Three of the year’s great disappointments arose from the dead.
UCLA came into Saturday’s game 0-4, as a four-touchdown underdog against Penn State, the nation’s #7 team. The Bruins needed a miracle, and they got one – by piling up a 20-point lead in the first half. Penn State came roaring back with 30 points in the second half, but it was too little, too late. Penn State is still winless in their conference.
Florida got back on track by defeating #9 Texas. That kinda moves Texas into the “disappointments” category, without letting Florida escape the group.
The Longhorns and Penn State dropped completely out of the AP top 25. That’s harsh, given that the voters left Iowa State on the list. That may leave both teams underrated, but they have plenty of games left to prove the polls wrong. Texas plays #6 Oklahoma next, which should be revealing for both teams.
Clemson crushed North Carolina 38-10 for their first conference win. Screw you, Belichick.
Things did NOT get better for Oklahoma State. They suffered a four-touchdown defeat against Arizona. This appears to be a “lost season” for them.
Last week’s “most overrated” didn’t give us any reason to think otherwise.
I guess the week went fine for Georgia Tech. They had the week off.
Former #14 Iowa State can only wish they had the week off. Their undefeated record went down in flames. Last week I mentioned that they might have been able to sneak through undefeated, given their soft schedule, but they wasted no time bursting that bubble by losing to unranked Cincinnati.
#18 Florida State went into the fourth quarter down by 25 to Miami. They did rally in the final stanza, but not enough to win.
Overrated teams o’ the week
These five teams had the greatest differential between their poll ranking and the computer evaluation of their performance
- South Florida – ranked 24th, computer 52nd
- Georgia Tech – ranked 13th, computers 31st
- BYU – ranked 18th, computers 35th
- Memphis – ranked 23rd, computers 38th
- Iowa State – still ranked 22nd, computers 36th
Memphis provides the most interesting story on that list. They are 6-0, and they won big this week. I realize that 6-0 in the American Conference is not equivalent to 6-0 in the SEC or Big Ten, but its worth noting that one of their wins was against an SEC team. But here’s what’s interesting: if the season ended now, they would be one of the 12 teams in the playoff! The five highest-ranked conference champions get automatic bids, but only four conferences are really strong (SEC, Big 10, ACC, Big 12), so the fifth conference winner is frequently going to be a real long-shot. Boise State is often the best team outside of the Big Four, but they have struggled this year, so Memphis is currently the best team not in the four main conferences, with South Florida just behind them.
In the rest of the world:
For you gamblers, Oklahoma only beat Kent State by 44. That sounds like a big win, but the spread was either 45.5 or 46.5, depending on where you placed your bet.
Maryland blew a 20-0 lead by never scoring again. Washington won the game by scoring three TDs in the final quarter
Everything else pretty much followed the script.
Going into Saturday, only one team in the entire FBS had never held a lead in a single game: UCLA
That was a MASSIVE choke by Penn State.