The ninth week of college football saw the top 5 teams in the AP Top 25 poll notify each and every opponent that they are not moving down easily.
No. 1 Texas hosted undefeated No. 7 Oklahoma State and won 28-24 by holding the Cowboys to nearly half their average of 46 points in 7 games. In 4 of its 7 victories, Oklahoma State had scored 56, 57, 55 and 56 points in consecutive games. The Cowboys played tough, but in the end the Longhorns refused to lose.
No. 2 Alabama traveled to Tennessee unranked and the Crimson Tide moved on, beating the Volunteers 29-9. Tennessee may be the best 3-5 team in the country. Few people realize that the Vols rank 14th nationally in ground defense, 17th in scoring defense and 17th in air defense.
No. 3 Penn State traveled to No. 10 Ohio State and defeated one of the best defenders in the nation in a 13-6 bite. The Nittany Lions had made it through their first 6 games before facing Wisconsin on the road and Michigan at home. Many experts thought his schedule was weak compared to the Buckeyes. Not so. JoPa’s team left Ohio State with a 9-0 record.
Less well known was the fact that while the Buckeyes ranked in the top 25 teams statistically in 5 defensive categories, the Nittany Lions also ranked in the top 25 in the same categories. In addition, Penn State was in the Top 25 in another defensive category and two more offensive categories. Ohio State will not play in the BCS national championship this year.
No. 4 Oklahoma traveled to unranked Kansas State and won the game in the first half, 55-28. Kansas won in the second half, 7-3. The final was 58-35. Suffice it to say that the defense did not show itself.
No. 5 Florida hosted Kentucky and led the Wildcats to school in a 63-5 fight that some thought would never end soon enough.
The Southern California No. 6 managed to beat an unranked Arizona state team 2-5, 17-10, an unimpressive victory. The No. 8 Texas Tech was impressive on the road, tearing the No. 19 Kansas for a new one in a 63-21 victory. Tech led 56-14 after three quarters. No. 9 Georgia traveled to No. 11 in the state of Louisiana and won 52-38.
The rest of the AP Top 25 winners didn’t create much of a stir. He was No. 13 Boise State over San Jose State 33-16, No. 15 Texas Christian over Wyoming 54-7, No. 16 Missouri over Colorado 58-0, No. 18 Brigham Young over UNLV 42-35, No. 20 Ball State over eastern Michigan 38-16, No. 22 Tulsa over Central Florida 49-19, No. 24 Florida State over Virginia Tech 30-20 and No. 25 Minnesota over Purdue 17-6.
Other top 25 teams that lost to unranked teams were No. 14 South Florida vs. Louisville 24-20, No. 17 Pittsburgh vs. Rutgers 54-34, No. 21 Georgia Tech vs. Virginia 24-17, and No. 23 Boston College vs. North Carolina 45-24. Utah’s No. 12 was inactive this week.
The only 8 undefeated teams left include Texas, Alabama, Penn State, Texas Tech, Utah, Boise State, Ball State and Tulsa.
When the new AP Top 25 list came out for week 10, 4 teams were missing: no. 17 Pittsburgh, No. 19 Kansas, No. 21 Georgia Tech, and No. 23 Boston College. They were all losers this week and subsequently disappeared.
New to the list this year was Maryland at No. 25, and returning to the Top 25 from the beginning of the season were No. 21 North Carolina, No. 22 Michigan State and No. 23 Oregon.
The 10th week of college football will be a pretty loose schedule with two exceptions. An undefeated team will lose for the first time when No. 1 Texas (8-0) invades No. 6 Texas Tech (8-0). The Red Raiders understand that to be No. 1 you have to beat No. 1. Texas got 100% of the votes for first place in the AP poll.
Another great test will find No. 5 Florida (6-1) traveling to No. 8 Georgia (7-1). Most other teams play a lot of easy.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
