College Football 2005 Week 10: The Winding Road to Pasadena

[JohnBM01]

It is time now to look to Week 10, GTPlanet. This week is good for a few reasons. A lot of Rivalry Games and bigtime matches are set up. It is also a time to ponder if another unbeaten will fall. Here's the introduction. And remember, I will now open college football discussion early so we can discuss the games. I'll offer up some upcoming games, and you're free to share your views. Here goes:


INTRODUCTION:

I may have never been to a bigtime party (except maybe a night at the nightclub back in 2003), but for what I know, any plans of Georgia keeping their unbeaten streak alive were certainly crushed by rivals Florida. Losing in a well-fought game is nothing to really be ashamed of. It was basically destiny smiling on Florida. This leaves one to wonder... is it possible for the remaining six unbeatens to finally accept their first defeat of 2005? Another good story last week was Rutgers winning a game in order to return to Bowl Eligibilty for the first time since 1978. Prior to 1978, they have never been to a Bowl Game. So for Rutgers, they can lose all their remaining games and still make it to the postseason. Now that Halloween is done, some teams will want to get into postseason play as a reward for having a great season. For the BCS-eligible schools, it's time to make a run for the Sugar, Fiesta, Orange, and especially Rose Bowls.


GTPlanet, I get my upcoming games from ESPNU and the Insiders' Football News with the College Football Preview on the cover. If any games are wrong, please correct me. This is your chance to discuss upcoming games, highlight on last week, or whatever.

UPCOMING GAMES:
* USC at Stanford
The boys from Los Angeles are going to meet the Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto, CA, maybe 30 or 40 miles southeast of beautiful San Francisco. Last year, USC had a slow first half against the Cardinal and nearly fell from grace. Stanford is not exactly a Pac-10 powerhouse, but if not UCLA, then Stanford can be the upsetter this weekend. The game will be on TBS on Saturday night, and don't forget those extra camera views if you have Dish.

* Miami at Virginia Tech ---RIVALRY GAME---
The Miami Hurricanes have the oppurtunity of a lifetime to beat one of their bitter rivals, Virginia Tech. Why care about this? Miami is #6, and Virginia Tech is #3. If VT loses this game, they can forget about a potential BCS bid. The Hokies have to rely on Marcus Vick and his O-Line to move the chains, have their defense defend the run and pass, and make solid special teams plays. The green, orange, and white are coming to Blacksburg, VA. Can you survive THESE hurricanes?

* UCLA at Arizona
Arizona upset Oregon State and have some momentum against UCLA. The Bruins know they are facing one of the Pac-10's worst teams, so this should be a piece of cake for them. Let's not jump to conclusions, though. Arizona may give UCLA a run for their money, and unlike Washington State or Stanford, get it done. The game's in Tuscon, AZ.

* Alabama at Mississippi State
Last year, the Crimson Tide finished 6-6, losing to Minnesota in the Music City Bowl. This year, Alabama beat Middle Tennessee State, Southern Miss, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Utah State. Mississippi State aren't exactly world powers in the SEC, but they face the only undefeated SEC team, Alabama. If my hometown Houston Cougars can beat MSU, then Alabama surely can. Or, can the Bulldogs upset the Tide, maybe? Remember last year? MSU upset Florida, bringing down the goalposts in an upset. So Alabama still isn't immune to an upset.

* Texas at Baylor ---RIVALRY GAME---
Any doubters of Texas beating Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout ate their words. Whoever would have thought that Texas was going to be and stay undefeated, making the Trojans sweat, is probably in Heaven by now. The Longhorns are ready to meet their rivals in Waco. The Baylor Bears got beautifully shut out by Texas Tech. Baylor can be BIGTIME heroes if they can knock off their Austin counterparts.

Preview over. Your ideas? Also, don't forget to come back here after Saturday's games to see my report.

 

[JohnBM01]

*+x+* GAME OF THE WEEK *+x+*
"Up For Grabs" Miami (FL) at Virginia Tech ---RIVALRY GAME---
How about this? We begin with one rivalry game with several others to follow. Miami and Virgina Tech abosutely, positively, gosh darned to hell HATE each other. Miami suffered a loss to start the season to rivals Florida State. Virginia Tech suffered a loss against... uh... the... oh, wait... they HAVEN'T lost yet! The Hokies hope to stay that way. But when you see Sebastien on the sidelines, you know you're dealing with the Miami Hurricanes. And the 'Canes want to have Thanksgiving come early, by cooking the Hokies in Blacksburg, VA. On paper, this will be a defensive slugfest, with Miami being better than VT in defense. Inside of two minutes in the 3rd Quarter, Marcus Vick tries to avoid getting a safety, ball fumbled in the End Zone as Miami led 27-0. Major upset in the works, baby! With 8:06 left in regulation, the Hokies prevent a shutout by setting up a beautiful 22-yard strike to the 2 yard line, and the touchdown to follow. It's 27-7, but still not over. Remember that Tennessee was shut out against LSU, got it together, took the game into Overtime, and stunned the Baton Rouge crowd. Can VT make their own miraculous comeback? Hell no. Another unbeaten falls in major leauge upset. (27-7; Miami (FL))

"Stone Cold Austin" Texas at Baylor ---RIVALRY GAME---
First Oklahoma, then Texas Tech, and now Texas. For three straight weeks, the Baylor Bears had to deal with three of the Big XII South's biggest talents. The green and gold of the Waco, TX unit welcome rivals Texas to town. What beef can Baylor have with Texas? Well, Austin is less than 100 miles south southwest of Waco. So a longish drive northbound from Austin gets you to the Big XII South's worst team. The Texas Longhorns have Kansas next week, but they need to get it done against the Waco boys before thinking about the games against Kansas and AT Texas A&M on Thanksgiving weekend. In the end, the Longhorns told the Red Raiders "whatever you can do, we can do better." And hot damn! They delivered. (62-0; Texas)

"Drowning Crimson Pool" Alabama at Mississippi State
Undefeated gets a bit boring sometimes, you know? You face all your opposition, and no one even comes close to finally beating you. Alabama knows that a loss anywhere between now and the final regular season game can cost them a BCS Bowl berth, not to mention a trip to Atlanta to play in the SEC Championship game. The Crimson Tide met the team in brown or burgundy- the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Last year, MSU upset the Florida Gators in an offensive shootout. Can they be the Northwestern of the SEC, in terms of pulling upsets? Could you believe Alabama led 3-0 at the half? Afterwards, this was all Alabama, all day. (17-0; Alabama)

"The Survival of the Finest" Stanford at Southern California
The USC boys have the Bowl Eligibility by this point. No problem. Next problem- Stanford. Last year, the Stanford Cardinal could have upset the USC Trojans in Palo Alto, CA. They could have really sent shock waves to the Los Angeles, CA outfit. But the tandem of Leinart and Bush came through to win. Now, this NoCal vs. SoCal battle is played in the Los Angeles Memorial Stadium, which hosted The Olympics back in the 1980s. (51-21; SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA)

"A Razzie Performance." #7 UCLA at Arizona
The city of Tuscon, AZ is well in the proverbial desert. But it is in this desert where you'll find a university who was once National Champions... in basketball. It's no doubt that Arizona is a great basketball school. For you football types, did you know that the Arizona Wildcats have a football team? Don't kid yourself. I'd rate them as second-worst in the Pac-10 in terms of today's talent. Their opponents are from the land of movies, celebrities, some talk show host with a crap load of cars, and those big letters that lie on some hill. The University of California-Los Angeles is home to an undefeated Bruins team. Against Washington State and Stanford, they rallied from behind to win. If they can keep this up, you may see great rallies against their final two opponents- Arizona State, and at Southern California (December 3rd). In the game, UCLA came back before from some distance. So, how does 52-7 sound when the game is at 4:09 in the Third Quarter? Some people probably feel that UCLA probably shouldn't even be in the Top 10 anyways. They fought hard and didn't give up, so obviously, this is a big plus for the Los Angeles boys. (52-14; ARIZONA)

"3,000 Yards to Graceland" UAB at (Alabama-Birmingham) at Memphis
The Blazers burned up the Memphis Tigers. (37-20; Alabama-Birmingham)

* Houston at Central Florida
UCF isn't so bad nowadays. A continued great performance, and the Orlando, FL outfit will make their first-ever Bowl Game. After a failed experiment in the MAC Conference, they are playing against a hotbed of Conference USA talent. This weekend, one of those hotbed teams are the team emblazoned with scarlet and white- the University of Houston. Unlike UCF, Houston's been to at least five Bowl Games, and led by the wonderful QB out of Stephenville, TX, Kevin Kolb. You can get a lovely view of Downtown Houston if from the correct angle. At Central Florida's Citrus Bowl, the Golden Knights got a good view of the kitties they want to tame. The Houston Cougars brought their mascot, Shasta, onto the field, hoping to make Bowl Game action. To be eligible, they will need to win two more games. After UCF, Houston has teams like Southern Miss, SMU (this should be easy), and rivals Rice. Being one step closer to Bowl eligibility will have to wait. A much improved UCF is got it done in Orlando. The spread is two, so Houston lost a well-fought match. (31-29; CENTRAL FLORDIA)

* Appalachian State at LSU
Ladies and gentlemen, the Mountaineers are in Baton Rouge, LA. But this isn't the Mountaineers of West Virginia (even though that would be a good matchup), it's the Appalachian State Mountaineers of the SOCON (Southern Conference). Appalachian State met up against Louisiana State. The Tigers want to make this game a blowout and think about a much bigger game- at Alabama next week. It was a blowout and a shutout. Next week for LSU- the undefeated Crimson Tide! (24-0; LOUISIANA STATE)

* Connecticut at West Virginia
Morgantown, WV. No, X-Play "fanboys," this is Morgantown, not Morgan Webb (who isn't even from the East Coast). Morgantown met basketball standouts, Connecticut... or at least their football program is making waves in recnt times. The Huskies are on the rise in football. While a National Championship isn't in their reach as of right now, they have a 35-3 Halftime deficit. Afterwards, WVU REALLY never looked back as the Mountaineers came up big, you dig? (45-13; WEST VIRGINIA)

* Tulane at Navy
Tulane aren't going to play in a temporary place. Instead, this is a Midshipmen home game, as the Green Wave lose another one. (40-21; NAVY)

* Rice at SMU
This is a battle between two of Texas's worst Division 1-A schools. Us Houstonians are probably wanting Rice to win by beating the Dallas boys of Southern Methodist University. However, it isn't as easy. The Rice Owls could have upset the Texas-El Paso Miners, but they didn't get the job done in Houston. The Mustangs are good for only one reason- they upset their rivals, Texas Christian University. These Mustangs got the V8 powerplants going, in trying to give Rice very little to cheer about. (23-7; SOUTHERN METHODIST)

* #23 California at #15 Oregon
The California Golden Bears lost to the Oregon Ducks in the Death Valley of the West Coast. (27-20, OT; OREGON)

"Nittany Lion's Den" #14 Wisconsin at #10 Penn State
This is going to be a big one. Two of the Big Ten's biggest talents the boys of Madison - the University of Wisconsin, and the boys of State University, PA- Penn State University. This is a battle of two veteran coaches as well. Barry Alvarez will have his final year as head coach for the Badgers, and they play in JoePa country, home to good ol' Joe Paterno. The Nittany Lions need to win this game in order to show that they are the power of the Big Ten this year. PSU have done a great job, and a win against a talented Badgers team can really sum up a season even if Penn State doesn't make it to a BCS Bowl this year. (35-14; PENN STATE)

* Pittsburgh at Louisville
Let's talk about America's Steel City, Pittsburgh. Whereas Ben Roethlisberger's boys are doing pretty well with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Pittsburgh Panthers started out losing three or four straight games. They got their break by blowing out Division 1-AA's Youngstown State. Louisville doesn't need a team like a Youngstown State to revive a down season. The Cardinals were ready to welcome the Steel City Kitties to maybe be crushed. At one point, the Panthers... no this isn't a misprint... was leading Louisville 20-19! But it wasn't until a 40-yard kick made things 22-20 in favor of Louisville. That was the halftime score. Afterwards, it was nothing new if you think Pittsburgh has had better seasons. The Cardinals had the record for most forced fumbles, with 9 with only 10 seconds left to play. (42-20; LOUISVILLE)

* Missouri at #25 Colorado
Colorado takes the Big XII North lead with a win against the Mizzou Tigers. The Buffaloes may meet Texas in Houston for the Big XII title game. Colorado is 7-2. (41-12; COLORADO)

* Tennessee at #8 Notre Dame
The Tennessee Volunteers lost four in a row and hasn't had a losing season in quite a while since Tennessee been undefeated in 1998. Notre Dame's Fighting Irish never looked better in recent years. (41-21; NOTRE DAME)

* Texas A&M at Texas Tech
Texas A&M lost to Iowa State of all teams. Iowa State isn't exactly Kansas or Baylor, but the Aggies are ready to splash Lubbock, Texas in Aggies Maroon. The Red Raiders aren't going to take kindly into anyone from College Station sporting Maroon. (56-17; TEXAS TECH)

"Talla-hassle in Tallahassee" North Carolina State at #9 Florida State
Chuck Amato's boys aren't exactly ACC contenders, but the NC State Wolfpack were able to shock the boys from Florida's capital of Talahassee. The Seminoles of Florida State took a saddening loss, but it was a big win for NC State. (20-15; North Carolina State)

"News Leak: Gators Roll!" Vanderbilt at Florida
Nashville, TN will miss Vanderbilt for a a night. Vanderbilt has a sleepover with Florida. Sleepover, you ask? Sure! Fun, games, talk about cute girls... but before all that hullabaloo, we have football action to decide. The Commodores are Vanderbilt's nickname. These Commodores look to bring the Gators to extinction. Remember that Florida came off of beating rivals Georgia, so their #13 rank is on the line. Into the proverbial Two Minute Warning of college football, Vandy had the ball trying to make the score 35-all... and they did. We look at Overtime as both teams connected touchdowns and PATs to make it 42-42, Second Overtime forthcoming. In 2OT, (49-42, 2OT; FLORIDA)

"Shell Yeah!" Illinois at Ohio State *+x for Illibuck x+*
A turtle is up for grabs. No, it isn't the mascot of the Maryland Terrapins. It is a cute turtle named Illibuck. You see, when rival schools were damn near trying to burn each other's campuses to the ground, Illibuck was actually a living trophy. Nowadays, Illibuck is now a wooden replica of the tortuga (Spanish for "turtle"). Ohio State is ready to make some shock waves as the Buckeyes play in Columbus, OH. Coming into Ohio State would be a team that could beat the Buckeyes... in basketball, Illinois. The Fighting Illini are in a ticked off mood and want to give Ohio State something to cry about and maybe call as either the "Most Disappointing Loss," or maybe even the "Upset of the Week." That was only a hallucination as the Buckeyes shown no mercy. Ohio State were good sports, so the Fighting Illini didn't last against THE Ohio State's offense and defense, both of which operating on 10,000 watts of Buckeye energy. (40-2; OHIO STATE)

* Iowa at Northwestern
You know, I'm going to admit. It does seem pretty fun following Iowa. Back around last year or so, the team I wanted to follow was Tennessee. But the Hawkeyes are quite amazing, showing that up. NW goes to 6-3 while Iowa drops to 5-4. Good news- still above 0.500 and only one game away from their Bowl Game aspirations. Other than that, the purple and white of Evanston, IL's Northwestern got it done big. Hawkeye fans shouldn't feel too bad. After all, great fight to the end. (28-27; NORTHWESTERN)

* South Carolina at Arkansas
Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks went from Columbia, SC to Arkansas. (14-10; South Carolina)

"Tar Control" #16 Boston College at North Carolina
It's an upset in Chapel Hill as the UNC Tar Heels sent Boston College packing up back to Chestnut Hill, MA. (16-14; NORTH CAROLINA)

* Toledo at Ohio
Let's talk about an OU of a different kind. (30-21; Toledo)

* Kansas State at Iowa State
This is a Big XII matchup between two Big XII North teams. Kansas State isn't the same #5 ranked team in the nation like they were when they played against Ohio State in a BCS Bowl Game a few years ago. But, the Wildcats aren't a disappointment. Personally, I think they can still get it together and make a Bowl Game bid. They are at 0.500 with a 4-4 record. A win here betters their Bowl Game chances, while a loss will make things tougher. But they play against the team that upset a Big Ten talent... not Texas over Ohio State, but Iowa's heartbreaking loss to Iowa State. The Cyclones are ready to blow the Wildcats right back to Manhattan, KS (also called "The Little Apple"). (??-??; IOWA STATE)

"The Magic Frieght Train" Michigan State at Purdue/Purdue at Michigan State
of West Lafayette, IN welcomed the Michigan State Spartans. At one point, MSU were undefeated, even getting a big win against also undefeated Notre Dame. Purdue had a breakthrough season last year, but the Boilermakers weren't looking as impressive this year compared to last. (??-??; PURDUE)

* BYU at UNLV
Brigham Young University can be found in Provo, UT. But let's face it. Not a lot of average people would know what Provo looks like, even if it slapped them in the face. The Cougars are going to play in a much more recognizable city, and that would be Las Vegas. Can one actually be able to go to the MGM Grand and the Bellago, AND attend school in the same city? YES! Las Vegas is truly a city that never sleeps (just like New York City), except their NCAA fotoball team, the Running Rebels. UNLV is 2-6 in the Mountain West. They haven't been able to manufacture a Royal Flush or shoot 7 or 11 against their opposition. Well, this is no time for show girls, bright lights, tall casino buildings, and money being wasted. It's time for some football, baby! (55-14; Brigham Young)

* Auburn at Kentucky
7-4. 6-5. 2-9. 2-9. 7-5. 4-8. 2-9. This has been Kentucky's win-loss ratio since 1998. The Wildcats went bowling in 1998 and 1999. Since then, they never came close despite the 2002 result. Losing season was never in Auburn's dictionary since 1998, and surely they aren't a losing team now. Auburn University and football are two things matched in Heaven. The Tigers are looking to return to a BCS Bowl since the shaft job they got in the BCS rankings last year. To many purists, this should be a cakewalk for Auburn. But do we really know how they'll do? Of course... THAT'S WHY YOU PLAY THE GAME! (49-27; Auburn)

* Colorado State at TCU
TCU goes to 8-1, keeping its ranking as the Horned Frogs roll through the Mountain West. The Rams, however, fall to 5-4 and are only one game away from being at 0.500. (33-6; TEXAS CHRISTIAN)

* San Jose State at Fresno State
San Jose State is not going to a Bowl this year as they fall to 1-8 while Fresno State's Bulldogs go to 7-1, beating the Spartans. (45-7; FRESNO STATE)

* Duke at Clemson
The Duke Blue Devils are afraid of absolutely nothing... except Clemson's Tigers. (??-??; CLEMSON)

"Boise n' da Hood" New Mexico State at Boise State
(56-6; BOISE STATE)

* Northern Illinois at Central Michigan
(??-??; Northern Illinois)

* Oregon Sate at Washington
(18-10; Oregon State)

* Minnesota at Indiana
The Golden Gophers sinked their teeth into the Hoosiers. (42-21; Minnesota)

* Akron at Ball State
The Ball State Cardinals made Akron's Zips hate themselves. (??-??; BALL STATE)

* Bowling Green at Kent State
Bowling Green is in Kentucky, but this is an Ohio Bowling Green, as they beat Kent State's Golden Flashes. (??-??; Bowling Green)

* Army at Air Force
(27-24; Army)

* Wyoming at Utah
The Cowboys of Laramie, WY didn't get the job done against Salt Lake City, UT's Utah Utes. Blowout. (43-13; UTAH)

* Florida Atlantic at Troy
FAU has only one win, and the Owls didn't get one against the Trojans of Troy. (??-??; TROY)

* Hawaii at Nevada
Hawaii is great for vacationing, but the Warriors doesn't have a great season. They didn't get any favors asked when the Nevada Wolfpack rampaged through Hawaii in Reno, NV. (3?-??; NEVADA)

* Tulsa at UTEP
The game to decide who will be on top of Conference USA West will be determined in this game. Tulsa is putting it down for maybe northeastern Oklahoma, and Texas-El Paso is putting westernmost Texas on the map. The Miners were ready to bring the Golden Hurricane into El Paso. The only question is, could the Golden Hurricane perform a Category 5 performance against the Miners? College Sports Television (CSTV) has the call for this game. And in the end, the Miners weren't minor in their effort. It was a Texas-sized effort against their Oklahoma counterparts. (41-38; TEXAS-EL PASO)

* Temple at Virginia
Does Temple NEED to play in Division 1-A with this kind of performance? The Owls met up against the Cavaliers. No, not LeBron James' Cavaliers, but the Cavaliers of the Virginia crew. (51-0; VIRGINIA)

* South Florida at Rutgers
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights done something they haven't done since 1978- be Bowl eligible. They met against former Conference USA team, South Florida, and give the Rutgers boys a highly uncomforting loss. The Bulls were unleased as the New Jersey boys met an improved Bulls unit. How improved? They blown out the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. So while still Bowl Eligible, the season still isn't over, boys. (45-21; South Florida)

* Buffalo at Miami University (Ohio)
Buffalo is winless as Miami-Ohio's Redhawks blanked the Bulls. (5?-??; MIAMI UNIVERSITY (OH))

* Arkansas State at Middle Tennessee State
The Blue Raiders of MTSU took down the Indians of Arkansas State. (-; MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE)

 

[JohnBM01]

"Southern Cooking" Southern at Texas Southern
Houston's worst football team in college is the Texas Southern crew. However, they met a team that's probably seen better times, and that would be Southern University of Baton Rouge, LA. This school is home to the Southern Jaguars. These Jags crossed the Texas/Louisiana border to come into America's 4th largest city- Houston, TX, to meet the Texas Southern Tigers in this SWAC matchup in this Black College Football matchup. As such, the game is played at the same school Houston plays at, which is John O' Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium. At least you know this- a Southern will win. But which? Southern, of course. Southern University's Jaguars were the better feline breed over the Texas Southern Tigers. Maybe Texas Southern can WIN a game if they schedule Savannah Sate. (44-20; Southern)

* Southeast Louisiana at Sam Houston State
Southeast Louisiana's Lions looked like chumps against Sam Houston State. Both teams are 3-5 after this game. (35-18; SAM HOUSTON STATE)

"Pace-Making Pacesetters" Pace at St. Peter's
GTPlanet, let's talk about St. Peter's of the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference. They welcomed Pace to St. Peter's College. Pace is a Division 2 school at about 2-7 heading into this game. St. Peter's is not having a great year. The Peacocks are 1-6 (just like my Houston Texans as of this date), so they won't likely be a playoff contender. Pace came in and took down the Peacocks with relentless fury as the Jersey City, NJ Peacocks are grateful for the win they had earlier in the year. Pace goes to 3-7, so obviously both teams stink. (37-28; Pace)

* Grambling State at Alabama State
Louisiana's Grambling State made Alabama State sorry they ever put GSU on their schedule. The Tigers are only 7-1 as the Alabama State Hornets fall to 6-3. (32-27; Grambling State)

* Southern Utah at South Dakota State
South Dakota State's Lumberjacks whipped Southern Utah. (??-??; SOUTH DAKOTA STATE)

* Mississippi Valley State at Alcorn State
The Delta Devils fought long and hard, but the Alcorn State Braves were too much today. (38-36; ALCORN STATE)

* Jackson State at Alabama A&M
The JSU Tigers shut down Alabama A&M in several different ways, I just can't name all of them because there were so many. (52-6; ALABAMA A&M)

* La Salle at Duquesne
Dismal La Salle lost again as the Explorers lost to Duquesne's Dukes. (??-??; DUQUESNE)

* Southeast Missouri State at Tennessee-Martin
Southeast Missouri State's Redhawks lost to the Skyhawks of Tennessee-Martin. (??-??; TENNESSEE-MARTIN)

* Charleston Southern at Gardner-Webb
The Running Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb had no answer to the (-; Charleston Southern)

* Villanova at Towson
Villanova plays in the Big East in basketball, and the Wildcats were nowhere near big against Towson's Tigers. (??-??; TOWSON)

* Citadel at Chattanooga
The Mocs of Chattanooga successfully tamed The Citadel's Bulldogs. (??-??; CHATTANOOGA)

* Wofford at Western Carolina
Western Carolina embarrased Wofford completely. (44-0; WESTERN CAROLINA)

* North Carolina A&T at Florida A&M
Florida A&M's Rattlers beat the N.C. A&T Aggies. (-; FLORIDA A&M)

* Norfolk State at Morgan State
Two teams have losing seasons, but the Norfolk State Spartans downed the Morgan State Bears. (24-21; Norfolk State)

* Samford at Tennessee Tech
The Samford Bulldogs doubled the spread over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. The win takes Samford to a 5-5 record, so the next game will be huge to be over 0.500. (42-21; TENNESSEE TECH)

* South Carolina State at Howard
The Howard Bison got blown out in their hometown of Washington, D.C. by the Bulldogs of South Carolina State. (23-9; South Carolina State)

* Eastern Kentucky at Murray State
Murray State's abysmal season continues as the Racers fell to the EKU Colonels. (43-7; Eastern Kentucky)

* Prairie View A&M at Arkansas-Pine Bluff
The Prairie View A&M Panthers made the Golden Lions look more like fool's gold. (34-7; Prairie View A&M)

* Furman at Georgia Southern
The Eagles beat the Paladins of Furman to go 7-2 on the year. (27-24; GEORGIA SOUTHERN)

* Youngstown State at Southern Illinois
The Salukis made very short work of the Youngstown State Penguins. (??-??; SOUTHERN ILLINOIS)

* UC Davis at Stephen F. Austin
The Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin whipped the now 5-4 UC-Davis Aggies. (27-17; STEPHEN F. AUSTIN)

* James Madison at William and Mary ---RIVALRY GAME---
The James Madison Dukes met their rivals William and Mary. Afterwards, the Tribe had to regroup. (30-29; James Madison)

* Harvard at Columbia
The pride of New York City fell at the hands of the Harvard Crimson. The Columbia Lions are still knee-deep in trouble. (55-7; Harvard)

* Massachusetts at Delaware
The Amherst, MA boys look to head into Newark, DE to beat the Blue Hens and make fried chicken out of the Blue Hens. Fried chicken, anyone? (??-??; Massachusetts)

* Marist at Iona
The Gaels of Iona College couldn't stop Marist's threats on offense and defense. (??-??; Marist)

* Monmouth at Saint Francis
The Red Flash whipped Monmouth's Hawks. (??-??; ST. FRANCIS OF PA)

* Illinois State at Missouri State
The Redbirds of Illinois State soared high to whip Missouri State's butt. The Bears couldn't bear down to win. (??-??; Illinois State)

* Drake at Valparaiso
The Drake Bulldogs of Des Moines, IA, made life Hell for the Valparaiso Crusaders... as if Valpo's season isn't bad enough. (??-??; Drake)

* Brown at Yale
Providence, RI's Brown Bears took down the Yale Bulldogs in this Ivy League match. (??-??; Brown)

* Colgate at Lafayette
Lafayette's Leopards were victorious against Colgate's Raiders. (-; LAFAYETTE)

* Portland State at Idaho State
Idaho State's Bengals didn't budge under pressure from Portland State. (??-??; IDAHO STATE)

* Coastal Carolina at Savannah State
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers roll again, this time over Savannah State's Tigers. (42-??; Coastal Carolina)

* Morehead State at Missouri-Rolla
Can the score be any closer? The Morehead State Eagles downed Missouri Rolla. (56-55; Morehead State)

* Sacromento State at Montana State
The Fighting Bobcats of Montana State didn't feel the sting from Sacromento State too much, so this was a piece of cake victory. (37-16; MONTANA STATE)

* St, Joseph's of Indiana at Austin Peay
St. Joseph's of Indiana made the Austin Peay Colonels pay dearly. They laughed all the way to the bank with a 9-4 record from this win. (42-14; St. Joseph's of Indiana)

* Robert Morris at Albany
The Robert Morris Colonials could not create a grand defeat of the Great Danes. Albany wins another game. (20-17; ALBANY)

* McNeese State at Texas State
The McNeese State Cowboys didn't stand tall against the Texas State Bobcats. (49-7; TEXAS STATE)

* Northern Iowa at Western Kentucky
This fight had to be decided in double overtime. During the double OT, the NIU Panthers beat the Hilltoppers of WKU by a field goal kick. (23-, 2OT; Northern Iowa)

* Southern at Texas Southern
Southern University's Jaguars were the better feline breed over the Texas Southern Tigers. Maybe Texas Southern can WIN a game if they schedule Savannah Sate.

* VMI at Richmond
They Keydets are 3-7 as the Richmond Spiders cleaned house. (38-3; RICHMOND)

* Princeton at Pennsylvania
The Princeton Tigers took down the Pennsylvania Quakers quickly, and effectively. (30-13; Princeton)

"Rumble in the Bronx" Bucknell at Fordham
The pride of New York City, NY is invested in the Fordham Rams. If you're a New Yorker, you can find Fordham University as being just east of the New York Botanical Garden. I love New York City, as it is one of my favorite cities in America and the world. When the Bucknell Bison came to the Big Apple, they put up three touchdowns on the Rams, but the Rams had one more to send the Bison back to Lewisburg, PA. (28-21; FORDHAM)

* East Washington at Cal Polytechnical
The East Washington Eagles returned to Cheyney, WA with a loss to the California Polytechnical Mustangs. (35-40; CAL POLYTECHNICAL)

* Chapman at San Diego
The San Diego Toreros are better than the Divison 1-A's San Diego State. Chapman didn't stand a chance. The Toreros are 9-1 with this blowout win. (60-12; SAN DIEGO)

* Cornell at Dartmouth
Big Red rolled over the Dartmouth Green. (??-??; Cornell)

* Maine at Northeastern
The Northeastern Huskies were at the bottom of the Food Chain as the Black Bears cleaned house. (??-??; Maine)

* Hampton at Bethune-Cookman
The Hampton Pirates traveled to Daytona Beach, FL to beat the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman College. And did you know that Hampton is 9-0 now? (24-10; Hampton)

* Nicholls State at Northwestern State
The Nicholls State crew made it happen against the Northwestern State Demons. (31-24; Nicholls State)

* Montana at Northern Arizona
Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ isn't happy to see the Montana Grizzlies blank the Lumberjacks at the Walkup Skydome (I believe that's the arena they play in). (23-0; Montana)

* Eastern Illinois at Tennessee State
The Eastern Illinois Panthers took down Tennessee State's Tigers down in a big way. (27-3; Eastern Illinois)

 

[JohnBM01]

MY COMMENTARY:

BIGGEST WIN(S) OF THE WEEK:
Penn State Continues Magical Season Penn State and Wisconsin was going to be the game to decide the Big Ten team of the year. And to think that Penn State was only 4-7 last year with before this year's BIG turnaround. Many of the top Big Ten powerhouses fell. And as of right now, the Big Ten race is between Penn State and Ohio State. But if there was a such thing as a "tie-breaker" in conference... remember who won OhSU at PSU? Penn State. Congratulations to Joe Paterno and his talented team.

MOST DISAPPOINTING LOSS(ES) OF THE WEEK
Damn it to Hell! Nebraska Lost to KANSAS!!! No, this isn't a typo. This is the truth. 40-15 was the score as the Lincoln faithful probably wants Callahan's head on a platter for losing this game. This isn't as bad as Northwestern spanking Michigan State, because Northwestern actually has a talented football team. But can you believe that Kansas is now only one game away from their first Bowl Game since 2003 (finished 6-7 in 2003)?

UPSET(S) OF THE WEEK (if any):
(1) Los Angeles Has One Unbeaten Finally Beaten And you thought Nebraska losing to Kansas was bad, check this out. Freaking Arizona, man. The Wildcats are not a football school, even though they've shown life at times in different seasons. I'm telling you. This isn't an upset; this is an embarassment. The thing is, did Arizona come to play? Or did UCLA break down like a lemon? Whatever the case, you lose to perhaps the worst Pac-10 team this season that isn't Washington. I'm sure stations like KTLA 5 in Los Angeles are going to be shocked as hell. (2) Virginia Tech Falls to Rivals Miami You know, I can imagine a Hurricanes fan or a Hokie hater chanting "Over-rated!" On ESPN, Lane Stadium had about as much excitement as the Super Bowl when the Hokies came out. When the game was played, it felt like Temple losing another game by more than 21 points. The Hurricanes certainly proved to have the stuff of champions and shown it in the worst way possible. In some respects, be thankful that the Hokies didn't get shut out. Other than that, these are the two big upsets I'm nominating. I wanted the Arizona deal to be the top upset, but normally, I rate "Upset of the Week" by a highly-ranked team that loses to someone weaker or not as favored. But I had to include both.

OWNAGE(S) OF THE WEEK:
Baylor OWNED by Texas Texas did better shutting out Baylor than Texas Tech did. Regardless, the same result:

Baylor = OWNED! (by Texas, 62-0)


FINAL COMMENTS:
To fans of Virginia Tech and UCLA, I'd like to say that since both teams went down and were previously unbeaten, both the Bruin and the Hokie fans should be proud of their teams' progresses since the season began. So you don't go undefeated. No big problem. All that has to be learned is that you take a bad day on the field and learn to bounce back from tough losses. Championship-caliber teams do this to give themselves a chance in future endeavors. Other than that, it's time to think rivalries soon! Until then, reply on!

 

[JohnBM01]

GTPlanet, Vanderbilt had a chance to upset Florida at "The Swamp" and as the ABC/ESPN networks talked about a questionable Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty Vanderbilt committed. When the action was replayed, it barely seemed like the player actually committed such a foul. Many feel (even though this is Vanderbilt) that Vandy got screwed. The Commodores eventually lose the game in OT to them Gators.

How do you all feel about this questionale Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty?

Of course, I want you all to get involved, so let's talk about this past week. You don't have to answer to all of them, just find one or two you're interested in, and send in a reply.

DISCUSSION TOPICS:
(1) What do you think about Penn State's magical season?
(2) Texas Christian University is in the Top 20. Considering they win out the rest of their games, how high can the Horned Frogs climb up the leaderboard? Could they be an underrated BCS buster?
(3) UCLA (was #5, now #14) lost to Arizona. Virginia Tech (was #3, now #8) lost to Miami. Both teams lost in blowouts. Question is, which loser dissapointed you the most- UCLA or Virginia Tech?
(4) If Alabama wins out, but gets denied a Rose Bowl bid, will they be the 2004 Auburn Tigers of 2005?

Let's talk about Week 10, people. Anyone care to start?