NCAA College Football Week 12 Recap
Saturday, November 17, 2012 23:21
A look back at Week 12 of the 2012 NCAA College Football Season.
And Then There Was One (Sort Of)
It’s a sad commentary on the state of college football that whenever a team is successfully–especially if said team has only recently risen to success–and especially if said team has recently risen to success very quickly–that one immediately begins to wonder if less than fully kosher activities at that university are afoot.
Sadly, that exact thought came to mind when pondering the return of the UCLA Bruins. I am neither a UCLA fan or hater, but I really, really like how Jim Mora has revitalized the Bruins program and am impressed by how quickly has done so. And then those doubts crept in…doubts that have nothing to do with anything Mora and/or UCLA has done specifically and everything to do with college football as a whole.
Fortunately, we live in a society of innocence until proven guilty and we have yet to learn otherwise in regards to UCLA. I would be thrilled for that to remain the case.
The latest stage in the resurgence of the Bruins came today when UCLA finally knocked off archival USC, one of only three Top 25 match ups on the schedule–two of which took place between Pac-12 teams, speaking of resurgence (outside of the Trojans, Oregon Ducks and the Stanford Cardinal, the Pac-12 conference itself had been somewhat lean in recent years).
Indeed, coming into the weekend, those two Pac-12 showdowns appeared to be the only truly interesting games to be played. And for the most of the day–including that USC-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl–that was exactly the case.
Until the finals set on the slate that is. And those late starts made everything else seem insignificant, for the top two ranked teams in the nation, the Kansas State Wildcats and Oregon Ducks both fell.
At least the Ducks can still hold their disappointed heads somewhat high, falling to #13 Stanford in overtime 17-14. But Kansas State? The Wildcats were blown out 52-24 by a Baylor Bears squad that came into the game next to last in the Big 12. To be so close to a potential national tile game and choke that badly, after taking on all previous and better comers with ease? Ouch.
And with the Ducks and Wildcats eliminated from the ranks of the unbeaten, only the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (and the ineligible Ohio State Buckeyes) remain. It’s been 300 weeks since Notre Dame sat atop the AP poll–a very long time for one of college football’s most storied programs.
On another note…once again the other big news of the college football weekend arises from off the field. The Big 10 has spoken with Maryland and Rutgers about potentially joining the conference. Nothing final yet by a long shot, but just when one thought conference realignment had been put to bed for awhile, it raises its ugly head again. And rest assured that if these two teams do indeed jump ship for the Big 10, the conference realignment dominoes will ripple throughout the NCAA FBS.
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