Musings from the Coast

Here’s the update from this weekend’s college football action. Subtitle for this weekend’s action? The underdog bites. Eight of the Top 25 teams lost, seven to unranked teams, and four lost at home.

OSU Opponent Watch

Youngstown State (4-1) – Played Missouri State at home, won 49-21. Conclusion: Expected Win
Akron (2-3) – Played Connecticut on the road, lost 10-44. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Washington (2-3) – Played USC, at home, lost 24-27. Conclusion: Closer than Expected Loss
Northwestern (2-3) – Played Michigan at home, lost 16-28. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Minnesota (1-4) – Played Ohio State at home, lost 7-30. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Purdue (5-0) – Played Notre Dame at home, won 33-19. Conclusion: Expected Win
Kent State (3-2) – Played Ohio on the road, won 33-25. Conclusion: Good Win
Michigan State (4-1) – Played Wisconsin on the road, lost 34-37. Conclusion: Tough Loss
Penn State (3-2) – Played Illinois on the road, lost 20-27. Conclusion: Unexpected Loss
Wisconsin (5-0) – Played Michigan State at home, won 37-34. Conclusion: Quality Win.
Illinois (4-1) – Played Penn State at home, won 27-20. Conclusion: Good Win
Michigan (2-2) – Played Northwestern on the road, won 28-16. Conclusion: Tougher than Expected Win

Buckeye opponent’s records after the fifth week, 36-22. After 2 weeks of conference play, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan have no losses and are in contention for the Big 10 championship. Surprisingly, after two weeks, Iowa and Penn State are out of contention. After next week, there will be at least 2 fewer undefeated conference teams as Ohio State travels to Purdue and Illinois and Wisconsin tangle. Michigan gets a directional Michigan foe, which they should win easily. But if they spread the field, all bets are off. We’ll know alot more about the conference race this time next week.

Quick Hits from Around College Football

Teams that look like mythical national championship (MNC) contenders from week 5: LSU and California.

These are the undefeated survivors; their play to-date and/or competition level leaves room for doubt:
USC, Ohio State, Arizona State, Boston College, Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Kansas, Purdue, Kentucky, Missouri, Connecticut, South Florida, and Hawaii .

These teams are the “Top 10” of the 1 loss club:
Oklahoma, Florida, West Virginia, Oregon, Illinois, Clemson, Texas, South Carolina, Michigan State, and Georgia

Game of the week, there were so many to choose from it’s silly. The one I enjoyed the most from a competition perspective was Michigan State at Wisconsin. Wisconsin won 37-34. Not much defense was played and it wasn’t decided until late. Michigan State is MUCH improved and will surprise teams this year and in the future.

Mismatch of the week, Texas Tech humiliated Northwestern State at home, 75-7. And, the losing team had to go to Lubbock…..adding insult to injury.

My Special Top 12 rankings: (Why Top 12? That’s where you need to be to get into BCS contention.) This week, the rankings changed dramatically from last week. Undefeated teams get the benefit of the doubt. Once there are fewer than 12 undefeated teams, the one loss crew can start to creep back in. But for now, one loss and you’re history.

LSU – A workman like win over Tulane. I was mildly surprised that Tulane scored 9 on their defense.
California – A good win over a tough Oregon team that seemed to self-destruct.
Ohio State – A suffocating win over a team with a good offense and lousy defense.
USC – Escaped Seattle with a W. Makes the Buckeye win a couple of weeks ago look better.
Boston College – Tougher than expected win over Massachusetts of IAA.
South Florida – Has West Virginia’s number.
Wisconsin – Still concerned about the defense, especially after this week.
Kentucky – Would you have believed they would be here in week 5?
Missouri – They just keep winning. Early season win over Illinois looking very good.
Purdue – Next week will tell if they go up, or fall out of these rankings.
Arizona State – Look for them to reach 7-0 without much trouble.
Cincinnati – Say what you will, but they’ve proved it on the field thus far.