And then there was one. Undefeated team that is. LSU extended its perfect season with a dominant second half against #12 Georgia in the SEC Championship game. The Houston Cougars did not.
Ah, but there were a few stunning upsets this weekend. The #5 Virginia Tech Hokies fell to #21 Clemson—again. The #7 Houston Cougars lost their C-USA Championship game and its undefeated season to the #24 Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. The #11 Spartans of Michigan State got beat by #15 Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship.
Virtually everyone on the list below—with the notable exception of Southern California— will be bowling in the weeks ahead.
(Polls are AP, Coaches’, the CBSSports120 and the BCS. NR = not ranked)
1/1/1/1 LSU (13-0) The Tigers teed off on the #12 Georgia Bulldogs (10-3) 42-10 for the SEC Championship. While the Bulldogs played tough in the first half—jumping out to a 10-0 advantage and lead 10-7 at the break—the final 30 minutes belonged to the Tigers. Kenny Hilliard scored three TDs—two n the ground and one on a Jordan Jefferson pass. Morris Claiborne closed out the scoring when he returned an interception 45 yards for a TD.
2/2/3/2 Alabama (11-1) The Crimson Tide have finished their season.
3/5/2/3 Oklahoma State (11-1) The Cowboys routed the #13 Sooners of Oklahoma (9-3) 44-10. So dominant were the Cowboys that the Sooners TD came late in the fourth quarter when it was 44-3. Joseph Randle rushed 19 times for 151 yards and two TDs, Jeremy Smith had 119 yards and two more rushing TDs on 10 carries, and Richetti Jones returned a fumble five yards for a score for the Cowboys.
4/4/6/4 Stanford (11-1) The Cardinal will face UCLA in the PAC 12 Championship. Oops. Of course, the Cardinal season had ended. I goofed!
5/3/10/5 Virginia Tech (11-2) The Hokies hopes for revenge for their only loss to date were dashed as the #21 Clemson Tigers (10-3) whipped them again for the ACC Championship 38-10. Tajh Boyd came out of a four game funk to complete 20 of 29 passes for 240 yards and three TDs and scored a fourth on the ground as he led the Tigers. Andre Ellington rushed 20 times for 125 yards and a TD.
6/10/14/8 Arkansas (10-2) The Razorbacks’ season has ended.
7/6/5/6 Houston (12-1) The Cougars lost to the #24 Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (11-2) 49-28. Austin Davis completed 17 of 33 pass attempts for 279 yards and four TDs in leading the Golden Eagles. Furious Bradley returned a blocked punt 11 yards for a Southern Miss score. Case Keenum, intercepted only three times in the previous 12 games, was intercepted twice with one being returned by Ronnie Thornton 26 yards for a TD. Keenum was 41 of 67 for 373 yards and did connect twice with Justin Johnson for TD scores, but he spent a good part of the afternoon being hurried and/or laying on his back.
8/7/9/9 Oregon (10-2) The Ducks’ season has ended. Oops! The Ducks faced the UCLA Bruins in the PAC 12 Championship game and came out 49-31 victors. LaMichael James rushed for 219 yards and three TDs.
9T/NR/11/NR Southern California (10-2) The Trojans season has come to an end.
9T/8/5/7 Boise State (11-1) The Broncos drubbed the New Mexico Lobos (1-11) 45-0. Kellen Moore completed 28 of 33 attempts for 313 yards and three TDs in his final game on the Blue Carpet. Doug Martin carried the ball 22 times for 110 yards and two TDs.
11/9/19/13 Michigan State (10-3) The Spartans fell to the #15 Wisconsin Badgers (11-2) in the Big Ten Championship game 42-39. Montee Ball scored three TD rushing (27 carries for 137 yards) and a fourth on a pass from Russell Wilson for the Badgers. Kirk Cousins completed 22 of 30 pass attempts for 281 yards and hit B.J. Cunningham for three TDs for the Spartans.
12/14/15/14 Georgia (10-3) The Bulldogs fell 42-10 to the LSU Tigers (13-0) for the SEC Championship. See above for more.
13/11/4/10 Oklahoma (9-3) The Sooners were routed 44-10 by the #3 Oklahoma State Cowboys (11-1). More above.
14/13/13/12 South Carolina (10-2) The Gamecocks’ season has come to an end.
15/12/16/15 Wisconsin (11-2) The Badgers edged the #11 Michigan State Spartans (10-3) in the Big Ten Championship game 42-39. More above.
16/15/12/11 Kansas State (10-2) The Wildcats beat the Iowa State Cyclones (6-6) 30-23. John Hubert carried the ball 15 times gaining 120 yards and scoring a TD, Collin Klein threw for one TD and ran for a second and Anthony Cantele converted three field goals for the Wildcats. Jeff Woody had two TDs on the ground for the Cyclones.
17/16/8/6 Michigan (10-2) The Wolverines’ season is over.
18/17/17/18 TCU (10-2) The Horned Frogs creamed the UNLV Rebels (2-10) 56-9 in their season finale. TCU’s defense held UNLV to just 164 yards net offense and six first downs. Greg McCoy returned a punt 99 yards for a TD and Kris Gardner returned an interception 16 yards for another. The other six TCU TDs came on the ground with five different players crossing the goal line. Only Waymon James scored twice. The Frogs will be bowling now that they are Mountain West Champs, but will they be ranked high enough for that bowl to be one of the BCS big six?
19/18/18/17 Baylor (9-3) The Bears doubled up on the Texas Longhorns (7-5) 48-24. Robert Griffin III put in his bid for the Heisman when he ran for two TDs and passed for two more. Griffin completed 15 of 22 attempts for 320 yards. Case McCoy completed 24 of 39 for 356 yards and two TDs for the Longhorns but he was intercepted four times. Texas also lost two fumbles and was penalized 12 times for 105 yards.
20/19/20/19 Nebraska (9-3) The Cornhuskers’ season has ended.
21/21/25/20 Clemson (10-3) The Tigers dominated the#5 Virginia Tech Hokies (11-2) 38-10 earning the ACC Championship and a trip to the Orange Bowl. More above.
22/20/NR/23 West Virginia (9-3) The Mountaineers edged the South Florida Bulls (5-7) Thursday night 30-27 on a field goal as time ran out. The win earned WVA a piece of the Big East title. In addition to Tyler Bitancurt’s winning 28-yard field goal, the Mountaineers got a 90-yard kickoff return for a TD by Tavon Austin and an interception return of 52 yards by Pat Miller for another TD. Bitancurt also hit field goals of 23 and 42 yards. WVA, Louisville and Cincinnati are all 5-2 in the Big East.
23/22/24/21 Penn State (9-3) The Nittany Lions’ season is finished.
24/23/23/24 Southern Mississippi (11-2) The Golden Eagles upset the #7 Houston Cougars (12-1) in the Conference USA Championship game 49-28. See above for more.
25/24/NR/NR Florida State (8-4) The Seminoles have ended their season.
NR/NR/21/22 Texas (7-5) The Longhorns ended their season at #19 Baylor Bears (9-3) losing 48-24. See above for more.
NR/NR/22/NR Notre Dame (8-4) The Irish season has come to an end.
NR/NR/NR/25 Missouri (7-5) The Tigers have ended their season.
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