Sunday, November 18, 2007

Can this College Football Season be any crazier… YES!!!

Let me start by stating that I have been putting of this entry for way to long. The first time that I thought about writing this topic was when USF beat Auburn at home. It was after this game that I realized that unranked teams were performing really well against ranked opponents; cough, cough Appalachian State Vs. Michigan, arguably the biggest upset of all time. Then more time passed and the season got wilder and before I knew it USF found themselves ranked number two in the country. ‘Are you kidding’ I thought to myself ‘this is the strangest top 10 ever.’ However, I still managed to push the entry off till this past Thursday (11/15) when the unimaginable happened; No. 2 Oregon was upset by unranked Arizona. Not only did Oregon lose they suffered a bigger loss as Heisman front runner Dennis Dixon limped off the field in the first half and did not see the field of play again.

It now seems that No. 2 ranking is a cursed spot as Oregon is the fifth number two team to fall this season. It is not only surprising how many number two teams have fallen but the way by which they fell. All of those five teams lost their ranking by losing to an unranked team. That is unprecedented! According to their ranking these teams should only be bettered by one other team in college football, and that is the No. 1 ranked team. Instead, they all lost to teams outside the top 25 in the nation! The struggles have extend to more than just the second ranked team in the nation as eleven times this season a top-five team as lost to an unranked opponent.

What really pushed me over the edge this week was the injury to Dennis Dixon. He was in the backfield ready to leave the pocket and juke an Arizona defender when he collapsed after he knee gave out without anyone touching him. That’s right; arguably the best player in College Football injured himself by getting his foot “caught in the grass.” Now the notion of a curse on the second ranked team in the nation doesn’t seem so silly. Dixon then watched the rest of the game from the sidelines in street clothing and underwent an MRI on Friday (11/16). Coach Mike Bellotti is anything but optimistic as he said "I think he's probably done for the year" after Thursdays 34-24 loss to Arizona.

Kansas, the No. 2 team in the latest AP poll, may want pass on their highest ranking in school history and stay at their current ranking, No. 3, with the results of No. 2 teams so far this season. Regardless of where the BCS will rank the Jayhawks their next game will be the most important in their schools history; as they will play their Big-12 rival Missouri who is No. 3 in the latest AP poll. The game will determine the winner of the Big-12 North and who will go to the conference championship game with national title aspirations.

So with one week left in the regular season is there anyway that things can get even more unpredictable. The answer is a resounding YES! The No. 2 (Kansas) and 3 (Missouri) teams will meet each other and square off for the Big-12 North title in Kansas City’s Arrowhead stadium.

Arizona State (9-1) controls the Pac-10 race as they face off against USC, No. 11 this thanksgiving.

Virginia Tech, No. 8, can still earn a spot in the ACC Championship game with a win over instate rival Virginia, No. 16.

The WAC conference champion will also be decided this week as the undefeated Warriors, No. 14, face Boise State, No. 17 at home with possible BCS implications.

So buckle up the finally is going to be a wild ride!

5 comments:

Barbi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mrnoncontactsports said...

That has truly been the best part to the season is that any given week any team can win. That is the exact opposite of what happened last year when Ohio State and Michigan were #1 and #2 all year till their last games. This year it is anyones championship, they will just have to step it up down the stretch.

Barbi said...

Despite the showing of Miami, I absolutely loved this college football season. Huge upsets and bouncing back from them is what playing the sport is all about and we have been waiting for it to happen in college football for years! I love that this season, the teams most likely to play for the BCS championship will have at least one loss.

Barbi said...

Despite the showing of Miami, I absolutely loved this college football season. Huge upsets and bouncing back from them is what playing the sport is all about and we have been waiting for it to happen in college football for years! I love that this season, the teams most likely to play for the BCS championship will have at least one loss.

YankeeCane7 said...

I don't know exactly how I feel about this college football season. Although the upsets are great, what it causes is a national championship game and other big bowls that will have teams that most people do not want to or will not watch. Will Missouri be a bigger draw than LSU? Like I said, I think upsets are great, but maybe not to the extent of this years upsets. It's like the Final Four in basketball, it's nice to have one Cinderella team make the final four, but would anyone want to see 4 unknown teams? Probably not. And it definitely won't help TV ratings.