Overall Record: 81-39 (67.5%)
Week 12 Stream of Consciousness: Fresno State is no pushover, and Boise beat them 51-0, holding the Bulldogs' prolific offense to just over 200 total yards. Say whatever you want about the schedule. When this team is on, they are really, REALLY good... Wisconsin's win at the Big House was just its second in last 20 tries... Stanford has solidified its place as one of the best one-loss teams in the country. Andrew Luck is on fire, even after losing RB Toby Gerhart off last year's record-setting team... Iowa came close to knocking off the Buckeyes, but came up just short, again - last year Iowa seemed to pull out through the close ones. This year, not so much... Virginia Tech will make the trip to Charlotte for the ACCCG for the 4th time in 6 years, to face either NC State or Florida State... It took Arkansas two overtimes to dispatch Mississippi State, another indication that the Bulldogs are on the way up under Dan Mullen. The Hogs are a win against LSU away from third place in the toughest division in football... Jimbo Fisher's team is one NC State loss away from advancing to the ACCCG, a remarkable achievement for the first-year head coach... Speaking of which, the Wolf Pack defeated instate rival UNC to take control of its own destiny in the ACC Atlantic. Hats off to coach O'Brien, whose tenure at the school after leaving Boston College has been full of too many downers... At Wrigley Field, the offenses could only go one direction down the field due to cramped quarters in one endzone, which the Illini did quite well, racking up over FIVE HUNDRED yards rushing on Northwestern.
Week 12 WTF?!?
WTF, Big Ten officials? Your PR stunt at Wrigley brought attention, that's for sure... But how on earth did it take you all the way up to 36 hours before kickoff to decide that having one endzone just a foot and a half from a (lightly padded) brick wall was unsafe? Kudos on changing it up to avoid fractured skulls, but seriously? Your planning team needs some brains, methinks.
Double WTF to Big 12 officials / the Brothers Pelini. Officials: your calls sucked. What you were thinking picking up a pass interference call feet from the Nebraska bench on third-and-5 from the 15 is a mystery. Idk what you were on when calling Huskers CB Courtney Osborne for a roughing the passer penalty on a key third down later, but I want some of it. Pelini boys: two words. CALM DOWN.
This week's sign of the apocalypse:
The following is the field of 0-loss teams' scores against opponents (as of week 12) with a winning record:
- Team A: played 10 games, beat 4 winning teams
- 33-30 vs 9-2 team
- 57-14 vs 7-4 team
- 42-7 vs 8-3 team
- 51-0 vs 6-4 team
- average score = 46-13 vs. 0.698
- Team B: played 11 games, beat 5 winning teams
- 27-24 (OT) vs 6-5 team
- 35-27 vs 8-3 team
- 37-34 vs 6-5 team
- 65-43 vs 9-2 team
- 24-17 vs 10-1 team
- average score = 38-29 vs. 0.709
- Team C: played 11 games, beat 6 winning teams
- 45-10 vs. 7-5
- 41-24 vs. 6-5
- 31-3 vs. 6-5
- 38-7 vs. 8-4
- 47-7 vs. 9-2
- 40-35 vs. 7-4
- average = 40-14 vs. 0.688
- Team D: played 11 games, beat 2 winning teams
- 52-31 vs. 10-1
- 53-32 vs. 7-4
- average = 53-32 vs. 0.773
So, given this data, can you match Auburn, Boise State, Oregon, and TCU to A, B,C, and D?
Obviously, wins over other good teams is a much better measure than wins over poor teams. In this department, Team D obviously lags behind, and Teams B and C are in the lead (Team C has more wins, but against opponents not-quite-as good as Team B.) But if you're looking for margin of victory, Teams A and C are definitely the best. So which team is which?
Team A is Boise State.
Team B is Auburn.
Team C is TCU.
The number 1 team in the BCS, Oregon, is Team D.
Strength of Schedule arguments, I rest my case. As for you, Ohio State president Gordon Gee, take a look at your own teams' "strength of schedule" (beat 5 winning teams vs. 0.636, lost 1 vs. 10-1 Wisconsin) before berating other schools as "Little Sisters of the Poor."
Game of the Week: Texas A&M 9, Nebraska 6
Sideline antics already referred to above, now is my time to gloat.
GOTW Record: 8-4 (75%)
Why I was right:
- Nebraska's offense just isn't the same while Taylor Martinez is out, and it showed against the much-improved A&M front. Nebraska still gained over 300 yards, but the quarter-and a half without the star QB really hurt the Huskers.
- A&M's offense rarely found room against the stifling Cornhusker defense, completing only one long pass in the game. But the running game was solid (or, I should say, Cyrus Gray was solid; without him, the Aggies gained a grand total of 1 yard on the ground) and the kicking game was perfect.
- Penalty margin killed the Huskers, 16-2.
- The two turnovers deep in Aggie Territory were momentum-breakers, and the Husker D could not come up with takeaways of its own.
- An A&M record crowd of over 90,000 (and over 31,000 students) made Kyle Field shake for the last time this season.
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