Code Orange

Update 9:24 PM

By the way, this will not be the first time Maryville has played in 4 straight state titles. They also played in the state title game 4 straight times between 1976-1979, winning it in ‘76 and ‘78, both against Brentwood Academy. Maryville is going for their 11th state title in 37 years and is playing in their 14th title game (they have 8 additional semifinal appearances. Think about that. In 37 years, they have reached AT LEAST the semifinals 22 times).

Update 9:13 PM

Here are some stats:

First downs: 22 first downs for Maryville, 21 for South

256 yards rushing, 255 yards passing for Maryville for 511 total yards.

264 yards rushing, 86 yards passing for South for 350 total yards.

Maryville also picked up 6 of 7 third down conversions. The only one they missed was that 3rd and 15 on their 2nd drive of the game. On every other drive Maryville put it in the endzone save the two drives that ended in fumbles.

The backbreaker in this game was when South was down 28-14 and inside the Maryville 10 yard line and fumbling the ball away. Maryville then rushed all over South for 94 yards and went up 3 touchdowns. From that point, South had to take more risks offensively to try to get back into it, and it just didn’t work, and the defense just couldn’t stop Maryville’s rushing game for the rest of the contest.

Just one other bit of trivia. This is, as far as I’m aware, only the 2nd meeting between these teams. The only other meeting was in the first round of the 1995 playoffs when Maryville won 17-10.

Update 9:09 PM

And it’s over, 48-21. Maryville goes on to the state championship for the 4th straight year and for the 7th time in 8 years as they win their 59th straight.

The 21 points ties South’s lowest offensive output of the year along with South’s only other loss when they lost to Greeneville 24-21. The 48 points is twice the previous high number of points South has allowed this season - with that 24 points by Greeneville being the previous high.

Meanwhile, this is the 5th time Maryville has scored over 40 points and the 2nd straight week they have done so. Maryville has now scored 100 points in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds in the playoffs. The 21 points by South ties the 2nd most points Maryville has allowed this season, tying Knoxville West at 21 points, and is only beaten by the 30 points Maryville allowed against Knoxville Halls.

Update 9:04 PM

Maryville intercepts Phillips for the first time tonight and returns it 50 yards for a touchdown. It’s now 48-21 with only 22 seconds to go.

Update 9:01 PM

Maryville fumbles it again when trying to put the game and South recovers on the Maryville 10 with 2:05 to go. However, with the score sitting at 41-21, South probably just doesn’t have enough time.

Update 8:54 PM

South forgoes the onsides kick and kicks it off. However, Maryville returns it back to their own 47 yard line.

Update 8:52 PM

Phillips gets his 3rd touchdown of the game as South finally is able to get down the field again to make it 41-21. But there is only 5:57 to go in the game.

Update 8:44 PM

Maryville quickly runs all over South once again and what had been a pretty close game is turning into a rout as it’s now 41-14 Maryville (Maryville pissed the PAT).

Update 8:41 PM

Sullivan South goes for it on 4th down on their own 38 yard line and fails to convert.

Update 8:38 PM

South takes a fair catch on the kickoff at the 32 yard line as South now has their work cut out for them as they now will have to score 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter plus have to stop Maryville’s offense.

Update 8:36 PM

Maryville gets a 39 yard touchdown run to probably score the game-clenching touchdown as Maryville runs all over South on a 94 yard drive to take a 35-14 lead.

Update 8:29 PM

South gets the kickoff and takes it out to the 36 yard line. South was held to a 3rd and 6 but South is able to get their first completion down field down to the Maryville 31 yard line. Maryville is able to tackle South for a 7 yard loss on the next play, putting South back into a hole. However, on 3rd down South once again hits another pass down field down to the 19 yard line. South then passes it down to the 5 yard line, only to fumble and Maryville recovers just as South is about to bring the game back to within one score.

Update 8:20 PM

Maryville marches into South’s territory then is held to 3rd and 10, but picks it up down to the 22 yard line. The next play Maryville tosses it into the endzone for another Maryville touchdown and it’s 28-14 Maryville.

Update 8:16 PM

It’s time for the 2nd half and South pooch kicks the kickoff and Maryville starts their drive at their own 40.

Update 7:50 PM

Maryville gets the ball again at about the 30 and engages in their hurry-up offense and quickly get down to South’s 20 yard line. However, Maryville fumbles the ball and South recovers and so Maryville not only doesn’t score a touchdown, they can’t pick up any points. As a result, Maryville goes into halftime with a 21-14 lead on Sullivan South.

Update 7:45 PM

South runs all over Maryville as Phillips picks up his 2nd rushing touchdown of the game. It’s now 21-14 Maryville with 1:21 to go in the 1st half.

Update 7:35 PM

Maryville gets another bomb, this time for 59 yards and it’s now 21-7 Maryville.

Update 7:31 PM

South ends up going 3-and-out on their next drive and is forced to punt to Maryville. Maryville gets the ball at their own 29 yard drive to start their next drive.

Update 7:27 PM

Maryville throws a 62 yard touchdown pass to take a 14-7 lead.

Update 7:24 PM

It was a first down, and South Quarterback Curt Phillips gets a big gain down to the 11 yard line for another first down. On the next play Phillips runs it in for a touchdown for Sullivan South and they make it 7-7 with 11:37 to go in the 1st half.

Update 7:21 PM

South RB Taylor Fletcher rushes the ball twice and picks up 20 yards and puts South back into Maryville territory. End of the 1st quarter, 7-0 Maryville over South. It’ll either be 3rd and inches or 1st and 10 for South around the Maryville 30 yard line.

Update 7:18 PM

Two straight plays for losses puts Maryville in a hole, putting them in a 3rd and 15 and South is able to cause an incompletion. We have a the first 3-and-out of the game courtesy of the Sullivan South defense. Maryville punts and South returns will get the ball on their own 40 yard line. 1:25 to go in the 1st quarter.

Update 7:15 PM

South moves the ball into Maryville territory, but once again after a single first down the drive stalls. South attempts a fake punt, but it fails and Maryville gets the ball back.

Update 7:11 PM

By the way, the South quarterback Phillips also returns kicks and plays Linebacker. South gets the ball over the 40 yard line on the kickoff after a pooch kick.

Update 7:09 PM

Maryville mixes up passes and rushes and is able to pick up two 3rd downs on the drive to march the field and strike first. It’s Maryville 7 South 0. 5:49 to go in the 1st quarter.

Update 7:03 PM

Maryville kicks and South gets a touchback and gets the ball at the 20. Sullivan South gets down to about the 45 yard line before having to punt the ball away. Maryville calls for the fair catch at their own 25 yard line. Now Maryville goes on offense for the first time.

6:58 PM

Well, it’s the Rebels vs. the Red Rebels. Here we go. Sullivan South, my high school, vs. the 3-time defending state champion with the 58 game winning streak.

My former high school, Sullivan South, is in the Tennessee State semifinals for only the 2nd time in it’s history.  The first time was in 1993 when a RB/DB combo player named Jeremy Osborne carried the team to a 12-0 record into that game - the last time Sullivan South finished the regular season undefeated.  Osborne ended up going to Furman, one of the few Division I prospects to come out of this northeast Tennessee high school.

Well, tonight once again South is in the semifinals, though this time they aren’t undefeated - they’re 12-1, having avenged their only loss of the season last week in the quarterfinals against Greeneville 41-21.  This team is also lead by a Division I commit - Curt Phillips - who has been described as Tennessee High School’s Tim Tebow, and is heading off to play at Wisconsin next year.  He’s also a Mr. Football finalist in the state, having scored at least 21 points in every single game this season.  He has 3,788 total yards this season - 1,748 on the ground and 2,040 in the air.  He also has 36 rushing touchdowns and 17 passing touchdowns to 7 interceptions this season (that’s 53 total touchdowns if you don’t feel like doing the math).

However, like in 1993 when they were faced 2-time state champion Cleveland - who ultimately defeated South 28-0 - they play 3-time defending champion Maryville this time.  Maryville is a team who has won 6 of the 7 seven state titles and ride a 58 game winning streak into this game.  Their last loss was in the 2003 state semifinals by a field goal.  Maryville too has a Mr. Football finalist - Brent Burnette -  Maryville’s senior quarterback who is very pass happy - and very good at it hitting 200 of 291 passes this season.  He’s looking at possibly going to UNC, Virginia, and MTSU.

With the biggest threat in the west half of the state (Hillsboro) eliminated last week, the winner of this semifinal should be favored in win the state title next week in Murfreesboro.   However, this game may also determine who will win the Mr. Football award at the back position in Class 4A.

If I can find this game on the radio anywhere online I’ll try to blog it, but prospects seem rather dim on that front (unless I want to pay for it).

Update at bottom.

While the teams who got into the I-AA tournament may not be all that surprising, I found the seeding to be a little shocking.

The first 3 seeds were not surprise: #1 Northern Iowa, #2 McNeese State, and #3 Montana all finished the season undefeated. Also, Southern Illinois being picked as the #4 seeded wasn’t wholly surprising given they were the only 1-loss team in the nation, and whose only loss was to Northern Iowa.

However, from that point, the surprises start coming.

9-2 Massachusetts and 9-2 Richmond were both seeded higher than 9-2 Appalachian State, despite Appalachian State’s Week 1 victory at Michigan. Massachusetts was given the #5 seed while Richmond was seeded #6. Appalachian State was seeded #7. Delaware, which lost this past weekend to Villanova, was given the #8 seed, giving Colonial Athletic Association teams 3 home games in the first round.

After that, Delaware State, which was ranked only one spot behind Delaware before the Blue Hen’s loss this past weekend, is seeded 9th, James Madison, another CAA team, is seeded 10th, Eastern Kentucky is seeded 11th, and Fordham is seeded 12th.

Rounding out the final 4 seeds are Eastern Illinois, Wofford, Eastern Washington, and New Hampshire, which became a record 5th CAA team in the tournament.

Youngstown State, who was ranked ahead of both New Hampshire and Eastern Illinois in the Coaches poll, were left out of the tournament, though apparently there is usually resisitence against putting 4-loss teams into the tournament if possible.

That makes the Bracket thus:

#16 New Hampshire at #1 Northern Iowa
#9 Delaware State at #8 Delaware
#12 Fordham at #5 Massachusetts
#13 Eastern Illinois at #4 Southern Illinois
#14 Wofford at #3 Montana
#11 Eastern Kentucky at #6 Richmond
#10 James Madison at #7 Appalachian State
#15 Eastern Washington at #2 McNeese State

Is it me, or was this bracket structured around making it as hard as possible for Appalachian State to win a 3rd straight title. First off, most people not only thought that Appalachian State probably wouldn’t be seeded that low, but could possibly jump Southern Illinois for the 4-seed due to SIU’s lack of strength of schedule and ASU’s win over Michigan. That obviously didn’t happen. Also, even though neither of ASU’s losses weren’t bad (to Wofford, who is in the tournament, and to Georgia Southern, who probably only didn’t make it because they lost to a I-A team this past weekend), apparently both Richmond and UMass have a bad loss on their record, which makes their being seeded over ASU surprising.

This also means, barring upsets, ASU will only get one home game - and that’s against probably the best team not playing at home in the first round in James Madison. If they win that game, they have to face undefeated McNeese State in the 2nd round instead of a 10-1 and more-equal-to-them Southern Illinois, who they would have faced if they were the 5 seed.

Basically, if everyone wins as they should, and ASU still wins the title, they will have definitely earned it, since they potentially have to defeat all three remaining undefeated teams left in I-AA to get there.

One also has to wonder if the first round matchups were made to make maximum hype for them. Clearly the James Madison vs. Appalachian State will be the most hyped first round game since both are excellent teams. But then you have several regional matchups in the 1st round with Delaware vs. Delaware State, Eastern Illinois vs. Southern Illinois, Massachusetts vs. Fordham, and, arguably, Eastern Kentucky vs. Richmond.

Really, only the big 3 undefeated teams got off by not having to play someone in pretty close proximity to them - Northern Iowa gets New Hampshire, McNeese State (which is located in Louisiana), gets Eastern Washington, while Montana gets Wofford.

In any case, we’ll see how this all plays out starting next week.

Update

As a commenter so eloquently pointed out, the reason there are so many regional matchups is because, well, that’s how the bracket is set up (warning, rather large pdf):

All pairings will be made by the Division I football committee. The following principles are applied when pairing teams:

1. The teams awarded the top four seeds are placed in the appropriate positions in the bracket (Nos. 1 and 4 in the upper half, and Nos. 2 and 3 in the lower half), and will be paired with teams that are in closest geographic proximity;

2. The remaining teams will be paired according to geographic proximity and placed in the bracket according to geographic proximity of the four pairings previously placed in the bracket.

So it’s kind of like pods, but in football.  It see why they do it this way - to keep teams as close as possible, and I guess there is a rationale that, if it’s a playoff, you have to beat everyone anyway, so who you play doesn’t really matter in the end.

Except, outside of first round games, I don’t see the regions holding up.  First off, Appalachian State is closer to #4 Southern Illinois than #2 McNeese State by about 400 miles (about 540 miles vs. 940 miles).  OK, one could arguably say that ASU should play down in Louisiana because none of the other 1st round host institutions (Delaware, Massachusetts, and Richmond) are closer to McNeese State.

However, if ASU is supposed to be the #5 team in the bracket, and there is no clear regional breakdown (teams in Delaware, North Carolina, Virginia, and Massachusetts being paired with teams in Iowa, Montana, Louisiana, and Illinois), shouldn’t they basically get first consideration on where to play, since no one is going to play remotely near home in the 2nd round anyway?

I mean, you look at those choices.  About the only team that doesn’t make sense to pair with McNeese State would be Massachusetts.  But about anyone could go with Northern Iowa, anyone could go with Montana, and anyone could go with Southern Illinois.  In that case, outside the first round, there isn’t really any regional integrity to maintain, so why not place them essentially as seeds?

Also, am I the only one who notices that their regional pairings could have been made considerably easier if they had just made ASU the #4 seed - something which some people believed would happen anyway (and they certainly had a strong argument for it).  In that case, you’d have Richmond being paired with ASU as a no-brainer.  Southern Illinois being paired with Northern Iowa as a no-brainer.  I already said UMass shouldn’t go to McNeese State, so they’d get shipped out to Montana, and then Delaware gets paired with McNeese.

I won’t even get into the issue of whether one gets to play a home game or not.  While, for practical purposes, the better team should always get the home game in the playoffs, it’s not guaranteed (and why it’s not is simple: $$$).

Also for perhaps another day is what I consider to be the unfair advantage the CAA gets by being a conference with 12 teams, yet playing only 8 conference games and not having any sort of conference championship game.  This conference was built to maximize the number of teams it can put into the I-AA tournament since everyone does not play everyone else (Case in point: UMass and Richmond, the conference co-champions, didn’t play).  The only other conference like this is the Ohio Valley, but it’s somewhat mitigated by the fact that it’s only 10 teams, so they don’t play 1 team instead of not playing 3 teams. (The MEAC also has 10 teams, but they play 9 conference games).

And I didn’t even notice this: the apparent last team in, New Hampshire has 4 losses - all in conference (meaning they were 4-4 in their conference).  Georgia Southern  also has 4-losses, they were thisclose from winning the conference (they ended up going 4-3 in a conference where everyone had at least 2 conference losses), and one of their losses was to a I-A team.  Why did New Hampshire get in as a 5th CAA team over Georgia Southern as a 3rd Southern Conference team?

Or why did New Hampshire get in above a 4-loss Youngstown State team, where 3 of their 4 losses are against 2 of the 4 seeded teams in the I-AA tournament and Ohio State?

Or why did they get in ahead of 4-loss Elon, who also went 4-3 in the Southern Conference, plus lost by only two touchdowns to South Florida?

Or why did they get ahead of a 3-loss Norfolk State team, who also lost to a I-A team (Rutgers)?

The more I look at it, the more the selection of New Hampshire makes absolutely no sense, and it’s just aggravated by the fact that it gave the CAA a record 5 teams in the tournament.  The only argument one could make is that they beat Marhsall (which is a comparable game to Georgia Southern vs. Colorado State, and Georgia Southern lost - but then again Georgia Southern lost to fewer I-AA teams too).

So even with the correction that teams are placed regionally, it still doesn’t make sense to me.

Well, so much for the anticipated Big 12 playoff.  We’ll still get part of it next week when Missouri and Kansas face off, but now a Big 12 team in the title game is no longer assured.  Even more, it may not even be Oklahoma who represents the southern division in the Big 12 title game.  Oklahoma’s loss gives them 2 conference losses and ties them with Texas.  If Texas defeats Texas A&M and Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, it will be Texas who plays in the Big 12 title game.

Speaking of title games, Boston College played their way into the ACC title game with a 20-17 come-from-behind victory at Clemson.  They’ll face the winner of Virginia Tech/Virginia, who play next weekend.

Meanwhile, in the SEC, LSU had already clenched the SEC West title, but the SEC East race got a tad bit clearer as Georgia’s win over Kentucky boots Florida from the race.  Georgia almost clenched the East title, but Tennessee was able to come back and beat Vanderbilt.  If Tennessee defeats Kentucky next weekend, Tennessee will play in the SEC title game.  If they lose, Georgia will play LSU.  Georgia is finished with their SEC schedule.

In the BCS conferences without a formal title game, Ohio State clenched the Big 10 title by defeating Michigan 14-3 in a sloppy game, both in the weather, as well as with Michigan’s offense, who couldn’t get anything going on the ground or in the air.

In the Big East, West Virginia’s win over  Cincinnati set up a de facto Big East championship game next week with Connecticut.

In the Pac 10, Arizona State controls their own destiny now, but plays USC next Thursday, and then Arizona after that.  If they were to lose, Oregon would be next in line,  If Oregon loses, then it falls into USC’s hands.  However, if all hell breaks loose, you could end up seeing a 4-way tie for 1st place in the Pac 10 between Arizona State, USC, and 2 out of Oregon, Oregon State, and UCLA.  That could happen if Arizona State loses to both USC and Arizona, USC loses to UCLA, and Oregon loses to Oregon State, UCLA, or both.

In non-BCS conferences, the Conference USA Eastern title will be determined next week. UCF has a one game lead on East Carolina, but East Carolina owns the head-to-head tie-breaker.  That means if UCF were to lose to UTEP and East Carolina defeats Tulane next weekend, East Carolina would win the division.

The Western Division is in a similar situation where Tulsa and Houston are tied for the division lead with 2 losses, but Tulsa defeated Houston earlier.  It all comes down to Tulsa, as Houston is finished with their conference slate.  If Tulsa defeats Rice, they win the division.  If they lose, Houston wins the division.

In the MAC, the conference title game is now set: Miami vs. Central Michigan.

In the Mountain-West, Brigham Young all but has the conference title, but Utah could still feasibly pull out the come-from-behind upset in the conference race. However, Utah will have to beat BYU next week to keep their hopes alive, and then hope BYU gets upset by San Diego State in the final game of the season.  That was the game delayed by the California fires earlier in the season.

In the Sun Belt, it is essentially a two team race between Troy and Florida Atlantic.  FAU is 1 game behind Troy, but they get to play the Trojans in the last game of the season.   Depending on how tie-breakers work, MTSU could still have a shot, but Troy would have to lose to FAU as well as MTSU, while Florida Atlantic would have to lose to Florida International.

In the WAC, the title will be determined by the Hawaii/Boise State game next weekend.

Update 12:11 AM

Another weekend with two top-5 teams go down.  First it was #2 Oregon and then would-be AP, Coaches, and Harris poll #2 Oklahoma, who looses to Texas Tech 34-27.

Update 12:09 AM

Texas Tech recovers the onsides kick.

Update 12:07 AM

It may not be 100% over in Lubbock yet. Oklahoma gets the ball with under a minute to go and scores in 3 plays to make it 34-27 with 31 seconds to go. The onsides kick is upcoming.

Update 12:02 AM

It’s about over in Lubbock as Oklahoma fails on yet another 4th down conversion in the red zone with only 3:10 to go, still down 34-20.

Update 11:54 PM

Oklahoma strikes down the field after a Texas Tech 3-and-out and gets a 1st and goal, but Texas Tech stops them in 4 plays and gets a turnover on downs. Only 5:10 remains.

Also, South Florida defeats Louisville 55-17. Louisville now must beat Rutgers next weekend to become bowl eligible.

Update 11:39 PM

Oklahoma’s offense finally gets in the end zone, this time on a big play, and the scratch back to within 34-20 with 7:50 to go. It’s now only a 2 touchdown game, but Oklahoma has to get Texas Tech’s offense off the field, who has largely been in cruise mode instead of attack mode for most of the 2nd half.

Finals:

Southern Miss 56, UTEP 30 (Southern Miss is now bowl eligible. UTEP is now bowl ineligible)

Update 11:24 PM

Clemson misses a 54 yard field goal and Boston College earns a berth into the ACC Championship Game by defeating Clemson 20-17.

Update 11:14 PM

It’s over in Cincinnati as West Virginia wins 28-23 and sets up a Big East championship game with Connecticut next weekend.

Update 11:12 PM

Clemson’s back is now against the wall as Boston College tosses a 43 yard touchdown pass to take a 20-17 lead with only 1:46 to go.

Update 11:05 PM

McNeese state clinches their conference’s automatic bid and finishes undefeated by defeating Central Arkansas 14.

Update 11:03 PM

Cincinnati isn’t done yet. They score again and it’s now only 28-23 West Virginia, but with only 2:26 to go.

Update 11:01 PM

Clemson responds and the Tigers retakes the lead on Boston College 17-13 with 5:53 to go in the game.

Update 10:49 PM

Meanwhile, Boston College just kicked a field goal to take a 13-10 lead on Clemson with 9:01 to go in that game.

Update 10:48 PM

Oklahoma still can’t find the end zone on offense and has to settle for another field goal after a good drive, and it’s 34-13 Texas Tech.

Update 10:45 PM

Cincinnati tries to climb back into the game, scoring a touchdown and narrowing it down to 28-17 against West Virginia, but only 7:31 remains in that game.

Finals:

Texas Christian 34, UNLV 10 (Texas Christian now bowl eligible)

Update 10:35 PM

Boston College finally puts the ball in the end zone and now it’s 10-10 down in Clemson with 13:37 to go.

Update 10:30 PM

Texas Tech takes advantage of a botched fake punt by Oklahoma and goes up 34-10. And they got this touchdown by running their running back.
Finals:

Oregon State 52, Washington State 17 (Washington State now bowl ineligible)

Update 10:23 PM

West Virginia is starting to nail the coffin closed as they’re now up on Cincinnati 28-10 with 11:43 to go.

Finals:

Louisiana Lafayette 38, Florida International 28
Oklahoma State 45, Baylor 14 (Oklahoma State bowl eligible)
Louisiana Tech 27, San Jose State 23 (San Jose State now bowl ineligible)

Update 9:59 PM
Oklahoma finally generates some offense at the end of the first half and gets it to the 1 yard line, but can only pick up a field goal and it’s 27-10 Texas Tech late in the 1st half.

Update 9:55 PM

Clemson tacks on a field goal to take a 10-3 lead on Boston College.

Update 9:39 PM

Just a note. Oklahoma has 38 total yards - 27 rushing yards and 11 passing yards. Meanwhile, they have 45 yards in penalties, and their lone touchdown was on an interception return on Texas Tech’s opening drive.

Update 9:38 PM

Speaking of the #2 curse, while Kansas should be the #2 team in the BCS, Oklahoma is actually the team on deck to be #2 in all the human polls. They’re trying their best not to be #2. Of course, all of this favors West Virginia, who would presumably be in line for the national title if Oklahoma loses tonight, and the winner of the Kansas/Missouri games loses in the Big 12 title game. West Virginia is still up 21-10 at halftime over Cincinnati.

Update 9:35 PM

Texas Tech is rolling, rolling, rolling and they’re now up 27-7 on Oklahoma with still 9 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter.

Update 9:19 PM

Boston College finally gets on the board by kicking a field goal. It’s now 7-3 Clemson.

Update 9:14 PM

Texas Tech strikes again, and OU’s national championship hopes start to get some question marks next to it as the Red Raiders go up 20-7.

Update 9:09 PM

West Virginia is starting to create a margin against Cincinnati, going up 21-10.

Update 9:04 PM

Northern Iowa finishes up an undefeated regular season by defeating Southern Utah 48-10. Will they get the #1 seed in the I-AA tournament?

Update 8:59 PM

Cincinnati responds again to West Virginia, kicking a field goal and making it 14-10.

Update 8:55 PM

Texas Tech finally gets their passing game going and scores a big touchdown pass after a 60 yard pass that got the Red Raiders down to the 1. Tech goes up 13-7 on Oklahoma.

Update 8:50 PM

West Virginia retakes the lead against Cincinnati 14-7.

Finals:

Utah 28, New Mexico 10

Update 8:45 PM

Texas Tech kicks another field goal and gets within 7-6 of Oklahoma.

Update 8:42 PM

Prairie View (yes that one) won today against Alabama A&M. That puts a cap on a 7-3 season for the Panthers, their first winning season since 1976.

Update 8:27 PM

Texas Tech kicks a field goal to get on the board. They still trial Oklahoma 7-3.

Update 8:26 PM

A recap on the CAA website said that the meeting of CAA athletic directors decided to determine the team who will pick up the automatic bid to the I-AA tournament by coin flip. Massachusetts won the coin flip so they are technically the conference champion for the purposes of getting the auto-bid to the I-AA tournament. The AD meeting stressed that UMass and Richmond are officiall co-champions, and felt that the two teams were too equal to put the issue up for an actual vote.

Update 8:21 PM

Cincinnati responds and ties up West Virginia at 7.

Update 8:18 PM

South Florida goes up on Louisville 6-0 early. Louisville is still looking to get bowl eligible.

Update 8:15 PM

The problem with passing most of the time is that it leads to interceptions. Texas Tech just threw a pick on their opening drive and Oklahoma returns it for a touchdown, going up 7-0.

Eastern Washington makes their case for an at-large bid to the I-AA tournament, defeating Weber State 38-16.

Update 8:09 PM

Clemson strikes first in their game against Boston College 7-0.

7:58 PM

West Virginia strikes first, and goes up on Cincinnati 7-0.Finals:

Western Kentucky 52, Morehead State 12

Update 7:37 PM

We’re about to get a trio of good games going tonight. The first is Oklahoma at Texas Tech. Oklahoma should win, but with the number of points Texas Tech can put up, you can never count them out.

Next is West Virginia at Cincinnati. Cincinnati can still win the Big East, but they’ll have to upset the Mountaineers to do it.

Finally, there is Boston College at Clemson for the ACC Atlantic Division title.

Finals:

Wake Forest 38, N. C. State 18

Update 7:15 PM

LSU finally takes care of Mississippi 41-24 (it was closer than that score) and is now 2 games away from the national title game.

Update 7:13 PM

Kansas wins 45-7 over Iowa State and now head into their game against Missouri likely ranked #2 and 11-0.
Finals:

Virginia Tech 44, Miami 14
Western Michigan 28, Iowa 19
Michigan State 35, Penn State 31
Wisconsin 41, Minnesota 34
Washington 37, California 23
Indiana 27, Purdue 24
Houston 35, Marshall 28

Update 6:57 PM

Ole Miss was driving to make it a one score game, but then throw an interception, and add on a penalty and LSU got the ball at the Ole Miss 20 and end up putting it in the end zone, putting the final nails in the coffin. It’s now 34-17 Tigers.

Delaware may have just cost themselves an at-large bid into the I-AA playoffs, especially with 3 other CAA teams vying for a 3rd at-large bid for that conference. Delaware loses to Villanova 16-10. Meanwhile, Appalachian State solidifies an at-large bid by taking care of Chattanooga 37-17.

Finals:

Navy 35, Northern Illinois 24
Memphis 25, UAB 9 (Memphis is bowl eligible)

Update 6:38 PM

It’s a game again in Oxford as Mississippi scores a touchdown to close the gap against LSU 27-17.

Finals:

Central Florida 49, Southern Methodist 20
Tulane 45, Rice 31

Update 6:14 PM

Notre Dame finally wins a second game, defeating Duke 28-7.

Update 6:03 PM

Will Minnesota pull the upset? They’re tied with Wisconsin at 20 near the end of the 3rd quarter.

Here are your final Division II playoff scores of the day:

West Texas A&M 40, Washburn 39 (WTAM will play Northwest Missouri State in the next round)
Central Washington 40, Ashland 24 (C. Washington will play Nebraska-Omaha in the next round)

Update 5:51 PM

Alabama loses to Louisiana Monroe. Yes, that Louisiana Monroe 21-14.

Eastern Illinois finishes up their case for a I-AA playoff at large bid with a 33-17 win over Samford. Also, Montana finishes undefeated and will probably get the #1 seed in the I-AA playoffs after defeating rival Montana State 41-20.
Finals:

Boise State 58, Idaho 14

Update 5:38 PM

It’s official now: Tennessee 25, Vanderbilt 24 Final.

Also, LSU puts some distance between themselves and Mississippi, going up 21-7.

Other finals:

Arkansas 45, Mississippi State 31
Air Force 55, San Diego State 23

Update 5:19 PM

Vanderbilt missed a 49 yard field goal with only 45 yards to go, and Tennessee is still alive for the SEC East title.

Division II playoff finals:

North Dakota 44, Winona State 2 (North Dakota will play Grand Valley State next round)

Finals:

Brigham Young 35, Wyoming 10
Colorado State 42, Georgia Southern 34
Utah State 35, New Mexico state 17

Update 5:11 PM

Tennessee hits a field goal with 2:46 to go to finally go back up on Vanderbilt 25-24.

Update 5:07 PM

I’m back form a quick run to the store while all the Hokies are preoccupied with other things.

In updates, Georgia Southern is trying to worm their way into the I-AA playoffs, but they’re still down to Colorado State 42-31 late in the 4th quarter.

Tennessee has almost come back against Vanderbilt, but the Commodores still lead 24-22 with 7:14 to go.

Notre Dame leads Duke 14-0.

Louisiana Monroe is currently leading Alabama 21-14 in the 4th quarter.

Kansas leads Iowa State 21-7 late in the 2nd quarter.

In other I-AA action, James Madison is making their case for an at-large bid by defeating Towson 23-13. Meanwhile, North Dakota State loses their first game against a I-AA opponent as a I-AA team, losing to South Dakota State 29-24.

In the Division II playoffs, Catawba defeats Albany State (GA) 66-35. Catawba will play Valdosta State in the next round.

In the Division III playoffs, Mary Hardin-Baylor defeated Trinity (TX) 52-23. MHB will play North Carolina Wesleyan in the next round.

Update 4:16 PM

Someone finally scores in the Duke/Notre Dame game as the Irish goes up 7-0 with only 1:17 to go in the first half.

Update 4:15 PM

Missouri finishes out Kansas State 49-32 and guarantees that next week’s game against Kansas will be for the Big 12 North title.

Division II playoffs:

Abilene Christian 56, Mesa State 12 (Abilene Christian will play Chadron State next round)

Division III playoff finals:

Wisconsin-Whitewater 34, Capital 14
St. John’s (MN) 41, Redlands 13 (St. John’s will play Central College next round)

Finals:

Bowling Green 31, Buffalo 17 (Buffalo now bowl ineligible)

Update 4:06 PM

Kansas goes up on Iowa State 7-0. Meanwhile, Mississippi ties up LSU at 7. Meanwhile, Georgia’s gotta love what’s going on in Knoxville s Vanderbilt goes up on Tennessee 24-9.

More Division II playoff scores:

Delta State 45, Shaw 7 (Delta State will play North Alabama next week)

More Division III playoff scores:

Central College 38, Olivet 17

Update 3:53 PM

Georgia puts away Kentucky 24-13. This eliminates Florida from the SEC East race, and Georgia can clench the SEC title if Vanderbilt can hold onto their lead against Tennessee.

Division III playoffs finals:

Wisconsin-Eau Clair 24, St. Norbert 20 (Wisconsin-Eau Clair will play Bethel next weekend)

Update 3:49 PM

Virginia Tech strikes first, going up on Miami 7-0.

North Dakota State hasn’t lost a game to a I-AA team since moving into that division. However, they’re currently losing to their conference rival South Dakota State 20-10 at halftime. Also, Appalachian State goes up early on Chattanooga 7-0.
Division III Playoffs finals:

Bethel (MN) 28, Concordia 0

3:39 PM

Time for a new thread, and look for more lower-division scores once again now that they’re into playoff mode.

Update 3:38 PM

It’s now 17-9 Vanderbilt over Tennessee at halftime.   Also, Duke and Notre Dame are scoreless after the 1st quarter.

Division III playoffs:

North Central 44, Franklin 42

Finals:

Florida State 24, Maryland 16
Georgia Tech 27, North Carolina 25
Florida 59, Florida Atlantic 20
Tulsa 49, Army 39
Update 3:30 PM

Nevermind about Pittsburgh. They get called for a 15 yard penalty, then throw a pick, and Pitt’s outside chance of winning the Big East is over as Rutgers wins 20-16.

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt retakes the lead over Tennessee 14-9.

Update 3:28 PM

Pittsburgh has the ball within the Rutgers 10 with less than a minute to go, down by 4…

Update 3:25 PM

Tennessee goes back up on Vanderbilt 9-7.

I-AA finals:

Harvard ends Yale’s perfect season 37-6.

Division II playoff scores:

Indiana (PA) 45, West Chester 35 (Indiana will play Shepherd next weekend)

Finals:

Connecticut 30, Syracuse 7

Update 3:20 PM

Ohio State defeats Michigan 14-3. Ohio State has now won 4 in a row against the Wolverines.

Division III playoff scores:

Curry 42, Hartwick 21 (Curry will play St. John Fisher)

More Finals:

Illinois 41, Northwestern 22

Update 3:17 PM

Richmond just defeated William & Mary 31-20. That means they and Massachusetts tie for the CAA title. The automatic bid into the I-AA tournament will now be determined by a majority vote of the conference’s athletic directors. Who will they choose? If they want the better team, they’ll probably pick Massachusetts. If they’re nervous at all about Richmond getting a bid as an at-large, however, they may give the auto-bid to the Spiders.

Update 3:14 PM

Michigan just failed on a 4th conversion, which pretty much seals Ohio State’s victory. There is only 3:44 left between Ohio State and a Rose Bowl berth.

Division I-AA finals:

Delaware State 29, Howard 13
Massachusetts 27, Hofstra 5 (UMass clenches a share of the CAA title)

More Division III finals:

Wabash 31, Mount St. Joseph 21 (Wabash will play Case Western)
St. John Fisher 24, Hobart 7
Wesley 45, Hampden-Sydney 17 (Wesley will play Muhlenberg)

Update 3:07 PM

Michigan is running out of time, punting the ball back to Ohio State with less than 7 minutes to go, still 14-3 Buckeyes. Meanwhile, Kentucky is back to within a score of Georgia, 21-13.

Division III finals:

Muhlenberg 31, Salisbury State 21
Case Western 21, Widener 20

Update 3:03 PM

Vanderbilt takes a 7-6 lead on Tennessee.

Meanwhile, in an upset possibility in the Division III playoffs, North Carolina Wesleyan and Washington & Jefferson head into overtime tied at 14.

Finals:

Temple 24, Kent State 14

Update 3:00 PM

Georgia has now widened their lead on Kentucky to 21-13 in the 3rd quarter. Meanwhile, Missouri leads Kansas State 28-18, also in the 3rd quarter.

In another Division III playoff final, College of New Jersey defeats Rensselaer 17-14. College of New Jersey will get the unenviable job of facing Mount Union next weekend.

Update 2:57 PM

New Hampshire trying to worm their way into a I-AA playoff at-large bid, but probably needs help. They made their final case today, defeating Maine 39-14.

Update 2:55 PM

Division II Playoff finals:

Southern Connecticut State 45, Bryant 28. SCSU will play at 11-0 California (PA) next week.

Division III playoff finals:

Mount Union 42, Ithaca 18

Update 2:45 PM

ESPN can’t seem to decide what the score in the Mount Union game is. They had Mount Union with 70 points for a while. Now it’s back to 42. Either way, they’re way ahead.

By the way, Henne is back in the game for Michigan.

Update 2:36 PM

Georgia finally takes the lead on Kentucky 14-10. Meanwhile, Ohio State/Michigan goes into the 4th quarter 14-3.

Update 2:31 PM

BYU can clench the Mountain-West title today with a win over Wyoming and a Utah loss. The Cougars currently lead 7-0.

Update 2:25 PM

It looks like Henne will be coming out when Michigan gets the ball back, but it looks like injuries just attacked Ohio State as well, with Wells appearing to hurt his hamstring.

Update 2:24 PM

Mount Union is showing just why they’re the #1 team in Division III, leading Ithaca 70-18 in their playoff game today in the 4th quarter.

Update 2:19 PM

Michigan finally stops Ohio State in the 2nd half, but Henne stays in the game, despite his poor performance so far.

Update 2:17 PM

Tennessee strikes early against Vanderbilt, going up 6-0 in the first of their last 2 remaining mine fields on their way to the SEC title game.

Update 2:05 PM

Ohio State didn’t wait long. On their first play after the touchdown being called back, Wells runs for a long touchdown anyway, and they go up 14-3 on Michigan.

Update 2:04 PM

Michigan gets the ball to start the 2nd half and promptly goes 3-and-out. Ohio State returns the punt for a touchdown, but it’s brought back due to a blocking in the back penalty.

Update 2:01 PM

Georgia finally gets on the board, but the Bulldogs still trail Kentucky 10-7.

Update 1:45 PM

Missouri and Florida put up more scores as Missouri retakes the lead 21-15 and Florida expands their lead to 35-20 at halftime.

Update 1:38 PM

Michigan misses a 48-yard field goal short to end the first half, and Ohio State leads 7-3 at halftime.

Update 1:37 PM

Perhaps Missouri is looking ahead. Kansas State now takes the lead on the Tigers 15-14. The Wildcat kicker has now missed 2 extra points (it was only 15-9 before, not 15-10 apparently).

Update 1:35 PM

Ohio State’s attempt to go down the field to score suddenly went horribly wrong as Michigan intercepts the ball and returns it inside the Ohio State 40. Michigan has no time outs, however, with only about 20 seconds to go.

Update 1:33 PM

Rutgers takes the lead on Pittsburgh 17-10. Meanwhile, Florida Atlantic scores again, and once again puts themselves within one score of Florida, as the score in that game is now Florida 28, Florida Atlantic 20 near halftime.

Also, Ohio State is driving, trying to score before halftime.

Update 1:29 PM

Michigan can’t do anything with their good field position as the two teams are now a combined 6 for 17 on 3rd down today.

Update 1:27 PM

Michigan pins Ohio State inside the 5 with punt, and Ohio State can’t get out of the shadow of their own end zone, returning the ball to Michigan at mid-field.

Update 1:26 PM

Florida adds some padding to their lead over Florida Atlantic, going up 28-13. Tebow becomes the first player in I-A history to score 20 rushing and 20 passing touchdowns in one season.

Meanwhile, Missouri just can’t shake Kansas State, leading only 14-10. In that game, Jeremy Maclin has set a record for most all-purpose yards by a freshman in Division I-A.

Update 1:15 PM

All of a sudden Florida Atlantic is within a score of Florida after kicking another field goal and closing the score to 21-13.

Update 1:08 PM

Michigan picks up a big 3rd down to keep their drive alive.

Meanwhile, Florida State is destroying Maryland 21-3 in the 2nd quarter. Also, the Florida/Florida Atlantic game, which is supposed to be a blowout, is looking vaguely like a game now, with the Owls now back to within 21-10 of the Gators.

Meanwhile, even if Yale could go to the I-AA playoffs, they might have blown their chance today, as Harvard is now routing them 27-0.

Update 12:59 PM

Ohio State moves down the field and responds to Michigan and goes up 7-3.

Meanwhile, perhaps it was too early to call the Southern Connecticut State game, as Bryant suddenly closes the score back down to 21-20.

Update 12:56 PM

Kentucky is trying to spoil Georgia’s hopes for an SEC East title, and they go up 7-0 on the Bulldogs.

Update 12:51 PM

Missouri making sure they aren’t looking ahead toward their big game with Kansas, goes up on the other Kansas team 7-0.

Update 12:48 PM

I actually just realized this - before I said Illinois was trying to clench 3rd in the Big Ten by beating Northwestern. Actually, if they win and Michigan beats Ohio State, Illinois would actually finish 2nd in the conference. But I wouldn’t expect the Illini to get a bid to the Capital One Bowl ahead of Ohio State in that case, though.

Update 12:44 PM

Pittsburgh takes a 10-3 lead on Rutgers to try to keep their outside shot at the Big East title alive.

Update 12:40 PM

Michigan is able to drive down the field on their 2nd drive, but stalls before the endzone, and the Wolverines kicks a field goal to take a 3-0 on Ohio State.

Update 12:37 PM

It looks like some Division III playoff games are going to be decided rather early. Curry now leads Hartwick 28-0 in the 1st quarter while Southern Connecticut State leads Bryant 21-7, nearing the 2nd of the 1st quarter.

Update 12:30 PM

After getting an initial first down, a fumbled snap and falling down while backing up to pass quickly ends Ohio State’s drive.

Also in score update, Richmond leads William & Mary 7-0.

In the Division II Playoffs, Southern Connecticut State leads Bryant 14-7 and West Chester leads Indiana (PA) 7-0.

Meanwhile, in the Division III playoffs, Curry leads Hartwick 14-0, Mount St. Joseph and Wabash are tied at 7, North Central leads Franklin 14-7, and Muhlenberg leads Salisbury State 7-0.

Update 12:23 PM

Michigan gets the ball, then goes 3 and out, so Ohio State wins the field position battle in the first pair of drives.

Update 12:21 PM

A questionable non-interference call leads to an Ohio State punt on their opening drive.

Update 12: 19 PM

Here are some score update, all in the 1st Quarter:

Illinois 7, Northwestern 0
Connecticut 7, Syracuse 0
Massachusetts 7, Hofstra 0
Harvard 7, Yale 0

12:06 PM

Obviously the big game early is Ohio State vs. Michigan, but there is also Pittsburgh vs. Rutgers (which still has Big East championship implications), Illinois vs. Northwestern, where the Illini are hoping to clench 3rd in the conference, Kentucky at Georgia, and Missouri at Kansas State.

We also get some I-AA matchups and some Division II and III playoff games starting.

The final weekend of football in Division I-AA football is this weekend, as well as first round playoff games (playoffs!? what a concept!) in Division II and Division III.

In Division I-AA, there are still three undefeated teams who can qualify for the playoffs: #2 Northern Iowa, #3 Montana, and #4 McNeese State (#1 North Dakota State is still a Division I transitional and thus isn’t eligible for the playoffs, while #11 Yale can’t go because of an Ivy League policy prohibiting their football teams from going to the playoffs.)

We also have conference championships to be determined and the 8 other I-AA playoff wildcard spots to be filled.  That bracket will be announced tomorrow.

Eight conferences earn automatic bids into the I-AA tournament, 6 have already been decided:

Big Sky Conference - Montana
Gateway Conference - Northern Iowa
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference - Delaware State
Ohio Valley Conference - Eastern Kentucky
Patriot League - Fordham
Southern Conference - Wofford

Meanwhile, two conference championships will be decided today:

Colonial Athletic Association

Four teams are still in contention for this conference title: #7 Massachusetts, #8 Richmond, #9 Delaware, and #13 James Madison.   And it can get messy in this conference.

Massachusetts and Richmond both sit with 6-1 conference records, yet they do not play each other.  Massachusetts plays at #22 Hofstra while Richmond plays at home against William and Mary.  If one of these teams wins and the other loses, then the winner will win the conference and earn the automatic bid.

If they both win, then they are technically co-champions, but the automatic bid will be determined by a majority vote by the conference’s Athletics Directors (excluding the ADs of the schools being voted on).

If both Massachsuetts and Richmond lose and James Madison wins, James Madison receives the automatic bid.

If Massachusetts, Richmond, and James Madison all lose and Delaware wins, then Delaware receives the automatic bid.

Southland Conference

The winner of the McNeeses State/Central Arkansas game will receive the automatic bid.

And then you have to start looking at possible at-large teams, and there are only 8 spots.

At the top of the list have to be #5 Southern Illinois, #6 Appalachian State, and the two teams in the Massachusetts, Richmond, and Delaware group who don’t the CAA automatic bid.  Even if these teams lose today, they are probably odds-on favorites for getting into the tournament (except for the CAA teams, since there are really 6 teams who are possibly in contention for bids, and getting more than 3 teams in may be asking a lot).

After that you get to #13 James Madison (can the CAA get 4 teams in the tournament? Has that ever happened before?), #15 Youngstown State, #15 Eastern Washington,  #17 Georgia Southern, #19 New Hampshire (another CAA team - it’s doubful that they’d get in ahead of JMU if the Dukes win, and I can’t see any conference getting 5 teams in), and #20 Eastern Illinois.

#18 Grambling can’t accept an invite since they already play a traditional game on Thanksgiving Day.

Meanwhile, in the Division II playoffs, here are the games on tap:

Ashland at Central Washington
Winona State at North Dakota
Mesa State at Abilene Christian
Washburn at West Texas A&M
Albany State at Catawba
Shaw at Delta State
Bryant at Southern Connecticut State
Indiana (PA) at West Chester

The top 8 seeds all get byes into the second round.  Also, this tournament is divided into 4 regions, with the four regional champions advancing to the semifinals.  In each region 6 teams go to the playoffs.

There was some controversy this year in the South Region where 10-1 Carson-Newman was ranked in the top 15 in the nation overall and #5 in the region, yet because of rules that allow any conference champion in the top 10 of the regional rankings to get a bid in to the tournament, Carson-Newman was left out.  Carson-Newman’s only loss was to Catawba.

Division III matchups today include the following:

Ithaca at Mount Union
TCNJ at Rensselaer
Hartwick at Curry
Hobart at St. John’s Fisher
Olivet at Central (IA)
Redlands at St. John’s (MN)
Wisconsin-Eau Claire at St. Norbert
Concordia (WI) at Bethel (MN)
North Carolina Wesleyan at Washington & Jefferson
Trinity (TX) [Yes, that Trinity] at Mary Hardin-Baylor
Salisbury at Muhlenberg
Hampden-Sydney at Wesley
Capital at Wisconsin-Whitewater
North Central (IL) at Franklin
Mt. St. Joseph at Wabash
Widener at Case Reserve

I’ll try to update these scores today if I can find them.

Ohio State (10-1) at Michigan (8-3) - 12:00 PM

This is obviously the biggest game this weekend as far as tradition, but it probably isn’t the biggest game in terms of importance.  In any case, this game is for a berth into the Rose Bowl, with the loser probably having to settle for the bowl formally known as the Citrus Bowl.

Missouri (9-1) at Kansas State (5-5) - 12:30 PM

This isn’t so much a game to watch as far as rankings or standings are concerned so much as this is Missouri’s final test before their showdown with Kansas next weekend in Kansas City.  However, a Missouri upset in conjunction with a Kansas win this weekend could give Kansas the Big 12 North title.

Bowling Green (6-4) at Buffalo (4-6) - 1:00 PM

Miami (OH) has already won their division of the MAC, but with only Kent State left to go on their schedule after this, a Buffalo win may mean the unthinkable - the Bulls may actually become bowl eligible.

Vanderbilt (5-5) at Tennessee (7-3) - 2:00 PM

This is an important game for both teams, as Vanderbilt is looking to become bowl eligible as Tennessee needs to only get past one more hurdle (Kentucky) before qualifying for the conference championship game if they can get by the Commodores.   LSU has already clenched the SEC West.

Duke (1-9) at Notre Dame (1-9) - 2:30 PM

I’m interested to see if the Blue Devils can really beat Notre Dame.  That might be the biggest win in program history, even if Notre Dame would be 1-10 afterwards.

Iowa State (3-8) at Kansas (10-0) - 3:30 PM

If Kansas wins this, they had into their final regular season game with Missouri undefeated and ranked #2 - something that may not be all that good.

Boston College (8-2) at Clemson (8-2) - 7:45 PM

All of a sudden, Clemson is back in the picture, thanks to Boston College’s collapse in the last two weeks.  The winner of this game clenches a spot in the ACC Championship game against the winner of the Virginia/Virginia Tech game next weekend.

West Virginia (8-1) at Cincinnati (8-2) - 7:45 PM 

Believe it or not, Cincinnati is still in the running for the Big East title and a BCS bid.  If they can upset the Mountaineers, and then if West Virginia defeats Connecticut next week, Cincinnati would hold the tie breaker.

In sort-of unrelated news.  Pittsburgh, of all teams, is still in the hunt for the conference title.  They’ve defeated Cincinnati and have West Virginia yet to play.  They’d need a lot of help, but if Cinci defeats West Virginia and West Virginia defeats UConn, there would be 4 teams in the Big East with 2 losses - assuming Pitt defeats Rutgers, of course.

Seriously, someone look for Harry Potter or something.  There is a curse on the #2 ranking this year.  In 7 weeks, the AP #2 team has lost 5 times:

Week 6: #2 Southern Cal 23, Stanford 24
Week 7: #2 California 28, Oregon State 31
Week 8: #2 South Florida 27, Rutgers 30
Week 10: #2 Boston College 17, Florida State 27
Week 12: #2 Oregon 24, Arizona 34

In the 7 other weeks, LSU won six times as the #2 team - in two different stints, the first being weeks 1 through 5, then in week 11 as well -  and Boston College won once, in week 9.  That’s right.  Six different teams have been #2 in 12 weeks.  LSU is 6-0 and the other 5 teams are a combined 1-5 as #2.

Assuming Kansas defeats Iowa State this weekend, they’ll take the #2 mantle just in time to roll into Kansas City to play red-hot Missouri.  And if Missouri wins that game, it’s likely they’ll roll into the Big 12 Championship game against….#2 Oklahoma (assuming Missouri doesn’t jump them in the polls).  Missouri may actually like that scenario.

Of course, if that occurs, it seems likely that they’ll play LSU in the national championship game - the only team not to lose as the #2 team this year - as the #2 team.

Oh, and don’t look now but the Oregon loss yesterday suddenly puts Arizona State back in the drivers seat for the Pac 10 title again.  However, if Southern Cal defeats Arizona State on Thanksgiving Day, Oregon, once again, is back in front, assuming they win their games.