I would say that nobody could have seen what happened last week coming, but then again it’s college football. The upset bug started on Thursday when the mighty Trojans fell to Oregon State and continued throughout the weekend. By Saturday night six top 25 teams had lost to non-ranked teams, shaking up the top 25 and leaving a lot of fans wondering what happened. The good news for teams like Georgia, Florida, and USC is that it’s still early in the season and can still fight their way into the National Championship Game. That is one of the lovely paradoxes in college football: if you are going to lose, lose early and at the end of the season nobody will care and teams that lose later in the season (although equally as good) are hosed. Here are a few headlines you might see in your Sunday sports section (or Friday or Saturday seeing that we now have college football games on 3-4 days a week):
Madison, Wisconsin will never feel as close to Southern California as it will for Ohio State on Saturday.
Wisconsin Avoids Second Straight Let Down
The Badgers came right out of the gates fighting last week against Michigan and took a 19-0 lead into the half. Head coach Bret Bielema must have given a demotivational speech in the locker room because the Badgers looked horrible in the second half. “Gentleman! For every winner there are a dozen losers; odds are we’ll be one of them! ” The Badgers allowed Michigan to get back in the game and knock them off. Ohio State comes into Madison with a chip on their shoulder. They’ve played four cupcake teams and the only real one they’ve played, USC, trounced them 35-3. How does Ohio State get away with 7 home games and 5 road games anyway? I guess because head coach Jim Tressel said so, and they can’t win outside of The Horseshoe (even though they expanded their stadium so it’s a horseshoe with a lid now). Tressel benched Todd Boeckman, their QB to start the season, in favor of freshman Terrelle Pryor. Pryor will struggle on the road and look very iffy in the pass game. Ohio State will find it a little harder to back their way into the National Championship Game this year. For entertainment purposes I hope they do back their way in so they can lose again and we can label them the Buffalo Bills of college football.
Buffs Unable to Pull Off Second Straight Upset at Home
Every year the week before the “Red River Shootout” (Texas vs. Oklahoma) you’ll hear the question, “Will Oklahoma/Texas be caught looking forward to next week and lose a winnable game?” In Texas’ case, NO! (No to Oklahoma as well who is playing lowly Baylor this week.) A couple weeks ago Colorado hosted West Virginia in a “Blackout” game and had a little better fortune than Georgia. I think it was due in large part to the Buffs starting QB Cody Hawkins going all the way and dyeing his hair black. Texas will find this game a good warm up before next week’s game, not quite a scrimmage, but a good test. Longhorns QB Colt McCoy has thrown for 14 touchdowns and 1 interception this year, and leads an offense that averages almost 500 yards per game. If the game gets too out of hand, head coach Mack Brown might call off the dogs and rest his team for next week.
Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson has had a lot to yell about lately, but not on Saturday.
Vandy One Game Away From Bowl Elidgibility
For years Vanderbilt was one of those teams that got it’s way into a BCS Conference solely based on proximity, not credentials (just like Baylor), this year they are looking like a real team. The Commodores haven’t started 5-0 since World War II. For those of you not good with dates, lets just say that was a long time ago. Another streak equally as horrendous is that the Commodores haven’t been to a Bowl since 1982. Seeing that you only have to win half of your games to be Bowl eligible anymore, that streak is atrocious. Auburn and their gimp offense comes to town this year and as amazing as it will be when the Commodores pull off the upset, they need to focus on winning just one more game the rest of the year and they will be Bowl eligible. When you have a football program with such a rich history of losing like Vanderbilt, you need to take baby steps, really small baby steps. Don’t even mention “Conference Title,” just think “We’re going to a Bowl, we’re going to a Bowl!”
Huskies Enjoy Short Stay in Top 25
With the polls, #23 -25 changes almost weekly, with teams sometimes jumping in only to lose and fall back out. UCONN will be one of those teams that will enjoy a brief stay in the polls after going into Chapel Hill and dropping a game to the up and coming North Carolina Tar Heels football team. For years North Carolina and Duke campuses usually remained silent until November when basketball begins, but this year both schools are off to 3-1 starts. Sometimes you have to corner a Tar Heel or Blue Devil fan to get them admit they even have a football program. North Carolina head coach Butch Davis went into his previous employer Miami last week and pulled off an emotional win, don’t expect a let down this week, expect them to be more motivated to knock off a ranked team at home. You watch, UCONN will drop from the polls next week and North Carolina will sneak in at #24 or 25.
Alabama thrusted itself into Title talk after knocking out Georgia last week.
JIB Picks
Week 5: 10-5 (OUCH!) / Overall: 84-12
Week 6: #1 Oklahoma – Baylor / #2 LSU (Bye) / #3 Missouri – Nebraska / #4 Alabama – Kentucky / #5 Texas – Colorado / #6 Penn State – Purdue / #7 BYU – Utah State / #8 Texas Tech – Kansas State / #9 USC – Oregon / #10 Georgia (Bye) / #10 South Florida – PITT / #12 Ohio State – #17 Wisconsin / #13 Florida – Arkansas / #14 Auburn – #19 Vanderbilt / #15 Utah – Oregon State / #16 Kansas – Iowa State / #18 Boise State – Louisiana Tech / #21 Fresno State – Hawaii / #22 Oklahoma State – Texas A&M / #23 Connecticut – North Carolina / #24 Virginia Tech – Western Kentucky / #25 Wake Forest (Bye)
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Tags: College Football