First the 57-43. The only 5 teams still unbeaten remained perfect, 7 others won while 4 more were upset by unranked teams and 3 did not play. To wit:
No. 1 Ohio State (9-0) dominated No. 22 Penn State 37-17, No. 2 Boston College (8-0) came from behind to upend No. 8 Virginia Tech 14-10, No. 7 Arizona State (8-0) beat No. 18 California 31-20, No. 12 Kansas (8-0) moved by Texas A&M 19-11, and No. 16 Hawaii (7-0) ripped New Mexico State 50-13.
Seven other leaders recorded victories, including No. 5 Oregon over No. 9 USC 24-17, No. 6 West Virginia over No. 25 Rutgers 31-3, No.13 Missouri over Iowa State 42-28, No. 17 Texas over Nebraska 28-25, No. 19 Michigan over Minnesota 34-10, No. 20 Georgia over No. 9 Florida 42-30, and No. 23 Auburn over Mississippi 17-3.
Four teams were upset by unranked teams, including No. 11 South Florida falling to Connecticut 22-15, No. 14 Kentucky falling to Mississippi State 31-14, No. 15 South Carolina falling to Tennessee 27-24 in overtime, and No. 21 Virginia falling to North Carolina State 29-24.
The 3 teams that did not play were No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 22 Alabama.
Then the 6-0. The 6 ranked losers which were beaten by other ranked teams-Virginia Tech, Florida, USC, California, Penn State and Rutgers-now have zero chance at playing in the BCS national championship game.
Some important notes from the sidelines:
1) Points, and lots of them, seem to be a common theme this season. Scores have become ridiculous, as witnessed over the weekend when Weber State beat Portland State 73-68 in the highest-scoring game in NCAA history. The score could have been a basketball game.
2) Three unbeaten teams are serious about scoring and defending. Ohio State averages 34 points scoring and gives up only 9 points per game. Kansas scores 42 and gives up 10. Arizona State scores 36 and gives up 15.
3) Ohio State is No. 1 in total defense (yards allowed), Kansas is No. 5 and Arizona State is No. 19.
4) The once bright future of the California Bears and Coach Jeff Tedford just suffered their 3rd straight loss.
5) The Florida Gators and 43-year-old Coach Urban Meyer just dropped their 3rd loss in 4 games to Georgia 42-30. You remember Urban. Prior to this season his career record was 61-12 (83%).
He led Bowling Green to 8-3 and 9-3 seasons, led Utah to 10-2 and 12-0 records and two Mountain West Conference titles, and led Florida to 9-3 and 13-1 seasons during his first two years, winning the BCS national championship last year.
This year he is now 5-3. Southeast Conference opponents have seen Florida for two years under Meyer and have begun to figure out how to stop his Gators. Welcome to the always nasty SEC Urban and break a leg on the way to practice.
6) You can pretty much forget the USC supremacy trip. Pete Carroll's reign as the toast of the nation and Hollywood is all but over. USC is about to join the great unwashed at 6-2.
There are now at least 25 Division I schools with better records than 6-2. The road ahead for USC includes Oregon State (The Civil War), California, still unbeaten Arizona State and UCLA, all salivating at a chance to humble the Trojans.
7) Coach Steve Spurrier's great comeback at South Carolina has hit a brick wall with its overtime loss to Tennessee, handing the Gamecocks their 3rd loss.
8) Expect a Northwest earthquake Saturday when No. 7 Arizona State invades No. 5 Oregon. Expect road kill in the South as No. 3 LSU invades No. 22 Alabama. First year Coaches Dennis Erickson at Arizona State and Nick Saban at Alabama will have their hands full.
9) My poor alma mater Michigan State is now officially sucking pond water and folding faster than a K-Mart deck chair, losing 3 of its last 4 after starting the season at 4-0. The Spartans have folded almost every year for the last too many years.
I believe Mark Dantonio will turn things around at MSU, just not this year. The Spartans lost to Wisconsin by a field goal and then lost in overtime to Northwestern and Iowa.
Dantonio apparently inherited more slugs than a Northwest garden. For the uninitiated, a native Northwest slug is a tough-skinned, slow-witted terrestrial (as in ground crawling) mollusk that lacks a shell and secretes a film of mucus.
In football, speed kills. Dantonio needs more speed everywhere, and he needs some players who, if they do not want to win badly enough, refuse to lose until they learn how to win. Culture might be an academic subject, but on the football field it is all about environment, a winning environment.
10) The Washington Huskies did the unthinkable Saturday, they lost at home to Arizona, 48-41, and are now 2-6. Ty Willingham's charges must now win their last 5 games to finish 7-6 and earn a bowl bid.
Is it possible? Anything is possible with parity, but do not ask the Huskies, ask their next 5 opponents: Stanford, Oregon State, California, Washington State and Hawaii.
The Huskies are short on wins, full of mistakes and flat out of excuses. They are exciting to watch, full of explosive offense, a crappy defense and have started to develop a stench from losing.
A word to the wise: If the Huskies cannot get a victory, they need to get angry, very angry, legally violent and start hitting players and hurting players. Hurt your opponent enough and they will not be able to run over you, around you and by you.
If you cannot tackle or will not tackle, sit on the bench and write letters home to your mother about how tough it is to be a Husky at Washington.
I do not know about you, but I am not going to get kicked in the face 45 times before I get up and hurt somebody. I do not care if they are bigger or more talented, they are going to get hurt, and hurt bad.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley