Musings from the Coast

The cream rises to the top.

Guess we now can say with certainty, the SEC is grossly over-rated. This is a league of one lucky team LSU surrounded by mediocrity. That Kentucky loss isn’t looking so good now, eh? Mark it down, the SEC will be lucky to have one team without 2 losses by the end of the season. Conversely, Oregon, Boston College, Kansas, Arizona State, and Ohio State are for real. There’s still alot of football to be played, no doubt. But why don’t we confine our talk of “good” teams to the ones who actually win on the field rather than coast on media bias?

OSU Opponent Watch

Youngstown State (5-4) – Played Northern Iowa away, lost 13-14. Conclusion: Unexpected Loss.
Akron (3-5) – Played Buffalo away, lost 10-26. Conclusion: Unexpected Loss.
Washington (2-6) – Played Arizona at home, lost 41-48. Conclusion: Unexpected Loss.
Northwestern (5-4) – Played Purdue away, lost 17-35. Conclusion: Expected Loss.
Minnesota (1-8) – Played Michigan away, lost 10-34. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Purdue (7-2) – Played Northwestern at home, won 35-17. Conclusion: Expected Win
Kent State (3-6) – Played Central Michigan home, lost 32-41. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Michigan State (5-4) – Played Iowa away, lost 27-34 in 2OT. Conclusion: Unexpected Loss
Penn State (6-3) – Played Ohio State at home, lost 17-37. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Wisconsin (7-2) – Played Indiana at home, won 33-3. Conclusion: Expected Win
Illinois (6-3) – Played Ball State at home, won 28-17. Conclusion: Expected Win
Michigan (7-2) – Played Minnesota at home, won 34-10. Conclusion: Expected Win

Buckeye opponent’s records after the 8th week, 57-49. After 6 weeks of conference play, Ohio State and Michigan have no losses and are in contention for the Big 10 championship. With every other team in the conference having at least two losses, the Big 10 Championship and a BCS berth will come down to November 17th Ohio State at Michigan. Should be a good one. Many Buckeye opponents suffered bad losses this week, the most surprising was Michigan State’s late meltdown against Iowa after having the game firmly in hand for 3 quarters.

Quick Hits from Around College Football

For the first time this season, all of the undefeated teams survived, not that they weren’t tested. These are the undefeated survivors; give them credit for standing tall when others are losing games they should win: Arizona State, Boston College, Ohio State, Kansas, and Hawaii.

Projected BCS Top 5: Ohio State, Boston College, LSU, Oklahoma, and Arizona State.

Game of the week? Texas beat Nebraska 28-25, scoring 28 points in succession late in the game.

Mismatch of the week? Toledo destroyed Northern Illinois 70-21.

My Special Top 12 rankings: (Why Top 12? That’s where you need to be to get into BCS contention.)

Ohio State – Destroyed Penn State.
Boston College – Inspired 4th quarter comback against Virginia Tech.
Arizona State – Rallied past California in the second half.
Kansas – Held off Texas A&M.
Oregon – Beat USC.
West Virginia – Dominated Rutgers on the road.
Oklahoma – Bye week.
Missouri – Held on against Iowa State.
LSU – Bye week.
Connecticut – Upset South Florida.
Michigan – Thumped Minnesota.
Hawaii – Hung 50 on New Mexico State.

My Special Bottom 5 rankings: (Why bottom 5? If you finish there you should be relegated to I-AA) Marshall got a win this week and leaves the Bottom 5, for now.