Biggest Winner
Notre Dame- The Irish had big expectations going into the season. On paper, and with the schedule they had, it seemed like a BSC game might be possible. In reality, I think everyone expected another season of Notre Dame not living up to the lofty expectations. This Irish team completely blew apart every one's expectations and was the only team to finish the season undefeated (OSU is undefeated but so would any decent team in the B1G... and their on a post season ban) will appear in their first BCS Championship game in school history.
The MAC- The little conference that could doesn't seem so little. The MAC has seven bowl eligible teams and could have four teams finish with 10 wins. Not only that, but there is an outside possibility that Kent State could sneak into a BCS at large birth.
Biggest Loser
The ACC- The ACC went into this week with a golden opportunity to improve the reputation of the league with four games against SEC opponents. They finish the weekend with four losses to SEC opponents and, if it's possible, probably less respect then they went into the weekend with. The bell cows of the league, FSU and Clemson had big opportunities against some of the SEC elite (Florida and S. Carolina, respectively) and they each laid a big, fat egg. The Seminoles, who will play GT for the ACC Championship, still have a shot at a BCS birth, but a win over #4 Florida would have been huge for the program and the conference. Clemson, who was in the mix for an at large BCS birth, was also not up to the task as they just couldn't handle a superior Gamecocks squad. Wake Forest and Georgia Tech weren't expected to get wins against Vandy and UGA, but the ass kickings they received just made matter worse.
B1G- The Legends and Leaders conference gets to sit back and look up at its best team, Ohio State, go undefeated and forgo a BCS Championship shot and a post season appearance in general, further widening the gap between the conference and respectability. Instead of getting an Ohio State team that could probably compete with the big boys (I say probably because their conference schedule was as big of a joke as their non-conference schedule) we'll all get to see Nebraska or Wisconsin get their heads beat in by whoever they're unlucky enough to play in the Rose Bowl. The Huskers, who are 10-2 on the season would at least look respectable in a BCS game, but should Winsonsin win, and givin how the B1G's shaped up this year they probably will, the B1G champ would be 8-4 overall. SaWeet! Thanks Jim Delany.
Kinney vs. Kinney
With the Thanksgiving holiday, Nick and I only picked the Saturday games. Of the 12 games we picked, Nick and I agreed on nine, differing on Stanford-UCLA, Oklahoma-OK State and Michigan-Ohio State. Nick gets the nod on two of the three games we disagreed on, picking Stanford and Oklahoma, while I get the Buckeyes over the Wolverines.
It was a tough week of picks for both Nick and I, but Nick gets the nod this week, thanks to Stanford and OU.
Week 13 Talley
Nick- 7-5, season- 117-44 (.727)
Jeremy- 6-6, season- 103-40 (.720)
Thursday, Nov. 22
#16 Texas- 13, TCU- 20
The Longhorns weren't enough for the Horned Frogs on Thanksgiving. TCU's defense was reminiscent of seasons past as they bottled up, what had been a productive Texas offense.
Friday, Nov. 23
#7 LSU-20, Arkansas- 13
Oh, LSU... They're like a box of chocolates... Arkansas has been playing better football lately and this game was pretty much their season, so it's reasonable to expect them to come out swinging, but LSU shouldn't have needed all 60 minutes to put this team away.
#14 Nebraska- 13, Iowa- 7
With the win, Nebraska sews up an appearance in the B1G Championship game.
#23 Kent State- 28, Ohio- 6
Kent State gets their 11th win of the season putting down a sliding Ohio team. Good on ya, MAC!
#24 Arizona- 34, Arizona State- 41
ASU comes roaring back, putting up 24 points on 'Zona in the fourth quarter to get the win.
#25 Washington- 28, Washington State- 31 OT
And another never-should-have-been-ranked Pac-12 team falls...
Saturday, Nov. 24
#1 Notre Dame- 22, USC- 13
The Irish just keep doing what they do. They run the football, play lights out defense and don't beat themselves. Notre Dame's defense, led by Heisman candidate Manti Te'o, held a potent USC offense to just 281 yards and forced two turnovers. Freshman quarterback, Everett Golson was steady, throwing for 217 and Theo Riddick ran for 146 and a score. With the win, the Irish punch their ticket to the BCS Championship game.
-Jeremy- Notre Dame, 31-17
-Nick- Notre Dame, 24-14
#2 Alabama- 49, Auburn- 0
A fitting end to a historically bad Auburn season. The Tigers would have needed a bit more than just a miracle to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa again and Cam Newton wasn't going to walk out of the tunnel and lead a comeback this time. Auburn managed a paltry 163 yards of offense and gave up 483 to Bama as the 'Tide roll into a meeting with Georgia for the SEC and a shot at Notre Dame in the BCS Championship game.
-Nick-Bama, 41-17
-Jeremy- Bama, 31-10
#3 Georgia- 42, Georgia Tech- 10
It was a long shot to begin with for GT and it was apparent from the beginning that it would be a long day for Yellow Jackets. Surprisingly, this Georgia Tech team will represent the ACC Coastal division in the ACC Championship game... at 6-6. On the flip-side, Georgia got an easy tune-up game as they head into a slug fest with Alabama for the SEC title and a shot at Notre Dame for the BSC title.
-Nick- Georgia, 38-17
-Jeremy- Georgia, 30-14
#4 Florida- 37, #10 Florida State- 26
"This will be a slug fest and will likely come down to who can control the line of scrimmage and who doesn't turn the ball over." When I wrote this last week, I was thinking, based on the past few weeks, that it would be the Seminoles controlling the line of scrimmage and forcing the turnovers... Not so much. FSU turned the ball over five times and gave up 244 yards on the ground. The Gators had been battle tested and have won big games on the road against top 10 teams. The Seminoles soft schedule showed up here as they just weren't ready for the Gators.
-Jeremy- Florida State, 27-24
-Nick- FSU, 31-21
#5 Oregon- 48, #15 Oregon State- 24
Well, the Ducks wouldn't stay down long. For a quarter, it looked like Oregon might still be suffering a little Stanford handover, but the Ducks offense picked up speed in the third quarter and rattled off 28 straight points in just over ten minutes of play. The Oregon ground game, that was bottled up for 198 against Stanford, erupted for 430 yards on the Beaver defense, while the Oregon defense was all over OSU, forcing six turnovers.
-Nick- Oregon, 35-31
-Jeremy- Oregon, 41-38
#8 Stanford- 35, #17 UCLA- 17
In a preview of the Pac-12 Championship that will see these two team play again next week, Stanford was too much for the Bruins who lost for the first time since the beginning of October. The Cardinal controlled the line of scrimmage, gaining 221 on the ground. We'll see what happens this Friday in round two with a Rose Bowl birth on the line.
-Nick- Stanford, 28-21
-Jeremy- UCLA, 30-21
#9 Texas A&M- 59, Missouri- 29
It was a big game for the two SEC newbies. A&M jumped out on the Tigers and lead 48-7 going into half time. Quarterback Johnny Manziel had another epic performance, going for 439 total yards and five touchdowns. With the win, A&M finishes it's inaugural season in the SEC at 10-2 overall and 6-2 in conference play. On the flip side, Mizzou struggled in its first season in the conference going 5-7 overall and finishing 2-6 in SEC play.
-Nick- Aggies, 45-17
-Jeremy- A&M, 38-17
#11 Clemson- 17, #12 South Carolina- 27
Put a cork in it Dabo. As it turns out this isn't quite the same Death Valley as the one the Gamecocks lost in, in October. A surprisingly low scoring game, was back and forth until a late forth quarter touchdown put South Carolina up 10 points and that was that. The Gamecocks held the potent Clemson offense to 328 yards (about 200 less than they'd been averaging) and sacked Tajh Boyd six times.
-Nick- Clemson, 45-38
-Jeremy- Clemson, 41-38
#13 Oklahoma- 51, #21 Oklahoma State- 48
Whew!!! What else would you expect from the Bedlam game? Oklahoma State got out to an early lead and were able to stay even or a score ahead of the Sooners through regulation with Oklahoma getting a four yard touchdown run by the "Bell-dozer" with 0:04 seconds left in the game to send it into overtime. The Sooners first lead of the game would be all they needed as running back Brennan Cley ran 18 yards for the game winner. With the win, OU keeps it's conference and BCS hopes alive.
-Nick- Sooners, 52-45
-Jeremy- OK State, 44-41
#18 Rutgers- 6, Pitt- 27
Pitt out Rutger'd Rutgers. The Panthers racked up 138 rushing yards, while holding the Scarlet Knights to only 50. With the win, Pitt snapped its two game losing streak and gives Rutgers its first conference loss of the season, mucking up the Big East race. Pitt gets one step closer to bowl eligibility and giving Louisville a breath of life to get a shot at the Big East Championship.
-Nick-Rutgers, 24-10
-Jeremy- Rutgers, 17-13
#19 Michigan- 21, Ohio State- 26
What a fitting end to an abysmal season for the B1G. The conference was pretty much awful from top to bottom and the only bright spot and respectable team is Ohio State who is not ineligible to win the B1G or play in a post season game. The Wolverines, who had high hopes and high rankings going into the season finishes 8-4 on the season but was pretty uncompetitive against top competition this season.
Nick-Michigan, 31-27
-Jeremy- Ohio State, 35-28
#20 Louisville- 20, UConn- 23 3OT
It seems this week that no one really whats to win the Big East. With the Rutgers loss Louisville had a chance to take control of the conference going into these teams season finale that will decide the winner of the conference. With this loss, they'll not only need to beat Rutgers, but they'll also need to finish ahead of them in the BCS standings.
-Nick-Louisville, 24-10
-Jeremy- Louisville, 28-17
IDLE
#6 Kansas State- next game- Dec. 1 vs. Texas
#22 Boise State- next game- Dec. 1 @ Nevada
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