in 7 days—from 63 to 24.

Seventh-ranked Brigham Young started its season by upsetting Oklahoma 14-13, and then trashed Tulane, 54-3. Unfortunately, unranked Florida State, which managed to get beaten by Miami (FL) 38-34 in its opener at home, and then slip by lowly Jacksonville State 19-9 at home, traveled to BYU and stung the Cougars, 54-28. BYU dropped to 19th the AP Poll.

Eighteenth-ranked Utah, which was the only undefeated major college football team last year at 13-0, slipped by Utah State 35-17 and San Jose State 24-14 before traveling to unranked Oregon and getting upset, 31-24.

Fourteenth-ranked Georgia Tech opened its season by looking unimpressive with a win over lowly Jacksonville State 37-17, and barely getting past Clemson 30-27, but found the going much tougher against No. 20 Miami (FL), losing 33-17. The Yellow Jackets dropped right out of the AP Poll, and Miami rocketed up from 20th to 9th.

Unpredictable? You bet. The chances of USC, BYU, Utah or Georgia Tech playing in the National Championship Game this year are probably nil; all of them were undefeated last week.

Here are 11 ranked teams that won and are now 3-0 and moving on:

No. 1 Florida at home over SEC opponent Tennessee 23-13. No. 2 Texas at home over Texas Tech 34-24; Texas Tech was the only team to beat Texas last year. No. 4 Alabama at home over lowly, 124th-ranked North Texas, 53-7. No. 5 Penn State at home over lowly, 125th-ranked Temple, 31-6. No. 8 California on-the-road over Minnesota, 35-21. No. 9 LSU at home over in-state rival LA-Lafayette, 31-3. No. 10 Boise State on-the-road over Fresno State, 51-34.

No. 17 Cincinnati on-the-road over Oregon State, 28-18. No. 22 Kansas at home over Duke, 44-16. No. 24 North Carolina at home over in-state rival East Carolina, 31-17. No. 25 Michigan at home over in-state rival Eastern Michigan, 45-17.

Six other ranked teams won. No. 5 Mississippi (now 2-0 and tied with Penn State at No. 5) at home beat lowly, 167th-ranked, 1-AA Southeastern Louisiana, 52-6; and TCU (now 2-0) at home beat lowly, 137th-ranked, 1-AA Texas State San Marcos, 56-21. No. 11 Ohio State on-the-road over No. 105-ranked Toledo, 38-0.

No. 12 Oklahoma, after being upset by BYU 14-13 in its opener, is trying to win back votes with shutouts over #178th-ranked Idaho State 64-0, and now Tulsa, 45-0. No. 16 Oklahoma State (now 2-1) at home over winless, 155th-ranked Rice, 41-24. No. 23 Georgia (now 2-1) on-the-road over Arkansas in a really ugly win, 52-41.

The Georgia-Arkansas game was almost as bad as Notre Dame’s home victory over Michigan State, 33-30. All four of these teams are not that good, and you can tell that by the scores—none of them have a defense worth talking about at the moment. They could all get better in future weeks, but right now none of them are nearly as good as advertised.

Nine other unranked teams quietly went to 3-0 this week, any or all of them could keep winning and move into the AP Top 25 Poll soon. They include:

Southern Mississippi at home barely over Virginia, 37-34. Colorado State at home over Nevada, 35-20. Pittsburgh at home over Navy, 27-14. Iowa at home over Arizona, 27-17. Auburn at home over West Virginia, 41-30. UCLA at home over Kansas State, 23-9. Wisconsin at home over 102nd-ranked, 1-AA Wofford, 44-14. Missouri at home over 120th-ranked, 1-AA Furman, 52-12. South Florida at home over lowly, 162nd-ranked, 1-AA Charleston Southern, 59-0.

Seven teams should not have been on the same field with their opponent this week because absolutely none of them had any real chance of winning. They included North Texas, Temple, Eastern Michigan, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas State San Marcos, Rice, and Charleston Southern.

The biggest winner of the week? It’s the Washington Huskies, hands down. Their 16-13 victory over USA ranks as the greatest upset by Washington’s football program in school history. Washington just may become the biggest surprise of the season.

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

(Editor’s Note: All of the team rankings are based on the Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, and the Sagarin Ratings, Jeff Sagarin’s factual, mathematical ratings among competition between all 245 Division 1 teams.)

Only 7 teams remained on top and on track at 2-0 during the second week of the college football season—Florida, USC, Alabama, California, Boise State, Brigham Young and Kansas.

No. 1 Florida crushed Troy 56-6 behind Tim Tebow’s career-high 4 touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown.

No. 3 Southern Cal saved the best to last against No. 7 Ohio State to win, 18-15, on the road as freshman quarterback Matt Barkley led the Trojans on a 14-play, 95-yard drive to score with 1:05 remaining. The Buckeyes of Ohio State have now lost 7 straight games against top 5 teams, including two national title games and last season’s 35-3 drubbing by USC in Los Angeles.

No. 4 Alabama took down Florida International 40-14 as QB Greg McElroy completed a school-record 14 straight passes. Remember that Alabama was the same school that Joe “Willie” Namath led to a National Championship in 1964, and Kenny “The Snake” Stabler led to another National Championship in 1965. Both Namath and Stabler played for the Crimson Tide’s legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.

No. 10 California routed Eastern Washington, 59-7, behind Jahvid Best’s 144 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns, one rushing and another on a 22-yard reception.

No. 11 Boise State shut out Miami of Ohio, 48-0, as QB Kellen Moore went 16-for-26 for 307 yards and 4 touchdown passes.

No. 12 Brigham Young, following up on its 14-13 upset of Oklahoma a week earlier, kicked Tulane sideways on the road, 54-3, as QB Max Hall threw for 309 yards and 2 TDs and Bryan Kaiya scored twice.

No. 25 Kansas whipped UTEP, 34-7, on the road behind Jack Sharp’s 104 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns.

There were 4 genuine upsets as Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Tennessee and Michigan State all hit the turf hard.

No. 20 Notre Dame allowed Tate Focier to throw a 5-yard TD pass to Greg Matthews with 11 seconds to go to give unranked Michigan a 38-34 victory in the Big House at Ann Arbor. Focier, a freshman, went 23-for-33 for 240 yards, 2 TDs, one interception, and ran for 70 yards and a score. Notre Dame’s star QB Jimmy Clausen, now a junior, went 25-for-42 for 336 yards and 3 TDs, but did miss some throws that proved costly.

You can argue about who was the better QB on this day, however, nothing counts but the final score, and Notre Dame again came up a loser in a big game.

After taking down Georgia last week, No. 6 Oklahoma State, a 15-point favorite, let it all slip away while losing to Houston 45-35 at home. The Cowboys need to learn how to ride again; they seem to always have more offense than defense.

UCLA quietly went to 2-0 by upsetting Tennessee on the road 19-15. The Volunteers, a 10-point favorite, are not making much of an impression in the SEC anymore.

The Michigan State Spartans, favored by 14.5, let Central Michigan totally embarrass them with a last-second 29-27 defeat on their home turf. The Spartans had an excellent schedule this year that offered them a chance to run the table (go undefeated) since they drew both Michigan and Penn State at home and did not have to play Ohio State. Instead, Michigan State was out-coached, out-played and deserved to lose.

Five teams went 2-0 and scored good wins to cement their position as up and comers to watch:

No.18 Nebraska, favored by 21, beat Arkansas State 38-9. No. 23 Cincinnati beat 1-AA SE Missouri State 70-3. Unranked Pittsburgh, favored by 10.5, beat a good Buffalo team 54-27 on the road. Unranked Iowa beat in-state rival Iowa State 35-3 on the road.

Unranked and unbeaten Southern Methodist upset UAB 35-33, and they did it on the road. Now don’t laugh at SMU, give the Mustangs and coach June Jones some credit; after all, if you are a fan of Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Rutgers or Georgia, your team is not 2-0, you are 1-1.

Another unranked team that went 0-12 last year finally won its first game in 16 tries as new head coach Steve Sarkisian and new defensive coordinator Nick Holt put together an impressive 42-23 victory over Idaho. Yes, Idaho is no big deal, but Washington is going to start winning and beating better teams than Idaho. You read it here first.

Here are 19 teams who have gone 2-0 to start the season, but their victories have been no big deal considering the competition they have been playing:

No. 2 Texas, favored by 32.5, beat Wyoming on the road 41-10, but could not cover the spread.

No. 5 Penn State, favored by 28.5, beat Syracuse 28-7, but could not cover the spread.

No. 9 LSU, favored by 14.5, beat Vanderbilt, 23-9, but could not cover the spread.

No. 17 Utah, favored by 14, beat San Jose State 24-14, but could cover the spread.

No. 19 North Carolina, favored by 4.5, needed 12 last quarter points to barely beat Connecticut 12-10, but could not cover the spread.

No. 24 Oregon State, favored by 7, beat UNLV 23-21, but could not cover the spread.

So seriously, why are Texas, Penn State, LSU, Utah, North Carolina and Oregon State rated so high? Answer: Do not ask anyone who bet on them to not only win, but cover the spread.

Here are the other 13 teams that are 2-0 in no particular order because frankly, it is too soon to tell if they are really good at all:

Missouri over Bowling Green 27-20, Tulsa over New Mexico 44-10, Hawaii over Washington State 38-20, Auburn over Mississippi State 49-24, South Florida over Western Kentucky 35-13, West Virginia over East Carolina 35-20, Texas Tech over Rice 55-10, Boston College over Kent State 34-7, Minnesota over Air Force 20-13, Southern Mississippi over the University of Central Florida (UCF) 26-19, and Northwestern over Eastern Michigan 27-24.

Also Arizona over 1-AA Northern Arizona 34-17, and Colorado State needed a 4th quarter touchdown to beat 1-AA Weber State 24-23.

Here are 5 teams that won their first game, but really need to play a good team and win to think they are doing anything worth talking about:

No. 14 Oklahoma beat 1-AA Idaho State 64-0, No. 16 TCU beat Virginia 30-14, No. 21 Georgia barely beat South Carolina 41-37, Virginia Tech beat Marshall 52-10, and Rutgers beat 1-AA Howard 45-7.

Every week in college football there are games and victories that cause you to do a double take when you read the score and check out the teams. Here are 3 from this week:

Toledo beat Colorado 54-38 at home, dropping the Buffaloes to 0-2. This caused me to wonder if there have been sinkholes developing in the State of Colorado. Much more and the Buffaloes will fall off the radar screen. Maryland needed an overtime to barely beat 1-AA James Madison 38-35. Louisiana Lafayette upset Kansas State 17-15.

Put a wrap on it Benny, and throw it in the archives; it ’s time to get ready for college football’s third week of competition.

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Florida started the season as the No. 1 pick in the AP Top 25 Poll and will remain No. 1 for the 7th straight week after beating the No. 4 Louisiana State Tigers in Baton Rouge, 13-3, in this season’s biggest match-up featuring two Top 5 teams.

The Gators’ swarming defense silenced the Tiger crowd to win their 15th consecutive game, the longest current win streak among major schools, and LSU had its 32-game winning streak in Saturday night games snapped. LSU, ranked last in the SEC in total offense coming into the game, never got untracked and could muster only 162 yards.

Tim Tebow, the heart of Florida’s offense and former Heisman Trophy winner, returned after suffering a concussion two weeks ago. Tebow’s presence helped assure the Gators that they would remain on top with a top effort. LSU started the game with a perfect 5-0 mark and ended it with a 5-1 record. Florida remains unbeaten at an overall 5-0 and sits on top of the SEC’s East Division.

Three other Top 25 teams lost their first game this week—Auburn, Missouri and Wisconsin.

Unranked Arkansas hosted and upset 17th-ranked Auburn, 44-23, as Michael Smith rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown, and the Razorbacks raced to a 34-3 lead before sticking a fork in the Tigers. Now it can be confirmed that Auburn was a really suspect Top 25 choice since its first 5 victories came against teams with a combined 9-14 record.

Arkansas is now 3-2 and full of spit and vinegar; the Razorbacks other two wins have come against 149th-ranked, 1-AA Missouri State and 63rd-ranked Texas A&M. Big deal? I think not. Arkansas is not that good and neither is Auburn.

No. 21 Nebraska hit the road and took the measure of No. 24 Missouri, 27-12, handing the Tigers their first defeat. It was simply not a good week for Tiger teams as LSU, Auburn and Missouri all lost for the first time in College Football’s Week 6. Missouri, which had a 12-0 shutout after 3 quarters, quit too early and celebrated as Nebraska won the 4th quarter 27-0, and the game.

Should Missouri have been in the Top 25? As the Hertz rental ad says, not exactly. The Tigers built their 4-0 record on teams with a combined 6-12 record, and that includes 1-AA Furman, that raging powerhouse from South Carolina.

No. 9 Ohio State hosted Wisconsin and cost the Badgers their first loss, 31-13, before sending them back to Wisconsin. The Badgers were at least unranked, even with a 5-0 record coming into the always screaming, always sold-out 101,000-plus-seat horseshoe stadium in Columbus.

A much more significant victory came from No. 3 Alabama as the Crimson Tide took its record to 6-0 with an away victory over 20th-ranked Mississippi, 22-3. The Tide led 19-zip after 3 quarters. Can we now stop all of the preseason publicity about Mississippi this and Mississippi that? The Rebels’ hot shot quarterback—Jevan Snead—continued his mission to greatness by throwing 4 interceptions.

Ole Miss is now 3-2 and one croak away from sliding into a swamp. Should Mississippi even be in the Top 25? Nah, the Rebels have some real proving to do.

Other ranked teams with away victories this week included:

No. 10 TCU over Air Force 20-17. Without a 4th quarter field goal, TCU would have gone into overtime. No. 13 Oregon continued its momentum by beating UCLA 24-10. No. 15 Oklahoma State outlasted Texas A&M to win again with another lame performance, 36-31. If Oklahoma State keeps giving up 31 points a game, they are not going to keep winning for long.

No. 18 Brigham Young topped UNLV 59-21. No. 22 Georgia Tech just made it by Florida State 49-44 in a shootout. BYU is now 5-1 and Florida State 4-2; one could easily argue that Georgia Tech is better than BYU, and may well prove so before the season is over.

Ranked teams with home victories included:

No. 2 Texas over Colorado 30-28 after Colorado led 14-10 at the half. Colorado is now 1-5 with their only win over Wyoming. Texas has played no one so far this season. After Oklahoma next, the Longhorns play no one really significant through the end of the season. Texas should win a lot of games and there will be no evidence to show that they should play in the National Championship Game this year.

No. 5 Virginia Tech beat up Boston College 48-14. No. 11 Miami (FL) stomped 1-AA Florida State 48-16. Big whoop. No. 12 Iowa had an unimpressive 30-28 win over Michigan. Another big whoop; Iowa should have won by at least 2 touchdowns at home, nonetheless, Iowa’s 5-0 mark is the Hawkeyes best start since 1985. No. 14 Penn State kicked around 152nd-ranked, 1-AA Eastern Illinois; boy, those tough Nittany Lions really know how to charm some cream puffs.

No. 16 Kansas took all afternoon to finally beat Iowa State 41-36. Kansas gave up 36 points to a team that is 3-3. You have to ask yourself, even at 5-0, why should they be ranked so high? The Jayhawks compiled their unbeaten record against teams with a combined 8-12 record, including the 187th-ranked, 1-AA Northern Colorado powerhouse (1-4) from the Rockies. Kansas may be unbeaten, but they are hardly good.

No. 19 Oklahoma beat Baylor 33-7. No. 25 South Carolina just nudged by Kentucky 28-26, a team that Florida beat 41-7; that’s why Florida is No. 1 and South Carolina No. 25. At least the Gamecocks scored a touchdown in each quarter against Kentucky.

Three 5-1 teams that are still looking for recognition and respect won again. Central Michigan whipped Eastern Michigan 56-8; Central Michigan is the worst 1-A team in the nation, currently ranked 164th by Sagarin (there are only 120 teams in 1-A football). Idaho on-the-road (yes, Idaho, don’t laugh) beat San Jose State 29-25.

Pittsburgh, behind 21-13 after 3 quarters at home, won the 4th quarter 11-0 to beat Connecticut, 24-21.

There were at least 3 other notable wins. After 3 straight losses to Central Michigan, Notre Dame and Wisconsin by a combined 13 points, Michigan State evened its record at 3-3 by beating Illinois 24-14 on-the-road.

At 4-1, Stanford looked like the second best team in the Pac 10 behind USC, but Oregon State reminded them of why it is tough to beat the Beavers at home, upsetting The Cardinal 38-28. All bets in the Pac 10 race are now off as Oregon is 3-0, Stanford 3-1 and 3 teams are 2-1—Southern Cal, Oregon State and Washington (yes, the same Washington that was 0-12 last year).

Speaking of Huskies, Washington let Arizona into the red zone at least 8 times and was behind 33-21 at home with 4:22 left. Jake Locker engineered a drive with a 25-yard TD strike to Kavario Middleton with 2:55 left and then a miracle happened.

On the ensuing play after the kickoff, Arizona’s Nick Foles threw another bubble screen pass to Delashaun Dean that was short and behind the receiver. The ball bounced off of his foot and into the air, was promptly intercepted by Husky linebacker Mason Foster and he turned around and rambled 37 yards into the end zone to put Washington ahead, 34-33 with 2:37 remaining.

Jake Locker then completed a 2-point conversion to Jermaine Kearse to make it 36-33. The Husky defense, which had given up 461 yards to Arizona, then suddenly got ugly. Daniel Te’o-Nesheim sacked Nick Foles for a 6-yard loss, and true freshman cornerback Desmond Trufant intercepted Foles’ 4th down attempt to put the Wildcats away.

Washington, twice a dog at home against Southern Cal and Arizona, has shown it is all about playing hard for 60 minutes, finding a way to win, finishing off an opponent and having fun doing it.

Washington’s miracle play brought back great memories of “The Immaculate Reception” during a 1972 playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders. Late in the game a Pittsburgh receiver was hit hard as he tried to make a catch, the ball was deflected and just before it hit the ground, it was caught by Franco Harris, who picked it out of the air and then ran it in for the touchdown that won the game for the Steelers.

Pittsburgh had struggled for 4 decades to win a playoff game, and The Immaculate Reception—called by NFL films as the greatest play of all time—led to the Steelers eventually winning 4 Super Bowls before the end of the decade.

Could something special be happening at the Montlake Campus of the University of Washington Huskies? Count on it, miracles do not happen often, especially on football fields. Washington, you will recall, upset then No. 3-ranked Southern Cal 16-13 earlier in the season.

Six bottom feeders remained winless by losing this week—Ball State, Miami (OH), Eastern Michigan, Rice, New Mexico and Western Kentucky. Florida International got the money off of its back by beating Western Kentucky 37-20—go Golden Panthers (that’s the nickname of FIU, which few would know except those folks who live east of the Mississippi River).

Top 25 teams that were idle this week included No. 6 Boise State, No. 7 Southern Cal, No. 10 Cincinnati and No. 24 South Florida.

That’s it, that’s all, Smokey, put a wrap on it.

(Editor’s Note: The rankings in this article are from the AP Top 25 Poll of sportswriters and sportscasters, and any ratings are from Jeff Sagarin.)

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Six AP Top 25 teams can testify what a pain in the butt road games are—all were upset during college football’s 13th week of play, and 2 of the 6 will be facing off in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game this week.

The six teams with targets on their back included 7th-ranked Georgia Tech, 15th-ranked Clemson, 8th-ranked Pittsburgh, 11th-ranked Oklahoma State, 20th-ranked Mississippi and 23rd-ranked North Carolina. All but Pittsburgh were not just on-the-road, but also tackling an in-state rival.

Georgia (7-5) beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-2), 30-24, as the Bulldogs’ Washaun Ealey rushed 20 times for 183 yards (9.15 yards per carry) and Caleb King rushed 18 times for 166 yards (9.22 ypc)—349 yards between them. Ealey and King sound like a comedy team but the Georgia Tech players were too busy sucking Louisiana pond water to laugh.

Georgia and its coach Mark Richt have taken their lumps this year with losses to Oklahoma State, LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Kentucky, but few can match Richt’s 9-year record against in-state rival Georgia Tech. Richt is 8-1 against his prime rival, a fact that may save him his job since his 5 losses this year are the most he has had in any year at Georgia.

South Carolina (7-5) upset the Clemson Tigers (8-4), 34-17, as the Gamecocks’ Stephen Garcia threw 3 touchdown passes. Clemson started well when C. J. Spiller opened the game with an 88-yard kickoff return for a TD, an NCAA record-setting 7th of his career, but that was about all the Tigers could bring to the table.

South Carolina’s 24th ranked scoring defense held Clemson’s 24th ranked scoring offense in check—defense again trumping offense in an equal face off.

The surprise losses by Georgia Tech and Clemson put a real damper on the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game the two will play this Saturday; the winner will covet a spot in a BCS game and earn a big payday.

West Virginia (8-3) handed Pittsburgh (9-2) its second loss of the season, 19-16, when Mountaineer redshirt freshman Tyler Bitancurt ended the annual Backyard Brawl by successfully kicking a 43-yard field goal as time expired. It was Bitancurt’s 4th field goal of the night so he personally accounted for 63% of West Virginia’s 19 points. West Virginia’s defense stood tall, keeping the Panthers out of the end zone on 5 Pittsburgh drives inside the Mountaineers’ 30-yard line.

Oklahoma (7-5) took time out from its pedestrian season to remind Oklahoma State (9-3) who really rules the Big 12 in Oklahoma by shutting out the Cowboys, 27-0. The Sooners’ DeMarco Murray scored two TDs and Ryan Broyles returned a punt 88 yards for another score. The defeat was tough to swallow for Oklahoma State since the Cowboys were seeking their first ever BCS bowl appearance.

Mississippi State (now 5-7) not only upset Mississippi (8-4), but hammered Ole Miss, 41-27, in shocker. A backup quarterback—Chris Relf—accounted for 3 touchdowns and Anthony Dixon rushed for 133 yards and another TD as the Mississippi Rebels looked on in disbelief. Known as the annual Egg Bowl, Mississippi surely laid one.

The 41 points scored by Mississippi State was the most by the Bulldogs in the 106-year series since a 41-14 victory in 1917, and the most Ole Miss has given up this season.

North Carolina State (5-7) upset North Carolina (8-4), 28-27, as the Wolfpack’s Russell Wilson connected with Owen Spencer on a 38-yard, go-ahead TD pass two plays into the 4th quarter. Wilson threw 4 TD passes in the game and Alan-Michael Cash blocked a field goal attempt with about 5 minutes left to seal the Tar Heels attempted comback. The win was the Wolfpack’s 3rd straight against the in-state rival North Carolina Tar Heels.

Four other Top 25 teams didn’t miss a beat while beating in-state rivals in away games.

No. 2-ranked Alabama (12-0) remained unbeaten by sliding by Auburn (7-5), 26-21. No. 3-ranked Texas (12-0) remained unbeaten by outlasting Texas A&M (6-6), 49-39. No. 14-ranked Virginia Tech (9-3) slammed Virginia (3-9), 42-13; and No. 19th-ranked Miami Florida (9-3) put down South Florida (7-4), 31-10.

Eight other Top 25 teams won home games, and 4 of the 8 won against in-state rivals as well—Florida, Brigham Young, Southern California and Houston.

No. 1-ranked Florida (12-0) remained unbeaten by pounding Florida State (6-6), 37-10, as the Gators’ Tim Tebow threw for 3 touchdowns and ran for 2 more. The victories by unbeaten Florida and Alabama sets up a clash for the SEC title game this Saturday, and the winner earns the right to play in the final season-ending game for the National Championship.

No. 18-ranked Brigham Young (10-2) turned back No. 22-ranked Utah (now 9-3), 26-23, as senior quarterback Max Hall found Andrew George with a 25-yard TD pass in overtime. The win by the Cougars was their 3rd in 4 years over the uppity Utah Utes, who intercepted Hall 5 times last year in a 48-24 blowout on their home field.

Max Hall sought revenge and redemption, and created enough smack talk after BYU’s win to fill a bulletin board in Utah’s Salt Lake City locker room. Here is Mad Max on the Utah Utes:

“I don’t like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, their fans. I hate everything. It felt real good to send those guys home. I think the whole university and their fans and the organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year and did a whole bunch of nasty things. I don’t respect them and they deserved to lose.”

Well, thanks, Max, for letting us know how you feel.

No. 24-ranked Southern Cal (8-3) beat UCLA (6-6), 28-7; and No. 25-ranked Houston (10-2) just decimated Rice (2-10), 73-14, as Case Kellum passed for 323 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for another score. The Houston Cougars have the top-scoring offense in the nation, racking up an average of 45 points a game.

No. 4-ranked Texas Christian (12-0) remained unbeaten at home by whipping New Mexico (1-11), 51-10, as Andy Dalton matched a career-high 4 TD passes with two of them to Antoine Hicks in a 12-second span. The win wrapped up TCU’s first undefeated regular season in 71 years—that is a long time between rains in the dusty Texas desert.

No. 5-ranked Cincinnati (11-0) remained unbeaten by outlasting a really crummy 3-8 Illinois team, 49-36. The win was a sad statement for the Bearcats. Cincinnati has the 19th best scoring defense in the nation, but the Bearcats apparently had too many tacos prior to this game.

No. 6-ranked Boise State (12-0) remained unbeaten in an offensive display by outlasting Nevada (8-4), 44-33, as Kellen Moore tied his career-high 5 touchdown passes. Nevada was a worthy opponent as the Wolf Pack had averaged 52 points per game while winning 8 straight. Boise State is 2nd nationally in scoring offense and Navada is 5th.

No. 17-ranked LSU (9-3) had its hands full while beating Arkansas (7-5), 33-30, as Tiger Josh Jasper hit a 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds left to force an overtime, and then made a 36-yarder to score the win.

One more game was worth noting. Washington (4-7) shut out in-state rival Washington State (1-11), 30-0, in the Apple Cup. The Huskies began the season by losing by 8 points to 11th-ranked LSU, then beat Idaho, upset 3rd-ranked Southern California, lost away games to Stanford and Notre Dame, upset Arizona, then suffered 4 more defeats before blanking the Washington State Cougars.

The game was significant for several reasons:

1) It was Washington’s first shutout over Washington State in 45 years; the last one came during a 14-0 victory in 1964.

2) The Husky’s defensive shutout was its first since a 27-0 win over Southern California in 1997, a span of 143 games.

3) Freshman Chris Polk rushed for 130 yards, pushing his season rushing total 1,019, breaking quarterback Jake Locker’s freshman record of 986 rushing yards, making Polk the first freshman in school history to top 1,000 yards, and marking the 4th consecutive game that Polk has topped 100 yards rushing. And, yes, the Huskies are very excited about their freshman running back.

4) Washington State’s 11 losses this season are the most in Cougar history.

5) Washington State’s 22 losses in two seasons are the most ever in Pac-10 history. The Cougars were 2-11 last season.

Six Top 25 teams were idle this week—9th-ranked Ohio State (10-2), 10th-ranked Oregon (9-2), 12th-ranked Penn State (10-2), 13th-ranked Iowa (10-2), 16th-ranked Oregon State (8-3), and 21st-ranked California (8-3). Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa have completed their season play.

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Stanford, North Carolina, Central Florida, California and Rutgers all recorded upset wins over ranked opponents in college football’s 11th week of play. These events caused changes in my Top 25 Poll. Here is how I see it this week:

1) Alabama (10-0) – The Crimson Tide followed up their signature victory over Louisiana State last week and continued to remain 1 of 6 unbeaten teams with a dominating 31-3 win at Mississippi State. The Tide hosts 163rd-ranked Chattanooga (6-4) this week. Chattanooga is a 1-AA team; if the Crimson Tide want to keep their national image intact, they had better kick Chattanooga back home as a big loser. A potential national championship team SHOULD NOT be playing a 1-AA team this late in the season, if at all.

2) Florida (10-0) – Acting very much like a national championship team, the Gators remained unbeaten by traveling to South Carolina and beating the Gamecocks, 24-14, completing their first perfect (8-0) SEC East title in 13 years. Florida hosts in-state rival Florida International this week, a 135th-ranked team with a 3-7 record. The Gators need a huge win to keep their mojo and rep in order.

3) Texas (10-0) – The Longhorns remained unbeaten by kicking around Baylor 47-14. Texas is like a snake—quietly, patiently slithering around, waiting to strike. Since Alabama and Florida are on course to clash in the SEC championship game, one will finish the season with at least one loss, and the other will likely face the Longhorns in the National Championship Game. Texas hosts Kansas next.

4) Texas Christian (10-0) – The Horned Frogs put to rest the myth that Utah (8-2) was the better team as they hosted and ran over the Utes, 55-28. You remember Utah, the Utes beat TCU 13-10 in their face-off last year, and were talking smack right up to the kickoff this year, complaining about being a 21-point underdog to TCU. Let’s see now, 28 and 21 equals 49, so it turned out that TCU should have been more than a 21-point favorite. Utah, it’s not your year, get over it. TCU travels to 104th-ranked Wyoming (5-5) next. Message to TCU: Do not screw up your perfect year by losing on the road to a nothing team.

5) Cincinnati (10-0) – Remained undefeated by beating West Virginia 24-21. The Bearcats are hardly looking awesome at the moment, but they have done something that only 5 other teams have done all season—win every bloody game. Cincinnati now hosts Illinois at home. Message to Cincinnati: Ditto the above.

6) Boise State (10-0) – In bounced the 7-win Idaho Vandals and out bounced the Vandals with their 4th loss, 63-25. The message: Idaho, not ready for prime time; Boise State, yes, our schedule has been lame, but if you want some, come get some. It is a good thing that Boise State has an easier schedule than other unbeaten teams; the Broncos have only 3 seniors among the 44 players on their two-deep roster. They travel to 107th-ranked Utah State (3-7) this week. Message to Boise State: Ditto the above.

7) Georgia Tech (10-1) – Stomped Duke 49-10 to clinch a spot in the ACC championship game. The Yellow Jackets do not play this week, and get a week of rest and strategy building before meeting in-state rival Georgia in their last game of the season two weeks from now. Message to Georgia Tech: Do not let Georgia mar your season.

Pittsburgh (9-1) – Hosted and beat Notre Dame (6-4), 27-22, after leading 20-3 at the start of the 4th quarter. The Panthers closed the game out and won, that is all that matters. Pittsburgh gets the week off before traveling to West Virginia a week from Friday (Nov. 27).

9) Ohio State (9-2) – Buckeyes showed up in prime time, beating Iowa 27-24 in overtime. No matter that neither Ohio State or Iowa chose to win the game in regulation time; the Buckeyes prevailed in their strategy and that is what winning teams do when it matters. Ohio State moves up in my poll because by winning, the Buckeyes earn at least a share of their 5th consecutive Big 10 title, get the Big Ten’s automatic BCS bid, and will go to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 13 years. Ohio State ends its season this week at Michigan.

10) Penn State (9-2) – My dislike for Penn State is well documented, and they beat Indiana 31-20 despite 4 first-half turnovers. I put them 10th because they are consistent in the sense that they lose to teams they could lose to—Iowa (9-2) and Ohio State (9-2)—rather than losing to a bunch of nobodies because they are not mentally prepared to do battle. Other teams may have 9 wins but they have lost to far weaker teams. Travels to Michigan State this week.

11) Wisconsin (8-2) – Took apart Michigan 45-24. Other teams may have as many wins as Wisconsin but they have lost to weaker teams. The Badgers travel to Northwestern this week. Message to Wisconsin: Northwestern (7-4) is better than its record indicates.

12) LSU (8-2) – Just beat in-state rival Louisiana Tech 24-16, a 3-7 team ranked 88th. Hardly impressive. That said, the Tigers’ only two losses have been to Florida and Alabama, not many teams can make that claim. Travels to Mississippi this week; should be an excellent chess game.

13) Stanford (7-3) – Has only 7 wins, but the Cardinal gets my vote for being the team to stop Southern Cal’s streaks of 7 straight BCS bowls, 7 straight 11-win seasons, 7 straight top-4 AP poll finishes, and a 7-year stranglehold on the Pac-10 Conference title. Stanford body slammed USC, 55-21, to finally end Southern Cal’s unchallenged dominance. Hosts California next.

14) Rutgers (7-2) – Shut out 23rd-ranked South Florida (6-3), 31-0. That was impressive. Rutgers only two losses were to Cincinnati (10-0) and Pittsburgh (9-1). Gets this week off, then travels to Syracuse.

15) Oklahoma State (8-2) – Beat Texas Tech 24-17. Only two losses were to Texas (10-0) and Houston (8-2). Cowboys host Colorado next.

16) Navy (8-3) – Picked up 8th win by beating 1-AA Delaware, 35-18. That’s not impressive at all, but the Midshipmen’s only losses have been to Pittsburgh (9-1), Ohio State (9-2) and Temple (8-2). When your losses come against teams with a combined 26-5 record, that’s not too shabby in my book. Navy gets shore leave this week and then travels to Hawaii.

17) Temple (8-2) – Speaking of Temple, why not rank them 17th? The Owls were caught sleeping in their first two outings against Villanova and Penn State, but then woke up and have won 8th straight. Temple’s 8th victory came over Akron, 56-17; that just might be a statement. Hosts Kent State next.

18) Central Michigan (8-2) – Beat Toledo 56-28. Two losses came against Arizona (6-3) and Boston College (7-3). Travels to Ball State next.

19) Iowa (9-2) – Lost to Ohio State 27-24. Needed to win badly following last week’s first loss of the season to Northwestern, 17-10. Getting less impressive as the season wears on; should be peaking and instead is dropping fast. Ends season hosting Minnesota this week.

20) Houston (8-2) – Lost to Central Florida 37-32; yes, that Central Florida, the one ranked 83rd with a 5-4 record going into the game. Houston has a great offense, well, not great enough to beat 83rd-ranked Central Florida, and no defense whatsoever. Houston has been vastly overrated all year, and I have said so over and over. Now you know why. Hosts Memphis next.

21) Brigham Young (8-2) – This 21st ranking is a gift following the Cougars ultra-lame 24-19 victory over a hapless, inept, winless 0-10 New Mexico team. Good grief, BYU should be in prayer and supplication after that effort. If they are caught sleeping on the field again, they should be forced to walk back to Provo. That had to be one of the sorriest performances all season by a ranked team. No wonder people rake on the Mountain West Conference; in many cases the criticism is so deserved.

22) Utah (8-2) – Took a major butt kicking by TCU 55-28, but at least the Utes were not playing New Mexico. Hosts San Diego State next.

23) California (7-3) – Upset 18th-ranked Arizona 24-16. I have been real hard on the Bears because they are so disappointing given their talent. Their only three losses were to Oregon, Oregon State and USC, three normally tough opponents. Bears travel to Stanford next. Let’s see how much gas is left in their tank.

24) Oregon (8-2) – Ripped Arizona State 44-21. The Ducks have only lost to Boise State, and then Stanford by 9 points, 51-42. Oregon travels to Arizona next; this could be a war.

25) Oregon State (7-3) – Beat Washington 48-21. Only losses are to Cincinnati (10-0), USC (7-3) and Arizona (6-3), teams with a combined 23-6 record.

Time out for some Jameson Irish whisky.

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Oregon’s 47-20 upset victory over Southern California was beyond huge this week, causing a significant shift in who is where in my Top 25 Poll for college football’s 9th week of play. Here is how I see it:

1) Alabama (8-0) – The Crimson Tide was idle this week, and it was probably for the best as Florida won big, but I am not moving the Gators back to No. 1 yet. Let’s see how Alabama does when LSU comes to town next week.

2) Florida (8-0) – Did a number on Georgia, 41-17, while extending the nation’s longest winning streak to 18 games, and remains on track to meet unbeaten Alabama for the SEC title and chance to defend its 2008 national title in this year’s National Championship Game.

3) Oregon (7-1) – Upset favored Southern California in a dominating 47-20 performance worthy of real consideration for a national title shot if Alabama, Florida or Texas falters. Picked apart the USC defense for 613 total yards, not to be taken lightly. Oregon is as good as any team in the country right now.

4) Texas (8-0) – Longhorns move up after impressive 41-14 win on-the-road over 13th-ranked Oklahoma State. Texas led 41-7 after three quarters, and the Longhorn defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

5) Cincinnati (8-0) – Beats Syracuse 28-7 on-the-road, not that it is that big of a deal, except Cincy and coach Brian Kelly just keep on winning. Cincy had 10 wins two years ago and 11 wins last year.

6) Texas Christian (8-0) – Shut out UNLV, a nothing, 41 to nothing. Only 6 other teams remain unbeaten—Florida, Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, Iowa and Boise State. Not too shabby company. Why shouldn’t TCU be No. 7?

7) Iowa (9-0) – First team in the country to go 9-0. Darn near lost again to a nothing team—Indiana—but rebounded with 4 fourth quarter touchdowns to finally win, 42-24.

Boise State (8-0) – Won easily again, ripping San Jose State 45-7 in a cakewalk.

9) LSU (7-1) – Shut out Tulane 42-zip, headed for fierce showdown at Alabama. Beat the Washington Huskies 31-23 while Southern California was upset by the Washington Huskies 16-13. USC will drop lower after being exposed at Oregon for their porous defense.

10) Georgia Tech (8-1) – Scored 28 points in second half to sting Vanderbilt 56-31. Gets Wake Forest next and should win. Has one less loss than USC.

11) Penn State (8-1) – Can’t stand Penn State and Joe Pa but Nittany Lions did beat Northwestern 34-13 on-the-road, that’s more than Southern Cal can say after its trip to Oregon.

12) Southern California (6-2) – Lost to Oregon. Nuff said. USC drops from 5th to 12th in my poll and would be lower if so many other teams were not so poor on the defensive side of the ball. Let’s all stop acting like the Southern California Trojans are a big deal this year, and put them where they deserve to be.

13) Houston (7-1) – Barely outlasted the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, 50-43. The Houston Cougars could not defend against a stout bunch of angry grandmothers, but do provide excitement to the college football scene with their instant-scoring offense.

14) Ohio State (7-2) – Shut out an extremely weak New Mexico State team 45-zip. Travels to Penn State this week and either the Buckeyes or the Nittany Lions are going to look bad. What appears to be a huge defensive battle might well morph into a scoring contest if Penn State’s defense falters.

15) Pittsburgh (7-1) – Idle this week, faces Syracuse next and should win easily if they have even a shred of substance.

16) Utah (7-1) – Managed to beat a weak Wyoming team 22-10. Utes record is much more impressive than their wins over opponents. All of this dinking around will stop when they face TCU and BYU.

This poll can go no farther than No. 16 and keep a straight face. The rest of the teams are like running in clowns during a circus act—the performers are not what they appear to be, winning big, losing big and remaining inconsistent and virtually unpredictable. There is not a nickel’s worth of difference between them. I am personally sick and tired of tracking the ups and downs of six 3-loss teams—Texas Tech, South Carolina, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Mississippi and Ohio—so they are now out of my poll.

There are at least 12 other teams with only 2 losses, and 8 of them can fill out the last 9 spots. Who is to say that one is better than another when none of them really stand out? So, here, in no particular order, are the last seven:

17) Wisconsin (6-2) – Shut out Purdue 37-0 after the Boilermakers upset Ohio State 26-18. Faces a not-so-hot Indiana team next.

18) California (6-2) – Beat Arizona State 23-21. Gets Southern Cal next. Wonder if the Bears can increase USC’s fall?

19) Arizona (5-2) – Has an offense and defense and could be a sleeper. Was idle this week, should easily beat Washington State next and build its stats.

20) Notre Dame (6-2) – Very popular nationally and did beat another 6-2 team—Boston College—20-16. Gets a 6-3 Navy team next.

21) Temple (6-2) – Lost its first two games and then has run off 6 straight wins. Could beat its last four opponents and end the year at 10-2. That would be amazing for Temple. Let’s reward success by making them No. 22, at least for the moment.

22) Rutgers (6-2) – Only two losses were to 8-0 Cincinnati and 7-1 Pittsburgh. Let’s see if they can beat 6-2 South Florida next.

23) Fill in your own favorite team—I’m tired, I need a break from this exhausting task.

24) Central Michigan (7-2) – Lost to Boston College 31-10 on-the-road, but other than the 7 unbeaten teams in major college football and teams that are already ranked in this poll, who else has 7 wins now? Only one other team—Idaho.

25) Idaho (7-2) – Just beat a really bad Louisiana Tech team 35-34, but who else has 7 wins?

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

There were 4 upsets of Top 25 teams this week but none of them mattered. What did matter were two favorites winning big with implications as Ohio State topped Michigan and Oregon outlasted Arizona. These events caused changes in my Top 25 Poll. Here is how I see it this week:

1) Alabama (11-0) – The Crimson Tide shut out 1-AA Chattanooga 45-0 to remain unbeaten and on target to face Florida for the SEC title, and a shot at the national championship in a game against Texas. Alabama ends its season this week with a trip to Auburn. I do not see Auburn winning this game.

2) Florida (11-0) – The Gators ripped apart Florida International 62-3 to remain unbeaten. Only visiting Florida State this week remains between the Gators and Alabama playing for a shot to be in the national championship game against Texas.

3) Texas (11-0) – The Longhorns whipped Kansas 51-20 to remain unbeaten and on course to play in the national championship game against either Alabama or the defending national champion Florida Gators. In beating Kansas, Colt McCoy extended his NCAA career record for victories by a quarterback to 43 in 4 years. Texas travels to Texas A&M for its final game of the season.

4) Texas Christian (10-0) – The Horned Frogs remained unbeaten by leveling Wyoming 45-10, and becoming the first TCU team with an 11-0 overall record since 1938. TCU hopes that Texas A&M upsets Texas this week so that the Horned Frogs can move into the national championship game against either Alabama or Florida. News flash to TCU—good luck and God speed. TCU ends its year hosting an absolutely pathetic, 1-10 New Mexico team.

5) Cincinnati (10-0) – Idle this week. Hosts a weak Illinois team this week, and then gets a final game showdown on-the-road at Pittsburgh (9-1). The Panthers are licking their chops.

6) Boise State (11-0) – The Broncos remained unbeaten by clubbing Utah State 52-21. Gets Nevada (8-3) at home this week, and the Broncos had better be ready. Nevada’s offense scored 6 touchdowns in the first half last week, and boasts the nation’s 4th best scoring offense (41ppg). Boise State has the nation’s best scoring offense (44 ppg).

7) Oregon (9-2) – The Ducks beat a really good 6-4 Arizona team 44-41 in the second overtime to set themselves up to earn a Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl berth against Ohio State (10-2) if they beat the visiting Oregon State Beavers (8-3) in a winner-take-all Civil War showdown next Saturday in Eugene. This is the most important game of the college football season until Alabama and Florida clash in the SEC showdown (both teams must win this week to set up the showdown). The up again-down again Oregon Ducks have only lost two away games—to 11-0 Boise State and 7-4 Stanford, and they have played the 3rd toughest schedule in the country among 245 Division I teams. Georgia Tech (12th toughest schedule), Pittsburgh (58th), Ohio State (54th), Penn State (79th) and Oklahoma State (67th) have all played easier schedules.

Oregon State (8-3) – Mugged Washington State 42-10. Beavers have only lost to Cincinnati (10-0), USC (7-3) and Arizona (6-4), and have played the 24th toughest schedule in the country.

9) Georgia Tech (10-1) – Idle this week. Hosts Georgia in its final game. Georgia will try to get nasty on them.

10) Pittsburgh (9-1) – Idle this week. Travels to West Virginia this week and then hosts unbeaten Cincinnati in its final game. The Panthers can hardly wait, but had better beat West Virginia to make it count for something.

11) Ohio State (10-2) – Buckeye defense put the hurt on Michigan 21-10 to win the Big Ten title outright in their final game. Next stop for Ohio State is the Rose Bowl against either Oregon or Oregon State.

From No. 12 on, this Poll is hard put to rank any team with a straight face. Having said that, here goes nothing:

12) Penn State (10-2) – Ended season by kicking the snot out of Michigan State 42-14 on the Spartans’ home turf. The stout (wink, wink) Michigan State defense let the Nittany Lions’ Daryll Clark pass for 310 yards and 4 touchdowns. With a name like Daryll they should have sacked the guy a dozen times. Coach Mark Dantonio needs to recruit some bigger, tougher, faster beef in the Midwest or MSU will be going backwards in a hurry. (Disclaimer: I am a Michigan State graduate who is not happy with the lack of progress in this year’s team. If the Spartans get much worse, they will be going backwards faster than the Michigan Wolverines. I am sick and tired of hearing about Michigan State’s great new recruits. My question is, where the hell are they? They sure are not on the field.

13) Oklahoma State (9-2) – Barely beat a poor Colorado team 31-28, but at least the Cowboys won, even if they were riding sidesaddle. That is more than Wisconsin, LSU, Rutgers and Stanford can say this week; they were all upset by supposedly lesser lights. Oklahoma State travels to Oklahoma to end its season this week.

14) Iowa (10-2) – Shut out Minnesota 12-0 with an outstanding defensive effort on-the-road. The Hawkeyes rank 11th nationally in scoring defense and 87th in scoring offense. Season is now over. Iowa is waiting in prayer and supplication for a BCS bowl bid, which they may not get.

15) Houston (9-2) – Beat Memphis 55-14. Have no real use for Houston; I guess that’s because I am kind of traditional in thinking that defense should be part of the game. The Cougars are the opposite of the Iowa Hawkeyes—they are all offense and no defense, and when I say no defense, I am not kidding. Houston ranks 3rd in the nation in scoring offense and 91st in scoring defense among 120 major college teams. Houston ends the season hosting a 2-9 Rice team that will lose, giving Houston its 10th win.

16) California (8-3) – Upset 18th-ranked Arizona 24-16 last week and upset 14th-ranked Stanford (7-4) on-the-road 34-28 this week. Bears won when they had to against a really tough team. California has played the 14th toughest schedule in the country. The Bears end their season December 5 at Washington.

17) Stanford (7-4) – Finally beating Southern Cal was too much for the Cardinal to handle as they lost to California 34-28 on their home turf. Stanford has played the 13th toughest schedule in the country. Stanford hosts Notre Dame to end its season this week.

18) LSU (8-3) – Was upset by Mississippi (8-3) on-the-road 25-23. The Ole Miss Rebels, after a slow start to the season, felt like they were stepping in high cotton. LSU has played the 22nd toughest schedule in the country. The Tigers end their season hosting Arkansas this week.

19) Clemson (8-3) – Beat Virginia 34-21. Travels to South Carolina (6-5) to end its season. The Tigers have played the 33rd toughest schedule.

20) Mississippi (8-3) – Upset LSU 25-23. Predicted to be a top team in the preseason polls, Ole Miss is finally coming of age. Mississippi travels to in-state rival Mississippi State to end its season this week. The Ole Miss Rebels have played the 55th toughest schedule this season.

21) Wisconsin (8-3) – Was upset by Northwestern (8-4) on-the-road 33-31. Only other losses were to Ohio State and Iowa. The Badgers have played the 62nd toughest schedule. Wisconsin ends its season December 5 at Hawaii.

22) Oklahoma State (9-2) – Slipped by Colorado 31-28. Simply not relevant this year with 11-0 Texas in the same Big 12 South Division. The Cowboys hit the road to end their season at Oklahoma (6-5) this week. They face one of the year’s biggest disappointments—the Sooners. Oklahoma State has played the 67th toughest schedule.

23) Navy (8-3) – Idle this week. Travels to Hawaii next. The Midshipmen have played the 72nd toughest schedule.

24) Brigham Young (9-2) – Beat Air Force 38-21 but must stand in line behind the first 23 picks because the Cougars have played the 80th toughest schedule. Has big season-ending showdown with in-state rival Uath (9-2) next. Somebody is going to be unhappy, the Cougars hope it will not be them since they are playing host to the Utes.

24) Utah (9-2) – Beat San Diego State 38-7 but must stand in line behind the first 24 picks because the Utes have played the 82nd toughest schedule. Travel to BYU (9-2) for end of year showdown.

“Hey Laddie, bring me a double shot of Jameson.”

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

In a great example of too little too late, there were 4 upsets of AP Top 25 teams in college football’s 12th week and none of them had any real impact. On the other hand, two favorites won big time road games with big implications as Ohio State buried Michigan 21-10, and Oregon held off a very pesky Arizona team, 44-41.

Last week the 9th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) beat Iowa to earn their first trip to the Rose Bowl in 13 years. By beating Michigan (5-7 and not bowl eligible), Ohio State won the Big Ten title outright with a 7-1 mark, losing only at Purdue. The Buckeyes led Michigan 21-10 after three quarters and both teams played a scoreless 4th quarter.

The 11th-ranked Oregon Ducks (9-2) were in trouble mid-way through the last quarter when Arizona took a 31-24 lead on a 71-yard screen pass from Nick Foles to Juron Criner, and then the Wildcats had possession and could have won the game by running out the clock.

But a long pass into the end zone was intercepted by Oregon’s Talmadge Jackson III (dude, it’s a name), and that opened the door for Duck quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to tie it up at 31-apiece with an 8-yard pass to Ed Dickson with only 6 seconds remaining.

In the first overtime, Masoli hit Jeff Maehl for a 4-yard score, and Foles hit Juron Criner with a 3-yard strike to send the game into a second overtime. The Duck defense held and Arizona had to settle for a 41-yard field goal by Alex Zendejas. Oregon then proved why it is the better team—Masoli found Dickson for a 22-yard completion and then three plays later, Masoli bulled it in from a yard out and Oregon won, 44-41.

The Ducks’ Masoli accounted for 6 touchdowns in the game—3 passing and 3 running. He went 26-for-47 for 284 yards and picked up another 61 yards on 16 carries.

By winning, the Ducks set themselves up to earn a Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl berth against Ohio State if—and it is a big if—they beat the visiting 20th-ranked Oregon State Beavers (8-3) in a winner-take-all Civil War showdown next Saturday in Eugene.

The Beavers, one of the dirtiest teams in college football (they like to legally hurt opposing players with little things like helmet-to-helmet hits), will invade Oregon’s Autzen Stadium, home of some of the nation’s most raucous, unkempt, nose-picking fans who like to throw unopened cans of pop at opposing players. The Ducks have also been known for throwing sucker punches at opposing players.

They call the annual Oregon-Oregon State rivalry the Civil War for a reason. Both of these teams like to punish each other, so expect it to be a very physical game, especially with a Pac-10 title and a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line.

The four upsets this week that added little to the season included Mississippi (8-3) at home 25-23 over 10th-ranked LSU (8-3), Northwestern (8-4) at home 33-31 over 17th- ranked Wisconsin (8-3), Syracuse (4-7) at home 31-13 over 25th-ranked Rutgers (7-3), and California (8-3) on-the-road 34-28 over 14th-ranked Stanford (7-4).

Stanford did not lose because its battering ram Toby Gerhart did not perform. Gerhart did his part and more, picking up 136 yards on 20 carries (6.8 yards per carry), scoring 4 touchdowns, and carrying defenders on a 29-yard reception that set up Stanford at California’s 13-yard-line with less than 2 minutes left. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, Andrew Luck threw an interception to kill the drive that could have put Stanford ahead and won the game.

In truth, Stanford’s defense simply could not contain the Bears’ Shane Vereen, who rushed for a career-high 193 yards on 42 carries (4.6 yards per carry) and scored 3 touchdowns. It’s tough to win a game when you give up 34 points.

Eleven top-25 teams won home games this week, and the three top-rated unbeaten teams—Florida, Alabama and Texas—all won with authority to keep their image and rep in order.

The No. 1-ranked Florida Gators (11-0) gave the in-state rival Florida International Golden Panthers a lesson they will not soon forget, 62-3. No. 2-ranked Alabama (11-0) shut out 1-AA Chattanooga 45-0. No. 3-ranked Texas (11-0) put a whipping on Kansas 51-20.

Other home victories included 12th-ranked Oklahoma State (9-2) over Colorado 31-28, 15th-ranked Iowa (10-2) shut out Minnesota 12-0, 16-ranked Virginia Tech (8-3) over North Carolina State 38-10, 18th-ranked Clemson (8-3) over Virginia 34-21, 19th-ranked Brigham Young (9-2) over Air Force 38-21, 21st-ranked Miami of Florida (8-3) over Duke 34-16, 23rd-ranked Utah (9-2) over San Diego State 38-7, and 24th-ranked Houston (9-2) over Memphis 55-14.

Four other top-25 teams scored away victories this week. No. 14-ranked Texas Christian (11-0) remained unbeaten by smacking Wyoming 45-10, 6th-ranked Boise State (11-0) kept its slate perfect with a 52-21 clubbing of Utah State, 13th-ranked Penn State (10-2) made it look easy against Michigan State 42-14, and 20th-ranked Oregon State (8-3) slammed Washington State 42-10.

Three top-25 teams were idle—5th-ranked Cincinnati, 7th-ranked Georgia Tech and 8th-ranked Pittsburgh.

Six teams won and became bowl eligible. They included Bowling Green (6-5) over Akron 36-20, Florida State (6-5) over Maryland 29-26, Texas A&M (6-5) over Baylor 38-3, UCLA (6-5) over Arizona State 23-13, Tennessee (6-5) over Vanderbilt 31-16, and Louisiana Lafayette (6-5) over in-state rival Louisiana Monroe 21-17.

Four other games were noteworthy. Temple (9-2) won its 9th straight game 47-13 over Kent State, Central Michigan (9-2) won its 9th game 35-3 over Ball State, hapless Notre Dame (6-5) was upset by Connecticut 33-30 in a second overtime period, and New Mexico (1-10) finally won a game this year by beating red-faced Colorado State 29-27.