October 15, 2006
Thoughts On College Football — Midseason
We’ve seen a lot of football happen over the last few weeks. Michigan and OSU continue their dominance, probably leading up to a #1 vs #2 matchup in the final game of the season. Of course, that’s assuming that Michigan doesn’t get ranked #2 and then upset, like Texas, Notre Dame, Auburn, and Florida have. It’s not a good season to be ranked #2!
Those haven’t been all the upsets, though. Just this last weekend, we saw Indiana defeat Iowa, Vanderbilt take down Georgia, and Auburn knock off undefeated Florida. Oh, and Rutgers, though a very slight underdog to Navy, absolutely embarrassed them, 34-0. This year, Illinois has been the center of upset-land. They upset Michigan State, then were upset by Indiana, followed by getting upset again against a weak Ohio team from the MAC.
In the Big Ten, Michigan State is in a tailspin, as is Northwestern. One of those teams has to recover this coming weekend, though, because they’re playing each other. Illinois looks to be firmly down in the cellar with them. In between that group and OSU/Michigan is a big middle section. Wisconsin appears to be the most solid team of that group, followed by Iowa, then maybe Purdue and PSU (Purdue has an offense and horrible defense, PSU has a defense and horrible offense), followed by Minnesota and Indiana. Ohhh, Indiana. How I thought pre-season that you’d again be in the Big Ten cellar. In fact, when Coach Hep instructed the fans to “Defend the Rock”, I was among the first to laugh at you:
Yeah, I laughed. And then you upset Illinois on the road. No big deal, it’s Illinois. But Iowa came to town, and you defended the rock! You took down a top-15 team that just a week ago pounded Purdue for 60 straight minutes? I don’t know what to say? Thanks, perhaps, as an Iowa loss could help Purdue in the Big Ten standings. But it won’t help us much if you come to Ross-Ade Stadium on November 18th and beat the Boilers! I had that game as a guaranteed Boiler victory, and now I have to question it. Thanks a lot.
Around the NCAA, Oklahoma saw the rest of its season go down the tubes with Adrian Peterson’s broken collarbone. USC again went down to the wire and dodged a bullet. On can’t expect them to continue doing this, especially when they hit the stretch of games against Oregon, Cal, and Notre Dame. We’re down to 5 major unbeatens, two of which must end up with a loss (Michigan or OSU, and Louisville or WVU, who play each other at the end of the year). Depending how this plays out, we could see as many as three unbeaten teams, and possibly as few as 1, and in a very unlikely scenario, even none. The BCS could be a mess again this year if either scenario plays out.
Yesterday, Purdue had it’s best win of the season, beating Northwestern by double-digits on the road. It was one of those “statement” games, which is exactly what we needed after the 30-point road loss to Iowa. But things are looking a lot tougher this weekend, when 6-1 Wisconsin comes to Ross-Ade. The only loss they have is to Michigan, and they look to be formidable on both sides of the ball. Initially, I look at this as a probable loss. With Wisconsin looking even tougher than Iowa, I’m worried that Purdue will have to play the game of their lives just to stay in it. But I saw something odd tonight. The opening odds have Purdue as only a 4.5 point underdog. 4.5 points? I thought we’d be a 10 point dog. Maybe, just maybe, they know something I don’t. I hope so, because I’d love that sort of surprise!
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Texas was not upset. OSU was #1 and won the game. The end, and yes, it’s a tough year to be #2.
Yep, you’re right… My bad.
I do believe that Texas was favored to win the game though, so I guess it depends on your definition of “upset”.
Brad, btw, while the Bobcats of Ohio University aren’t going to be challenging their big brothers in Columbus for state supremacy any time soon, they aren’t a bad football team. This is the third consecutive year they beaten a team from a BCS conference and earlier this season handed Northern Illinois its first loss of the season to a team not ranked #1 (In DeKalb, no less).