And then there were two
Ohio State left the ranks of the unbeaten today. Let’s see how Ohio State’s opponents did, get some commentary on the Big 10 race, review the Top 12, and finally the Bottom 5.
OSU Opponent Watch
- Youngstown State (7-4) – Played Western Illinois at home, won 31-24. Conclusion: Expected Win
- Akron (4-6) – Played Bowling Green at home, won 48-37. Conclusion: Unexpected Win
- Washington (3-7) – Played Oregon State away, lost 23-29. Conclusion: Expected Loss
- Northwestern (6-5) – Played Indiana at home, won 31-28. Conclusion: Unexpected Win
- Minnesota (1-9) – Played Iowa away, lost 16-21. Conclusion: Expected Loss
- Purdue (7-4) – Played Michigan State at home, lost 31-48. Conclusion: Unexpected Loss
- Kent State (3-7) – Played Northern Illinois away, lost 20-27. Conclusion: Expected Loss
- Michigan State (6-5) – Played Purdue away, won 48-31. Conclusion: Unexpected Win
- Penn State (8-3) – Played Temple away, won 31-0. Conclusion: Expected Win
- Wisconsin (8-3) – Played Michigan at home, won 37-21. Conclusion: Unexpected Win
- Illinois (8-3) – Played Ohio State away, won 28-21. Conclusion: Unexpected Win
- Michigan (8-3) – Played Wisconsin away, lost 21-37. Conclusion: Unexpected Loss
Buckeye opponent’s records after the 10th week, 69-59. After 8 weeks of conference play, Ohio State and Michigan each suffered their first conference loss and will play for the Big 10 championship next weekend. Congratulations to Michigan State, Iowa, and Northwestern who became bowl eligible. For the first time since 1959 both Ohio State and Michigan lost before their rivalry game. This weekend, 10 of the 11 Big 10 teams are now eligible for bowl play. The Big 10 is so tough, it’s tough to make it through conference play undefeated.
Quick Hits from Around College Football
These are the undefeated survivors; give them credit for standing tall when others are losing games they should win: Kansas and Hawaii. The Warriors thumped Fresno State and the Jayhawks outscored the Cowboys. Utah State and Florida International maintained their perfect records with zero wins between them this year.
Projected BCS Top 5: LSU, Oregon, Kansas, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.
Game of the week? Central Michigan beat Western Michigan 34-31. The teams combined to score 48 points in the final stanza.
Mismatch of the week? Virginia humiliated Miami 48-0 in their final game in the Orange Bowl stadium.
My Special Top 12 rankings: (Why Top 12? That’s where you need to be to get into BCS contention.)
- Kansas – Outscored Oklahoma State.
- Oregon – Knocked out Arizona State.
- Oklahoma – Thumped Baylor.
- Arizona State – Slipped past UCLA.
- Missouri – Beat Texas A&M.
- Ohio State – Spit the bit losing to Illinois.
- West Virginia – Outlasted Louisville.
- LSU – Obliterated Louisiana Tech.
- Virginia – Killed Miami.
- Georgia – Rallied to beat Auburn.
- Illinois – Upset Ohio State.
- Hawaii – Oulasted Fresno State.
My Special Bottom 5 rankings: (Why bottom 5? If you finish there you should be relegated to I-AA)
- Notre Dame – 1-9 this season. Lost to Air Force.
- Florida International – 0-9 Bye week.
- Utah State – 0-10 this season. Lost to Boise State.
- Colorado State – 1-9 this season. Lost to New Mexico.
- Minnesota – 1-10 this season. Lost to Iowa.
In the coming week I’ll post an Michigan/OSU preview, a game review of Michigan/OSU, and a Weekend Update Sports edition.
Tweet
Do you think this loss is going to hurt Ohio State or help them? I’m leaning towards them being really angry and thumping the wolverines. Hopefully. Go Bucks!
Well Bucks, I think it will have them extra focused for that game up north. But as you know, throw out the records and throw out the stats, this is a contested rivalry and you know Hart, Henne, and company will want to send Coach Carr out a winner and avoid the career 0-fer themselves.
I’m still working through my thinking, but I believe they’re too injured to pull it out and the Bucks win a too close for comfort game heading into bowl season. What do you think?