Week 11 of College Football

Yeah, I am running late this week.

I have been stuck trying to decide whether to write up my regular tongue-in-cheek comments about last week's college football games.  With all that is going on in sports and around sports right now, it almost seems trivial to talk about the games and the scores of these contests which matter so little in the grand scheme.  Lucky for us all, I remembered that this it not CNN.

So, put all the pedophiles in general population with a bright pink red jumpsuit to get the bulls attention and turn them loose.

I am going to talk about some college football real quick.

This really was a great week of football.  Multiple unbeatens went down, muddying the BCS picture to a terrible extent and leaving us stuck with this thought.

1. Should we be hoping that Oklahoma State and LSU win out or not?  IF they win out, we have a solid BCS national title game, that noone can really argue with.  Both contenders will have perfect records with multiple wins over top 15 BCS teams.  BUT...................if one of them loses, what do we have?  If LSU loses, do they drop below Alabama or Oregon, both of whom they beat?  If OU beats OSU, do we have to sit through a rematch for LSU and if so, which one?  Even better, what if OSU loses, and Arkansas beats LSU.  We could conceivably have Arkansas jump over Bama too and play Oregon.  What. A. Holy. Mess.

2. Houston is seriously giving some Run-N-Shoot flashbacks these days.  73 points?  Really?  Case Keenum had better be in New York when they start handing out statues, seriously.  A 6th year of eligibility because of a shredded knee and he's putting up Madden numbers.

3. About Cincinnati being the leader of the Big East....well....nevermind.  Hey Mountaineers, see you in the Big 12.  Wait till you meet a real defense, wait, that's the SEC.  Well, see you in the Big 12 anyway, we gonna have us some fun.

4. Have you ever see a score like 17 to 5 in a football game?  Yeah, the 17 is pretty normal, though rarely is enough to win a game in the Big 12, but 5?  Texas, did you really get a safety and lose? 

5. Good for your Nebraska.  Penn State can take their moral victory and "good effort by those kids in a tough situation" and shove it up their !@#$.  I hope they lose every damned game until every bit of Paterno's legend is trashed.  He sold his soul to preserve his reputation and now it's time to pay the bill.

6. Baylor really needs to recruit some defensive players too.  They can score as well as any offense in the country, but there is no way that the Kansas Jayhawks should put 30 points on any bowl eligible team.  Let alone should you have to rally to beat them.  Bears, you should be ashamed.

7. I am a bit pissed at ESPN and the rest of these networks that show games.  There is NO WAY that Michigan/Illinois should be on national television in front of FSU/Miami.  Say what you want about them being down, that is a top 5 rivalry.  Judge the history of the audiences for the game if you don't believe me.  2 of the top 3 viewed regular season games of ALL TIME were between these 2.  People love them, or people hate them, and some people hate them both, but people care.  Damn you for making us watch the Illini remind us all that they suck.

Oh, and that's 2 in a row and 5 our of the last 7 for the Noles. :)

It was ugly, but it came down to this. You do not win in this rivalry by controlling the clock.  The team with the playmakers wins, offense, defense, or special teams. It does not matter.  FSU had the playmakers at QB and they made the big plays.  Miami has a heck of a running attack, but didn't make plays.  If Al Golden can hold on, he and Jimbo will have this one on the national stage again in a heartbeat.  That said, this game was not as close as it appeared at the end.  Miami's last TD was a gift.  For once, Nigel Bradham put a clean hit, if overly vicious, and it should have ended Miami's attempted comeback right there. 

8. Uhm, boys, the DAWGS are back. I know they are in trouble in the SEC title game, but 45 on Auburn, well that's what LSU did.  Just saying.

9. Damn K-State is fun to watch.  Collin Klein for President.  Seriously though, this guy is like the Tim Tebow of College Football, except well, he can throw it where he wants to some times. :)

10. Did Oregon really just beat Stanford by 23?  I don't want to read to much into this, but this is a game where a Heisman level QB should have stepped up and kept his offense on the field.  Luck was pretty damned average looking in this game.  I know he doesn't have a top flight wide receiver, but if he was as good as they have been saying he was, this would have at least been tight.  There is NO WAY I take him as the number one overall.  That said, Stanford is S.L.O.W.  Their style can work, but they have to possess the ball and grind people like Nebraska used to.  40 rushes and a mound of blood pulp that used to be a defense.  That's the only way it is going to work for them.

Now onto this weeks. rankings.

1. LSU Tigers (10-0) SEC
2. Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-0) Big-12
3. Houston Cougars (11-0) C-USA
4. Oregon Ducks (9-1) Pac-12
5. Clemson Tigers (9-1) ACC
6. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-1) SEC
7. Arkansas Razorbacks (9-1) SEC
8. Stanford Cardinal (9-1) Pac-12
9. Oklahoma Sooners (8-1) Big-12
10. Boise State Broncos (8-1) MWC
11. Virginia Tech Hokies (9-1) ACC
12. Southern Mississippi  Golden Eagles (9-1) C-USA
13. USC Trojans (8-2) Pac-12
14. South Carolina Gamecocks (8-2) SEC
15. Georgia Bulldogs (8-2) SEC
16. Kansas State Wildcats (8-2) Big-12
17. Cincinnati Bearcats (7-2) Big East
18. Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-2) Big-10
19. Michigan State Spartans (8-2) Big-10
20. Penn State Nittany Lions (8-2) Big-10
21. Wisconsin Badgers (8-2) Big-10
22. TCU Horned Frogs (9-2) MWC
23. Michigan Wolverines (8-2) Big-10
24. Arkansas State Red Wolves (8-2) Sun Belt
25. Virginia Cavaliers (8-3) ACC
26. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-3) Independent
27. Rutgers Scarlett Knights (7-3) Big East
28. Louisiana Lafayette Ragin Cajuns (8-3) Sun Belt
29. Florida State Seminoles (7-3) ACC
30. Auburn Tigers (6-4) SEC

Conference Counts:
SEC: 6
Big-12: 3
C-USA: 2
Pac-12: 3
ACC: 4
MWC: 2
Big East: 2
Big-10: 5
Sun Belt: 2
Independent: 1

The SEC is still king, though I think these rankings are some inflated by the quality of last year's teams and the schedule credit it gets them.  The Big-10 is still full of solid, but not spectacular, teams and the ACC has clawed into third overall.  I would put them at the #2 overall football conference right now actually, because having 2 in the top 11 gives them legitimate top teams to vie for their BCS spot. 

Anyway, on to the next week and the next scandal.