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What a week it was in College Football. If you spent last Saturday glued to your couch, you were treated to some pretty big games/action/results. One of our featured match ups; #16 FSU vs #1 Clemson certainly lived up to the hype. FSU took an early 10-3 lead and looked like they were cruising to an upset of #1 Clemson at the half. But, Clemson, to their credit, dug in and came back in the second half with the win. #13 and undefeated Memphis was upset by the midshipmen, thus ending the AAC's dreams of crashing the playoff party. #7 and undefeated Michigan State gave up two touchdowns late in the fourth to give unranked Nebraska the upset, and dealing Sparty's playoff hopes a serious blow. But, the biggest upset by far was #8 and undefeated TCU's loss to #14 and undefeated, but not much respected, Oklahoma State. This loss not only buries TCU's Playoff hopes, it probably killed Trevone Boykin's Heisman hopes.
In what was supposed to be the match up of the week; #2 and undefeated LSU and Heisman hopeful Leonard Fournette, took on 1 loss, #4 Alabama, and lost big. Really big. Derrick Henry ran for over 200 yards and three touchdowns, while the Crimson Tide defense held Fournette to 31 yards and 1 touchdown. Alabama has solidified their place in the hunt for the Playoffs with that emphatic win.
We can only hope to be treated to such fireworks today. The playoff picture is certainly starting to clear itself up, and these teams are looking to solidify their places in that chase.
#8 Oklahoma State at Iowa State - 12:30pm, ESPN
~ Coming off a huge win over TCU, Oklahoma State is lucky enough to catch a bye week before facing #6 Baylor, followed with a date with #12 Oklahoma to close the season. The only problem with that is Iowa State probably doesn't appreciate being called a bye week. And thus, the Cowboys find themselves in the very definition of a trap game.
#2 Alabama at #17 Mississippi State - 12:30pm, CBS
~ The Crimson Tide faces it's toughest remaining match up against the Bulldogs in Starkville, with apologies to Auburn and the yearly Iron Bowl. Then again, there is the SEC championship game looming . . . Ok, who writes this tripe? Oh. Yeah. Ok, so here's the real skinny; this is only one of two games featuring two ranked teams.
Oregon at #7 Stanford - 4:30pm, FOX
~ This has been a marquee match up in previous years, and one which often determined the winner of the Pac 12 championship. Oh, how the mighty Ducks have fallen. But! the Ducks are starting to gel under QB Vernon Adams now that he is healthy. They have put up 60+ points in three separate games this year. Most recently, against ASU. Meanwhile, Christian McCaffery has quietly inserted his name in the Heisman race. And, I'll point out, McCaffery has almost identical numbers at this point in the season that Reggie Bush had in his (vacated) Heisman season.
#12 Oklahoma at #6 Baylor - 5pm, ABC
~ The Big 12's #2 and #3 teams face off at Waco. While the Sooners are the traditional powerhouse in this match up, it is the Baylor Bears that are undefeated and the team to beat. After losing to lowly Texas in the Red River Rivalry, the Sooners have quietly gone about their business and played some very good football. They manhandled KSU, and Texas Tech, two teams the Bears and Horned Frogs struggled against. They undoubtedly took Oklahoma State's lesson to heart, and are looking to pull off the upset. And, they have a good shot despite playing an away game.
Washington State at #19 UCLA - 7:45pm, ESPN
~ As always, Duh. The Bruins enter the critical part of their season, facing some of the toughest games we will have faced all season in back to back to back games. In year 4 of the Mike Leach era at WSU, the Cougars are starting to look like some of Leach's prolific Texas Tech teams. They have firmly inserted themselves at the top of the Pac 12 North standings, having beaten Oregon but fallen to Stanford. The Bruins have bounced back from tough losses and too close for comfort wins by beating up on two Pac 12 cellar dwellers. Have we really improved? Were the last two wins merely fool's gold? We have a tough test against the Cougs to help us improve before the two back to back finals exams looming ahead.
Feel free to take a look around the SBN mothership and see what everyone else is talking about this weekend.
ESPNU
Louisiana-Lafayette
ESPN
Virginia Tech
Georgia Tech
ESPN2
USC
Colorado
ESPNN
Pittsburgh
Duke
CBS
Georgia
Auburn
(11) Florida
South Carolina
SECN
Tennessee
CBSS
Texas
West Virginia
ABC
(3) Ohio State
Illinois
FS1
Kansas
(15) TCU
Maryland
(13) Michigan State
BTN
Purdue
(18) Northwestern
ASN
ESPN3
Akron
FSN
UTEP
Utah State
NC State
(16) Florida State
Virginia
Louisville
FCS
PAC12
Washington
Arizona State
Miami (FL)
(23) North Carolina
NBC
Wake Forest
(4) Notre Dame
ABC/ESPN2
(1) Clemson
Syracuse
(2) Alabama
(17) Mississippi State
(8) Oklahoma State
Iowa State
Nebraska
Rutgers
Kansas State
Texas Tech
(14) Michigan
Indiana
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
Western Carolina
Texas A&M
Arkansas
(9) LSU
FOX
Oregon
(7) Stanford
BYU
Missouri
Cincinnati
(12) Oklahoma
(6) Baylor
Minnesota
(5) Iowa
(10) Utah
Arizona
Boise State
Oregon State
Cal
Washington State
(19) UCLA