Musings from the Coast

And then there were three

Arizona State and Boston College left the ranks of the unbeaten today. The SEC took on the sisters of the weak in non-conference play (and people critize Big 10 schedules! Ha!) LSU survives again, barely. Oregon, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas impressed today. It’s nearly certain 50% of the MNC game will have at least one loss.

OSU Opponent Watch

Youngstown State (6-4) – Played Indiana State away, won 40-7. Conclusion: Expected Win.
Akron (3-6) – Played Bowling Green away, lost 20-44. Conclusion: Expected Loss.
Washington (3-6) – Played Stanford away, won 27-9. Conclusion: Unexpected Win.
Northwestern (5-5) – Played Iowa at home, lost 17-28. Conclusion: Unexpected Loss.
Minnesota (1-9) – Played Illinois at home, lost 17-44. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Purdue (7-3) – Played Penn State away, lost 19-26. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Kent State (3-6) – Bye week.
Michigan State (5-5) – Played Michigan at home, lost 24-28. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Penn State (7-3) – Played Purdue at home, won 26-19. Conclusion: Expected Win
Wisconsin (7-3) – Played Ohio State away, lost 38-17. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Illinois (7-3) – Played Minnesota away, won 44-17. Conclusion: Expected Win
Michigan (8-2) – Played Michigan State away, won 28-24. Conclusion: Expected Win

Buckeye opponent’s records after the 9th week, 62-55. After 7 weeks of conference play, Ohio State and Michigan have no losses and are in contention for the Big 10 championship. Congratulations to Indiana who will likely have a chance to “play 13” as Coach Hep inspired them to do, today they became bowl eligible. With a win today, Iowa is now a win away from bowl eligibility, a very unlikely event given the team’s start. Northwestern and Michigan State still need a win a piece to place themselves in a bowl situation. It is possible that 10 of the 11 Big 10 teams will be bowl eligible at the end of the season.

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: Ohio State, Kansas, and Hawaii. The Warriors didn’t play, the Jayhawks destroyed the Huskers, and the Buckeyes thumped the Badgers today. Utah State and Florida International maintained their perfect records with zero wins between them this year.

Projected BCS Top 5: Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon, and West Virginia.

Game of the week? Michigan beat Michigan State 28-24, scoring 14 points in the last 6 minutes of the game. Runner-up: Navy beat Notre Dame in 3OTs to end a 43 year losing streak.

Mismatch of the week? Kansas de-pantsed Nebraska 76-39.

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