Week 9 Results

Things were a bit saner in the college football world this weekend. There were still a few upsets—sort of—but for the most part, games went pretty much as the rankings would have predicted. Higher ranked teams beat lower ranked teams (mostly) and ranked teams beat unranked teams (for the most part). It would appear that the races for conference titles and slots in the various bowls are really tightening up. Still, was there anyone out there that figured UConn to be a major force in the BIG EAST?

In reporting the outcomes, I’ll be using the AP/Coaches’ Polls.

#1 Ohio State (9-0, 5-0) went to Happy Valley and took care of business defeating the #24/22 Penn State Nittany Lions (6-3, 3-3) by a very businesslike 37-17.

#2 Boston College (8-0, 4-0) faced their toughest challenge to date in #8/9 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg…in the rain…and came away victorious, 14-10, by scoring twice in the final minutes.

#3 LSU (7-1, 4-1) had the week off.

#4 Oklahoma (7-1, 3-1) also had the week off.

#5 Oregon hosted #9/8 USC and pretty much put the Trojans to rest in the PAC 10. With the 24-17 victory, Oregon improves to 7-1, 4-1 in the PAC 10, while the Trojans fall to 6-2, 3-2.

#6 West Virginia (7-1, 2-1) defeated #25/NR Rutgers 31-3. The loss drops RU to 5-3, 2-2.

#7 Arizona State kept its perfect season going (8-0, 5-0) by defeating #18/20 Cal 31-20. The loss drops Cal to 5-3, 2-3.

#8/9 Virginia Tech lost to #2 Boston College 14-10.

#9/8 USC lost to #5 Oregon 24-17.
#10/11 Florida fell to #20/19 Georgia in a spirited game 42-30. Florida is now 5-3, 3-3 in the SEC while Georgia improves to 6-2, 4-2.

#11/12 Southern Florida lost for the second consecutive week. This time the UConn Huskies put the hammer to the Bulls 22-15. UConn now stands alone atop the BIG EAST (they beat Louisville last week) with a 7-1, 4-0 record. USF falls to 6-2 and 1-2 and may have gone from #2 in the nation to out of the BIG EAST title chase in two short weeks.

#12/10 Kansas (8-0, 4-0) defeated Texas A&M (6-3, 3-2) 19-11 maintaining their perfect season.

#13 Missouri (7-1, 3-1) trounced Iowa State (1-8, 05) by a score of 42-28.

#14/15 Kentucky (6-3, 2-3), a team that was flying high a few weeks ago, took it on the chin from Mississippi State (5-4, 2-3) by a 31-14 score.

#15/17 South Carolina(6-3, 3-3) found itself losing to Tennessee (5-3, 3-2) when place kicker Daniel Lincoln kicked one field goal to tie the game with 5 seconds left in regulation and then another to win in overtime 27-24.

#16/14 Hawaii (6-0, 5-0) creamed New Mexico State (4-4, 1-2) when Colt Brennan threw for 425 yards and 6 TDs. Brennan is now in second place with 119 career touchdown passes just two behind Ty Detmer of the 1988-91 BYU team.

#17/16 Texas (7-2, 3-2) edged passed Nebraska (4-5, 1-4) 28-25.

#18/20 Cal dropped their contest to #7 Arizona State 31-20.

#19/21 Michigan (7-2, 5-0) rolled over Minnesota (1-8, 0-5) 34-10 as they continue to shine after an inauspicious 0-2 start.

#20/19 Georgia upset #10/11 Florida 42-30.

#21/18 Virginia (7-2, 4-1) lost to unranked North Carolina State (3-5, 1-3) 29-24.

#22/24 Alabama (6-2, 4-1) had the week off.

#23 Auburn (6-3, 4-2) defeated Mississippi (2-7, 0-6) by a score of 17-3.

#24/22 Penn State dropped its game to #1 Ohio State 37-17.

#25/NR Rutgers lost to #6 West Virginia 31-3.

NR/#25 Wisconsin (7-2, 3-2) drubbed Indiana (5-4, 2-4) 33-3.

Altogether 9 of the AP top 25 lost this week. Most of those were in the middle of the pack (numbers 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, and 15) so expect a reshuffling of the order from number 8 on down. However I don’t foresee any change of the top 7 teams when the new rankings come out this evening.