Sunset Vette

It was another “upset weekend” although it didn’t have the same number of teams falling out as we saw earlier in the season. Oregon (former #2) lost, and Oklahoma got beaten by Texas Tech. That leaves Kansas to move up into the #2 spot, at least for a week. Kansas has to play Missouri next, and if they get by those Tigers they have the pleasure of playing Oklahoma or Texas in the title game. It’s going to be tough.

LSU looked bad in beating Ole Miss. Their defense was not up to stopping a running quarterback, and if you watched the game there were all sorts of signs that Arkansas is going to be a tough matchup this Friday. I really hope Tennessee can beat Kentucky because I don’t want to face Georgia in the SEC title game. Yes, they’re playing better and would be the most apporpriate opponent. I would just rather not play them right now.

Last Week’s Victims
Oregon played on a short week (I feel a bit sorry for them for that) and lost to Arizona. They also lost their star quarterback to injury. He’s going to have knee surgery after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament last week. Apparently he thought it was not as bad as it turned out to be, and he tried to play on it this week. It didn’t work, and Oregon ended up with another loss.

Oklahoma lost to Texas Tech, which has one of the youngest teams in the country, so they’ll be one to watch next year. They always seeem to have a great offense, and their best receiver this year (who is setting all sorts of records) is just a freshman. Oklahoma also played most of the game without their starting quarterback who went out in the first quarter with a concussion sustained when he tacked someone after a fumble.

This Week’s Rankings
So Kansas moves up to the “Death Spot” at number two, and they certainly seem to be ripe for a loss against a more experienced Missouri team. That would leave Missouri and West Virginia to move up, at least until they each play their respective conference championships. Can West Virginia win out and take on Boston College in the ACC? Can Missouri win out and defeat Texas or Oklahoma to take the Big 12 championship? If Kansas can run the table they will be playing for the national title. Do they deserve it?

Kansas is ranked #2 in scoring, averaging well over 40 points a game. To go along with that, Kansas is also ranked #2 in scoring defense, allowing under 15 points a game. It doesn’t take a math genius with those numbers to see why they’re undefeated. However, the knock against Ohio State was they didn’t play anybody. Guess what… neither has Kansas. They own impressive victories over Southeastern Louisiana, Toledo, Florida International, and Central Michigan. They also beat the heck out of Nebraska, but they’re having a down year. Their only victory over a currently ranked opponent was against Kansas State, and that was a sqeaker at 30-24. Against better quality teams like Texas A&M and Colorado they were held well under their scoring average (19 points in each of those games). According to one reference I found Kansas has a “schedule strength” rank of 77, meaning 76 other teams in the country have played a tougher schedule than they have.

LSU is number 31 on that list. Here are the rankings as of November 17:

Oklahoma State
Washington
Texas A&M
Florida
Nebraska
Mississippi
South Carolina
Alabama
Oregon State
Illinois

There are four SEC teams in the top ten of this list, and Kentucky and Georgia are in the toughest 15 list of schedules. Here is a link to the reference, which comes from the NCAA.

Only a few more weeks to go. I think this season is one that will be talked about for more than a few years to come. It has certainly been exciting.