I was pulling for formerly undefeated #19 Army, but they lost by 35. You should not be surprised. That result was foreordained. They were two-touchdown underdogs, and I’ll bet the bookies lost a lot of money on people who bet Notre Dame to cover.
The playoff picture went topsy-turvy
Formerly undefeated Indiana was demolished by THE Ohio State University, 38-15. That too should be no surprise. Their ten wins have ALL come against teams that will likely finish at .500 or below. Their presumed 11th win will be against lowly Purdue, which is on a streak of ten consecutive losses, having failed to win a single conference game this year. Indiana somehow managed to escape all of the other strong teams in the Big 10. There are five other teams in the conference with overall records of 7-4 or better, and Indiana had not played a single one of them until they ran into the Ohio State buzzsaw. Since they are likely to finish 11-1 and play in a super conference, Indiana will still make the playoff, but they will be one of the lower seeds, and will probably get blown out in the first round.
Oregon has clinched a spot in the Big 10 conference championship game. Their opponent will be Ohio State if the latter can defeat Michigan next week. If Michigan wins that game, Penn State will get a shot (assuming a victory in their final game). Oddly enough, Penn State could actually finish as high as third in the nation, but also third in their own conference!
It was a great week for Georgia, which has clinched a spot in the SEC championship game, since three of their top rivals lost to teams with mediocre records:
- #7 Alabama lost 24-3 to Oklahoma (5-5 before the game) and dropped to #13 in the polls;
- #9 Ole Miss lost to Florida (5-5 before the game) and dropped to #15 in the polls;
- #15 Texas A&M lost to Auburn (4-6 before the game) in a game that lasted as long as a cricket match, but without the tea breaks.
Oddly enough, A&M (now #20 in the polls) can still make the SEC conference championship game with a victory over Texas. Tennessee will get shut out of the conference championship, but will make the playoffs for the national championship, assuming they can beat Vandy next week. If Texas beats A&M next week, the SEC will probably get only three teams into the national playoff. That’s a shocker. They had been expecting five before Alabama and Ole Miss fizzled. (The computer ratings don’t agree with the polls. They indicate that the SEC has 6 of the top 12 teams, but computers do not get to vote.)
At this point four teams are tied for the Big 12 lead, with four more teams just a game behind, so it’s impossible to say who will be in the championship game. Here’s an overview of some of the more common possibilities. If Arizona State wins next week, they will play for the championship, an automatic spot in the playoffs, and possibly even a first-round bye if the Mountain West champion is lower in the national rankings.
The most likely playoff scenario now includes four teams from the Big 10, three from the SEC, Notre Dame, two from the ACC, plus the Big 12 champion, and probably Boise State.
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Kent State watch.
The Golden Flashes dropped to 0-11.
Perhaps you don’t understand just how bad their season has been:
* They have the worst defense of the 134 FBS teams
* Just to demonstrate their balance, they also have the second-worst offense. They can finish last in the nation on both sides of the ball by scoring ten fewer than Houston next week.
* In the computer ratings, they finish lower than the other 133 FBS teams and 90 FCS teams!
This is going to sound like biased apologist fan analysis, but it’s worth noting that special teams cost IU three touchdowns in that game.
If the punter catches that snap late in the first half and punts the ball away instead of fumbling it and falling on it at the IU 7, it easily could’ve been 7-7 at the half.
If IU doesn’t blow its punt coverage on the first punt in the second half, maybe they get another stop on the ensuing drive. OSU’s first half possessions went Punt, TO on Downs, TD, Int, and the aforementioned garbage TD on the botched punt. Momentum is a bitch.
And finally, OSU’s last TD of the day was set up by a pointless onside kick. With IU down 16 and only 1:53 left, the game was over. Cignetti had to try the kick, but the game was already over at that point.
Obviously the Hoosiers needed to do a better job protecting Rourke, and they should’ve gone to the run game sooner. IU’s top two backs outgained OSU on the ground 140 – 110, and 40 of OSU’s rushing yards came on the first play after the failed onside kick when the game was already over. Yes, I realize you don’t have to run the ball when your QB is 22/26 passing, but out-rushing OSU shows the Hoosiers at least hung with the big boys in the trenches.
IU was never going to win that game (and they’re not supposed to), but the final score certainly wasn’t indicative of how the game was played. As much as Paul Finebaum hates to admit it, a few boneheaded big plays made a huge difference in the outcome.
Also, what was the point of this… “Indiana somehow managed to escape all of the other strong teams in the Big 10. There are five other teams in the conference with overall records of 7-4 or better, and Indiana had not played a single one of them until they ran into the Ohio State buzzsaw.”… when you didn’t post the same rant about Texas?
There are currently EIGHT other teams in the SEC with 7+ wins, apart from Texas. The Longhorns are currently ranked #1 in the nation, but avoided all the major challengers in the SEC except Georgia (30-15 Loss) and Texas A&M, who they play on Saturday. I guess that’s just what happens when you only play 8 conference game in a 42-team mega conference. Somehow it’s OK if it’s one of the perennial power teams though, but not ok for IU.
Nah….Texas is no. 3
You’re correct. Texas is in the exact same position as Indiana. They skated through the SEC without facing the toughest teams, except for their loss to Georgia. I could also have pointed out that Notre Dame played an easier schedule than either Indiana or Texas, and lost to a team that is not among the top 100 in the nation.
But there are only so many hours in the day.