Upset Saturday
Monday, September 21, 2009 15:54
Wow, what a difference a week makes. BYU, darling of the college football world after their upset of Oklahoma, are slaughtered at home by Florida State. The Cougars subsequently plummeted in the polls, all but knocking them out of the BCS Bowl picture. The same goes for Utah, finally losing a game after a second-straight lackluster performance and dropping out of the rankings altogether.
It wasn’t just the non-major conference schools that disappointed, however. In college football of all sports, a win is not simply a win, especially when you’re expected to dominate. That was the case for Florida, favored by thirty points over rebuilding Tennessee. Sure, the Gators remain on top of the polls, but now their overall strength must be questioned? How will they fare against a top-tier opponent?
I always felt Lane Kiffin received a raw deal in Oakland, just another victim of Al Davis’s megalomania. Whether his incendiary comments earlier this year were poorly worded missteps or intentional PR grabs (as Kiffin claims), Tennessee’s new coach has brought excitement back to the Volunteers. Mark my words, his team will be good before his first recruiting class are seniors.
Speaking of letdowns, USC once again was tripped up in a trap game. Trojan fans can point to starting quarterback wunderkind Matt Barkley being out with an injury, but the loss deals a severe blow to Southern Cal’s national title hopes. Not so harsh as the one dealt to BYU–SC could yet recover–but a blow nonetheless.
Speaking of which, kudos to the Washington Huskies! A year ago, 0-12. So far in 2009, Steve Sarkisian has them 2-1 and back in the rankings (AP Pool only) after a long absence. Sarkisian is well on his way to clinching coach of the year, spearheading this remarkable turnaround.
Miami’s rapid ascension of the charts continues, as the Hurricanes now clock in at #9 on the AP Poll with their second straight victory over a team in the rankings. Not bad for a team that started the season unranked. Does Miami deserve to be in the polls at this point? Absolutely. As high as #9? I don’t know. We’ll see where the Hurricanes stand two weeks from now, after they’ve played first Virginia Tech and then Oklahoma. The Hurricanes are surely running the gauntlet, facing four ranked opponents in their first four games. If Miami makes it to 4-0, they will unquestionably deserve at least that Top Ten ranking, if not higher.
Despite the BYU and Utah losses, all is not lost on the BCS Buster front. Boise State and TCU continued to roll, while newcomer Houston had a bye. And the mighty, mighty MAC-tones scored another shocker with Northern Illinois taking down Purdue. Again, not a top-notch team, but still a good small conference victory over a BCS school. Who does the MAC think they are? The MWC? Although the best of the best of the BCS teams remain just that, each year we’re seeing the talent gap close between the lower level major conference schools and the cream of everybody else.
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September 29th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
[...] do I start? Last week I questioned whether Miami’s rapid ascent up the rankings was too much, too fast. It turns out it was, with the Hurricanes taking a sound beating from Virginia Tech. The same can be [...]