Code Orange

Things fell out pretty much as expected:

National Championship: Ohio State vs. LSU
Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. Hawaii
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Kansas
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. West Virginia
Rose Bowl: Illinois vs. Southern Cal

I guess I’m a little surprised that the Orange went with Kansas instead of West Virginia, but perhaps the Fiesta didn’t want an all-Big 12 matchup.

I think this season has shown more than any other that a playoff is needed. Sports Illustrated Online had a headline up earlier today which read “Give LSU a shot.” Well what happens if LSU takes that shot and misses? Well, sorry Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, and Georgia, LSU is the only team who is able to take that shot. Even if you ended up being the better team, tough. And of course, if LSU wins the championship, those teams won’t get their own shot at LSU.

The BCS doesn’t help itself by posting news stories which are written by people who sound like whiny children trying to defend something which they know is broken:

Now that the most compelling, entertaining and dramatic college football season in recent memory is drawing to a close, sportswriters and broadcasters are doing what they always do at this time of the year.

They’re crafting lies to convince you that major-college football is in disarray and in dire need of a playoff system to save itself.

Of course, it is ironic that this article was written before this weekend, and uses the basis that Missouri and West Virginia appeared to be a clear #1 and #2 to “prove” that the BCS works:

Right now the system has settled on MU and West Virginia. Those names are allegedly not big enough for some writers and broadcasters.

Oops. And of course, there is the usual “with a playoff, no one would care about the regular season!”:

Critics of college football won’t do that. The current, no-playoff system gives us great September and October story lines.

Of course, the problem with this is three-fold. The first is that in every sport with a playoff (i.e. every sport other than Division I-A college football), people still enjoy the regular season. Why? Because it still matters. You’re still playing to see who gets in the playoffs.

The argument for maximizing the meaning of the regular season, which is used to justify selecting two and only two teams to play for a championship, could just as easily be used to justify a system where no championship game is played at all. Heck, that’s the way to maximize the meaning of the season, isn’t it? Don’t even have a post season. Ohio State wins the title. Tough luck, LSU.

The second problem is that, ironically, in college football more than just about any other sport, the regular season gives you the least clear, most muddied picture of the landscape possible. In the NFL, for example, any given team plays 37.5% of the teams in the league. Not perfect, but at least it’s a third. Yet the NFL still puts 37.5% of the league into the playoffs, largely because, even with playing over a third of the league, you can’t necessarily declare the team with the best record champion, because they haven’t necessarily played everyone.

In college football it’s even worse. Any given team plays, at most, 10.8% of the teams, and that’s if you play a 12 game schedule, and a conference championship game, against 13 different I-A teams. No re-matches (as Missouri/Oklahoma and Virginia Tech/Boston College were) and no I-AA games (Appalachian State vs. Michigan anyone?). Most teams will play only 10% of I-A teams, and a good portion will play even a lower percentage than that.

Yet, we’re willing to select two - and only two - teams to play the championship. Teams who have played a combined 20% of Division I-A college football teams…maybe. In other words, 80% of all the teams in football have no direct say in who the national champion will be. So what’s this about the regular season being meaningful? In the current system, it is anything but meaningful. All 6 BCS Conference champions could go undefeated, and you’d still only have 2 teams who have played only 20% of all teams playing for the title. How is that even remotely fair or meaningful?

What if Division I-AA has this system? You’d probably have seen Northern Iowa vs. Montana in the championship game. It’s now the semifinals and both of those teams have been eliminated, and a third previously undefeated team, McNeese State, has lost as well. Tell Delaware, Southern Illinois, Appalachian State, and Richmond that they can’t have a chance at the national title because a team in another conference who they never even got a chance to play went undefeated against the few teams in the division that they actually play.

Third, having a playoff would eliminate the need for poll “corrections” like the ones we saw today - where all three polls felt compelled to “correct’ their rankings to make sure LSU got into the title.

What? Are you telling me that LSU really WASN’T the #7 team going into this past weekend? If not, why did you rank them there? If you never intended to put Georgia into the title game, why did you put them in a position where, if the impossible happened like it did on Saturday, they would be in line to play for the championship? If LSU was better than Georgia because they merely played in the conference title, why was LSU ranked below Georgia to start with? Or Why was Oklahoma ranked below them? Or Virginia Tech?

This is a matter of consistency for the polls, and to have the first 13 polls of the season be based on the previous poll with rewards and punishments for winning and losing, and then using the final poll as a do-over is dangerously close to scandalous in my opinion.

Do you really think that a 7-point win over a 4-loss Tennessee team who lead most of the game justifies jumping LSU 5 spots up? At least Oklahoma could theoretically argue for such a move since they convincingly defeated the #1 ranked team in the nation.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech, who hasn’t lost to an unranked team all year and who avenged one of their losses convincingly Saturday, goes nowhere in the polls. How does this make sense other than people “deciding” that LSU was going to be #2 and that they were just going to “make it happen,” no matter how little sense it made given the current rankings.

Week after week, year after year, we hear people complaining how people vote in the polls, saying that you should vote for who you think the best team is, and not necessarily punish a team who loses but who clearly seems like the better team. Week after week, year after year, the voters ignore their own complaining and vote as they always have. That is until voting as they always have suddenly becomes inconvenient when they have a certain matchup for the championship in mind.

It would kind of like being an umpire in a baseball game who is calling balls and strikes a certain way and has called them in a consistent manner through a game. Then suddenly in the 9th inning they decide they want one of the two teams to win, but that team is trailing.  As a result they decide to change how they’re calling balls and strikes to try to ensure the team they want to win will win.

Sorry, if this is how you’ve been doing your rankings all season, it is disingenuous to suddenly decide to do a “do-over” because you put yourself into a position which would end with an undesirable result if you did your rankings like you always do.  Unfortunately there is little that anyone can do about it.

About the only things we know at this point are that Ohio State will play in the BCS title and Hawaii will be in the Sugar Bowl. Past that, it’s about anyone’s guess.

This is how I think things will break down: despite the calls by TV people to jump LSU up from 7th to 2nd in the BCS (which would mean jumping both the teams who lost today, but also Georgia and 1-loss Kansas, who didn’t play, as well as Virginia Tech who won the ACC Championship game), I think Georgia will slip into the #2 slot in the BCS title game.

I think there is just too much of a hill to climb for LSU, and especially since they didn’t look all that great against Tennessee, I don’t see why pollsters would intentionally move them higher than normal in order to influence the BCS. If they did that for anyone, I would think they could do it for Oklahoma, who just beat a good Missouri team for the 2nd time this season. In any case, I think it will be Ohio State vs. Georgia, though even if it is LSU, I don’t think it will affect the BCS Bowl matchups much at all.

Assuming this, this is where teams would go based on conference championship tie-ins:

Rose: Southern Cal vs. BCS
Orange: Virginia Tech vs. BCS
Fiesta: Oklahoma vs. BCS
Sugar: LSU vs. BCS

*West Virginia has no automatic bowl tie-in

Kansas should almost certainly either be #3 in the BCS, or #4 with a BCS champion in the #3 slot. That will give Kansas an automatic berth into the BCS. Hawaii winning in conjuction with Boston College and Tennessee losing should guarantee them a spot in the top 12 and in a BCS Bowl.

After that, the remaining at-large spot can be filled by any team with 9 wins and in the top 14. My best guess is that the teams to choose from will be the following:

Arizona State, Illinois, and probably Clemson.

*Missouri and Florida are ineligible due to the 2-team per conference limit

Now, the selection process will go as thus:

Since the Rose Bowl will lose their Big 10 representative to the BCS title game, and that team will be the #1 team in the nation, the Rose Bowl will get the first pick. There was been speculation that the Rose Bowl will pick Georgia if LSU goes to the title game. Since I think Georgia will be in the title game, that scenario would go out of play, but lets say LSU is chosen instead, there are two reasons why I don’t think the Rose will pick Georgia:

1) Illinios should be eligible for the BCS, and given that the Rose Bowl gets irked whenever they can’t get their Pac 10/Big 10 matchup, I don’t see why they would pass on the opportunity to have it, and

2) This is a rather complex sounding rule so hang with me: If two bowls lose the teams with automatic conference tie-ins, which would be the case for the Rose and Sugar Bowls if the BCS title is Ohio State vs. LSU - then the first bowl can choose any team out of the at-large pool (and the at-large pool only - no other automatic tie-in teams) EXCEPT a team from the same conference as the other team in the title game without that Bowl with that conference tie-in’s permission. That means that if the Rose Bowl wanted Georgia for some reason, they would have to get the Sugar Bowl’s permission to release Georgia. I see absolutely no reason for the Sugar Bowl to do this.

So, I’m saying that regardless of how things shake out in the BCS title, the Rose Bowl will pick Illinois to face USC.

If LSU plays in the title game, the Sugar Bowl picks 2nd, and they’ll pick Georgia. If it’s Georgia in the title game, then the Orange Bowl picks 2nd, and most people seem to think that they’ll pick West Virginia to face Virginia Tech.

The next pick goes to the Fiesta Bowl. They’ll have a choice between Kansas and Hawaii - two teams who get automatic berths into the BCS. Most people believe that they’ll chose Kansas, because it creates an interesting intra-Big 12 game and they don’t want Hawaii.

The final pick would then go to the Sugar Bowl, who would be left with Hawaii.

That means here is how I project the BCS Bowls:

BCS Championship: Ohio State vs. Georgia
Rose Bowl: Illinois vs. Southern California
Fiesta Bowl: Kansas vs. Oklahoma
Sugar Bowl: Hawaii vs. LSU
Orange Bowl: West Virginia vs. Virginia Tech

If Hawaii for some reason doesn’t make the top 12 of the BCS, the Fiesta Bowl could go with Arizona State. If they stick with Kansas, the Sugar could go with Arizona State or possibly Clemson if they’re in the top 14.

Update 3:17 AM

Hawaii wins 35-28 and almost certainly earns a bid to the Sugar Bowl.

Update 3:08 AM

Aloha New Orleans? Hawaii takes a 35-28 lead on Washington with 44 seconds to go.

Update 2:49 AM

Reports of Hawaii’s death have been greatly exaggerated. They just tied Washington at 28 with 8:05 to go in the game.

Update 12:53 AM

It doesn’t look like the BCS is going to have to worry about where to put Hawaii. Washington will take care of the problem for them. The Huskies lead the Warriors 21-7 in the middle of the 2nd quarter.

Update 11:45 PM

Oklahoma wins the Big 12 Championship over #1 Missouri 38-17.

Update 11:38 PM

Oklahoma just put a cherry on top of the cake, going up 38-17 after kicking a field goal with only 3:42 to go.

Update 11:17 PM

Just do it. Seriously. Put Hawaii in the title game. If you can’t decide on which 2-loss team should play Ohio State, then either put Kansas, who is the only other 1-loss team, or stick in Hawaii, the only remaining undefeated team. Will anyone dare rank Hawaii #1 tomorrow if they win tonight?

Update 11:15 PM

Barring an amazing comeback by the Tigers, Oklahoma is going to cap the third top-two-double of the season as they go up on Missouri 35-17.

Update 11:10 PM

If you can believe it, before this weekend, the last time the #1 and #2 teams lost on the same day (and presumably the same weekend) was back on September 21, 1996. If the Oklahoma score holds up, #1 and #2 will have lost on the same day twice this season, and on the same weekend 3 times this season. The only good thing about the BCS title game is that both the #1 and #2 teams can’t lose - unless they aren’t actually playing (can anyone say LSU/USC?).

Update 11:01 PM

Missouri has to kick yet another field goal and it’s 28-17 Oklahoma with 14:51 to go.

Update 10:58 PM

Ohio State is going to the national title game. Pittsburgh defeats West Virginia 13-9. This is #13. The 13th top-5 teams who has lost to an unranked opponent this year.

Update 10:50 PM

West Virginia is able to get down to the Pitt 21, but is forced into a 4th and 17 and cannot convert. Pitt takes over with under two minutes to go.

Update 10:47 PM

Missouri is in deep trouble now as Oklahoma takes a two touchdown lead on them 28-14.

Update 10:40 PM

Oklahoma retakes the lead in the Big 12 Championship over Missouri 21-14.

Update 10:34 PM

Stanford defeats California 20-13.

Update 10:31 PM

Pittsburgh adds a field goal to take a 13-7 lead on West Virginia with only 6:17 to go.

Finals:

Florida International 38, North Texas 19

Update 10:11 PM

Richmond defeats Wofford 21-10 and they’ll play at Appalachian State in the I-AA semifinals next week.

Also, Brigham Young defeats San Diego State 48-27.

Update 9:51 PM

Missouri finally gets into the endzone with 14 seconds to go in the 1st half. It’s now 14-14 after Missouri converts a 2-point conversion..

Update 9:47 PM

Richmond is now up on Wofford 21-10 with 8:40 to go.

Update 9:43 PM

We may definitely be heading towards and Ohio State vs. Georgia championship game. Pittsburgh takes a 10-7 lead on West Virginia.

Update 9:37 PM

Oklahoma scores another touchdown as they go up on #1 Missouri 14-6.

Meanwhile, Richmond retakes the lead on Wofford 14-10 with 11:55 to go.

Update 9:17 PM

Wofford goes up on Richmond 10-7 in the 3rd quarter.

Update 9:15 PM

Pittsburgh gets on the board, and is now down West Virginia 7-3. Missouri is forced to kick a 2nd field goal, but it’s still 7-6 Oklahoma.

Update 9:02 PM

West Virginia finally gets on the board to go ahead of Pittsburgh 7-0 late in the 1st half.

Update 9:01 PM

Oklahoma goes ahead of Missouri with a touchdown. They’re now up 7-3 in the Big 12 Championship game.

Update 8:51 PM

Missouri strikes first as they kick a field goal to go up 3-0 on Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Arizona is up on Arizona State 7-0.

Update 8:31 PM

I’m sure this isn’t how West Vision envisioned their last game of the season - after the 1st quarter they’re scoreless with Pittsburgh.

Update 8:28 PM

Oregon State finishes off Oregon 38-31 in overtime.

Update 8:24 PM

Oregon/Oregon State doesn’t want to end. They went into overtime tied at 28. They now head into double-overtime tied at 31.

Update 8:11 PM

Southern California defeats UCLA 24-7, and wins the Pac 10. USC is going to the Rose Bowl against Ohio State or Illinios.

Meanwhile, Richmond goes ahead of Wofford 7-3.

Update 8:01 PM

Wofford goes up on Richmond 3-0 in the 2nd quarter.

Update 7:43 PM

Tennessee (specifically Ainge) made too many mistakes down the stretch as LSU wins the SEC Championship 21-14.

Update 7:37 PM

Tennessee tries to come back and gets down to the LSU 15, but Ainge throws an interceptions with only 2:42 to go.

7:19 PM

Tennessee turns the ball over for the first time in the game, and it’s a costly one as LSU returns it for a touchdown to take a 21-14 lead on the Volunteers with 9:54 to go in the SEC Championship Game.

Also, Nevada defeats Louisiana Tech 49-10.

Update 6:44 PM

Southern Illinois defeats Massachusetts 34-27 and will get Delaware at home next week in the I-AA semifinals.

Update 6:39 PM

Tennessee recovers only the 3rd lost fumble all year by LSU and then drives down the field to score a touchdown and retakes the lead 14-13 nearing the end of the 3rd quarter.

Update 6:35 PM

UMass is trying to come back, cutting Southern Illinois’ lead to 34-27, but there’s only 2:20 to go in that game. The winner will play Delaware in the semifinals.

Update 6:22 PM

Tennessee is able to finally put a drive together, but misses the field goal, so it’s still 13-7 LSU in the SEC Championship.

Update 6:11 PM

Tennessee leaves their defense in the locker room during halftime apparently as LSU flies down the field to score a touchdown and goes up 13-7.

Update 6:02 PM

Also, Florida Atlantic defeats Troy 38-32 as the owls pull off the upset to win the Sun Belt conference and earns a bid to the New Orleans Bowl.

Update 5:51 PM

We have our final Division II and III finals today:

In the Division II quarterfinals, Northwest Missouri State defeats Chadron State 26-13, while in the Division III quarterfinals, Bethel (MN) defeats Central College 27-13.

The Division II semifinals are now set as two-time defending champion Grand Valley State vs. Northwest Missouri State, whom GVSU has defeated in each of the last two national championship games, and Valdosta State vs. California (PA)

The Division III semifinals are set as Mt. Union vs. Bethel (MN) and Mary Hardin-Baylor vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Update 5:43 PM

Delaware defeats Northern Iowa 39-27.

Update 5:38 PM

LSU ends a rather sloppily played half offensively for both teams so far by missing a field goal, and Tennessee goes into halftime ahead 7-6.

Meanwhile, Delaware probably just put away Northern Iowa, scoring another touchdown and going up 39-27 with just 41 seconds to go.

Update 5:27 PM

Northern Iowa says not so fast. They cut their lead against Delaware to 32-27 with 4:30 to go.

Update 5:24 PM

We had 3 undefeated I-AA teams going into the playoffs. It looks like none of them will make the semifinals as Delaware is now up on Northern Iowa 32-20 with only 5:40 to go.

Update 5:17 PM

Tennessee finally forces LSU to punt.

Update 5:09 PM

Tennessee once again has to punt. Their 3rd punt of the game. LSU has not punted yet. Yet Tennessee still leads 7-6.

Update 5:03 PM

LSU drives down the field again, but this time they go for it on 4th down and fail to pick it up for only the 3rd time this year.

Update 5:02 PM

Delaware is now up on Northern Iowa 29-20 heading into the 4th quarter. Meanwhile, Southern Illinois extends their lead on Massachusetts 27- 13

Update 5:01 PM

Southern Cal strikes first and they lead UCLA 7-0.

Update 4:46 PM

Valdosta State defeats North Alabama in the Division II quarterfinals 37-23.

Update 4:44 PM

Tennessee gets stop and has to punt. LSU once again drives down the field, but like in their game against Arkansas, fail to get it into the end zone. They stick another field goal on the board and it’s 7-6 Tennessee.

Update 4:40 PM

Delaware retakes the lead on Northern Iowa with a field goal, going up 22-20. Meanwhile, Massachusetts is trying to crawl back in their game, now only down to Southern Illinois 20-13.

Update 4:38 PM

Virginia Tech is ACC Champions, defeating Boston College 30-16. Meanwhile, Hawaii celebrates as BC should fall below them, assuming Hawaii wins tonight.

Update 4:35 PM

Virginia Tech takes care of business this time, picking off Matt Ryan, and taking it to the endzone to take a 30-16 lead.

Update 4:31 PM

Boston College holds Virginia Tech to a 3-and-out, so they get the ball back on the Boston College 35 yard line with only 34 seconds to go, and no time outs. Will we see another BC comeback?

Meanwhile, Northern Iowa retakes the lead on Delaware 20-19 in the 3rd quarter.

Update 4:28 PM

LSU marches down the field, but then Tennessee’s defense stiffens and holds LSU to only a field goal. It’s 7-3 Tennessee in the SEC Championship game.

Update 4:25 PM

Boston College tries another comeback against Virginia Tech, but this time appears to come back short, failing on a 4th down play inside the Tech 15. Virginia Tech takes over with only 2:25 to go.

Update 4:16 PM

Another Division II final: Grand Valley State defeats Central Washington 41-21.

Also another Division III final: Wisconsin-Whitewater defeats Wabash College 47-7.

Update 4:14 PM

The 500 fans in Jacksonville goes wild as someone finally scores again in the ACC Championship as Virginia Tech goes up on Boston College 23-16 with 7:20 to go in the game.

Meanwhile in the SEC Championship Game, Tennessee strikes first, going up on LSU 7-0.

Update 3:48 PM

The ACC Championship game heads towards the 4th quarter with neither team really able to get anything going in the 3rd quarter. Virginia Tech and Boston College are still tied at 16.

Update 3:44 PM

Southern Illinois also leads Massachusetts 13-0.

Update 3:41 PM

Delaware is now up on Northern Iowa 19-10 nearing halftime.

Update 3:41 PM

Appalachian State recovers the onsides kick and advances to the I-AA semifinals to play either Wofford or Richmond.

In a Division II final, California (PA) defeats Shepherd 58-38.

Update 3:37 PM

Central Florida wins the Conference USA Championship game over Tulsa 44-25.

Update 3:35 PM

Appalachian State recovers the onsides kick and goes 3-and-out, but they force Eastern Washington to use all of their timeouts. Eastern Washington once again drives down the field to put another touchdown on the board, making it 38-35. They now need the onsides kick as there is only 28 seconds to go and they have no timeouts.

Also, suddenly Delaware is up on Northern Iowa 12-10.

Update 3:20 PM

Eastern Washington is able to drive down the field to close the gap against Appalachian State to 38-28, but they took a long time with there only being 3:11 left in the game.

Update 3:18 PM

Navy routes Army 38-3.

Update 3:07 PM

Appalachian State recovers an Eastern Washington fumble and probably puts the final nail in the coffin by scoring another touchdown, going up 38-21 with only 6:07 to go.

Update 3:06 PM

A couple of Division III finals:

Mt. Union 52, St. John Fisher 10
Mary-Hardin Baylor 27, Wesley College 10

Update 2:52 PM

Appalachian State is able to get into Eastern Washington’s territory but the drive stalls and EWU stops ASU for the 2nd straight drive. However, they’re still down 31-21.

Also, it’s now 10-o Northern Iowa over Delaware.

Update 2:39 PM

Virginia Tech responds to Boston College, driving down the field and tying the game at 16-16.

Update 2:38 PM

Appalachian State intercepts an Eastern Washington pass, but EWU is able to hold ASU to stay in the game and gets the ball back on a punt.

Update 2:30 PM

The last remaining undefeated team in I-AA Northern Iowa takes a 7-0 lead on Delaware in the 1st quarter.

Update 2:29 PM

Appalachian State once again answers Eastern Washington, putting another touchdown on the board and going up 31-21.

Eastern Washington is going to have to get their offense going. Their three touchdowns have been on a kickoff return for a touchdown, a fake punt, and a 14 yard drive after another long kickoff return. Eastern Washington hasn’t had a single long drive for a touchdown today. Meanwhile, Eastern Washington’s defense hasn’t been able to stop Appalachian State’s offense all day. They’ll need to do that if they want to win this game.

Update 2:20 PM

Boston College responds to Virginia Tech’s touchdown with one of their own. However, Virginia Tech blocks the extra point and returns it for 2 points and Boston College is only able to extend their lead to 16-9.

Update 2:18 PM

Eastern Washington gets their second huge kickoff return, this time for a touchdown, and suddenly it’s 24-21 Appalachian State.

Update 2:15 PM

Central Michigan wins the MAC, defeating Miami (OH) 35-10

Update 2:14 PM

Appalachian State drives down the field on their first drive of the 2nd half and puts up a field goal to expand their lead to 24-14.

Update 2:11 PM

Virginia Tech finally is able to get a drive together and sticks it into an endzone to make it 10-7 Boston College.

Update 1:59 PM

Eastern Washington scores a touchdown on a fake punt on their opening drive of the 2nd half to reduce Appalachian State’s lead to 21-14.

Meanwhile, Boston College works their way down the field and adds a field goal to make it a 10-0 lead over Virginia Tech.

Update 1:38 PM

Virginia Tech fumbles and Boston College recovers and runs it back for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.

Update 1:31 PM

In the Division II quarterfinals, California (PA) leads Shepherd 27-17 at halftime, Grand Valley State leads Central Washington 6-0 in the 1st quarter, while North Alabama and Valdosta State are tied at 6 in the 1st quarter. I can’t seem to find a score for the Chadron State vs. NW Missouri State game.

In the Division III quarterfinals, Mt. Union leads St. John Fisher 21-0 at halftime, Mary-Hardin Baylor leads Wesley College 10-3 at halftime, Wisconsin-Whitewater leads Wabash 7-0 in the 1st quarter, while the Bethel vs. Central College game is reported as being delayed.

Update 1:25 PM

Despite 3 holding calls on their drive, including one calling back a touchdown, Appalachian State is still able to stick it into the endzone, and now it’s 21-7 ASU over Eastern Washington near halftime.

Also, Tulsa strikes back and it’s now 24-20 Central Florida over the Golden Hurricanes. Also, Navy is now up on Army 21-3.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech is held to a 3-and-out.

Update 1:18 PM

Virginia Tech is back to their usual business in the ACC Championship Game as they block a Boston College field goal.

Update 1:17 PM

Central Michigan now goes up on Miami (OH) 14-3.

Update 1:15 PM

By the way, the Conference USA title game is also going on today. Currently Central Florida leads Tulsa 24-13.

Update 1:13 PM

Eastern Washington gets the ball inside the ASU 5 yard line but fumbles the ball away and is recovered by Appalachian State.

Meanwhile, Miami (OH) gets on the board, but is still down to Central Michigan 7-3. It’s also 7-3 Navy over Army.

Update 1:00 PM

Appalachian State is able to work their way into Eastern Washington territory, but then is stopped and is forced to put it away.

Update 12:52 PM

Eastern Washington returns the kickoff down to the ASU 14 yard line. They quickly put it into the endzone and makes it 14-7 Appalachian State.

Update 12:47 PM

Navy goes up 7-0 on Army. Meanwhile, Appalachian State appears to be having an easier time this week than last week as they go up on Eastern Washington 14-0.

Update 12:39 PM

Eastern Washington gets deep into Appalachian State territory, but a big sack sets EWU back and ASU blocks the field goal.

Update 12:27 PM

Appalachian State strikes first and goes up on Eastern Washington 7-0.

In the MAC Championship, it’s 7-0 Central Michigan over Miami at halftime (the game started at 11am).

Original Post

We start off the day with the MAC Championship game between Miami (OH) and Central Michigan and our first I-AA quarterfinal between Eastern Washington and Appalachian State.

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.

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.