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What a Saturday...

By alexferguson60, Section College
Posted on Sun Nov 12 2006 at 11:25 PM EST
More on: (all tags)

In the 2006 college football season, this weekend was pretty much written off as a weekend where we had one or two big games, but nothing that should have shocked the pollsters.
But by God, it did.

In New York City, the Empire State building shone red in support of the Rutgers - Louisville game going on in nearby New Brunswick, NJ on Thursday night. The Scarlet Knights shone too, beating the Cards 28-25 to go a sensational 9-0. I can hear the cries of "We believe" from Manhattan already. . Although we'd be very surprised if they go into Morgantown and get a victory out of West Virginia, it would be great if they did.

In Auburn, Alabama, coach Tommy Tuberville pleaded with the fans before the Georgia-Auburn game to be loud. And they were...although it was Brandon Cox and the rest of the Auburn team who looked as though they'd had one too many SoCo and cokes almost all the way as they were trounced 37-15 by a Georgia team who looked miles better than a team who had sucked for most of the season. Didn't this team lose to Vanderbilt, people?

In Tucson, Arizona, Mike Stoops coached the Wildcats to its second signature win in two years, beating California 24-20. OK, so they only won it by a footprint, but hey, a win's a win. DeSean Jackson, the Cal wide receiver who took the ball to the end zone in the dying seconds but then was rule out-of-bounds, must be cursing his luck. We know Longshore was.

In Gainesville, Florida, and College Station, Texas, it was the tale of the two close games. Florida, who has managed to grind out the victories without the style points almost all year long, won the game after 6ft 6 defender Jarvis Moss blocked a field goal in the dying seconds, sending the Swamp crazy. But at Texas A&M, there was no such luck. Nebraska continued its resurgence, with Zac Taylor hitting Maurice Puffy with the winning TD pass with 21 seconds left.

There was no drama for Ohio State, Michigan, Arkansas or Notre Dame, who all won their games comfortably. Ohio State profited from 5 Northwestern turnovers, Michigan profited from the fact they were playing Indiana, Arkansas profited from having Darren McFadden, one of the best running backs in the nation, and Notre Dame profited from having Brady Quinn, who went 14-19 for 207 yards and 4 TDs.

And one quick note: can this season get any better for Wake Forest? Or can it end quick enough for Florida State? For the record, Wake won 30-0 in Tallahassee, helped by its defense, who had 4 interceptions. For the `Noles, it was the first time since 1988 that they'd been shut out....and the first time in a while that they were 5-5 at this time in the season.

So, where does this stand us now in terms of the BCS? As we know, there are a number of one-loss teams that you simply can't count out for a National Championship game. Here are my main candidates - if they win out, that is.

If Arkansas beat LSU and Florida in the SEC Championship Game, then I can't believe that the BCS wouldn't put them in against the winner of Ohio State- Michigan.

And how about Florida? The Gators' fans might be some of the worst in the country, but the team just keeps on winning. Florida has beaten Tennessee in Neyland, and Georgia in Jacksonville. If they beat Arkansas, then it's hard to rule out the Gators from college football's version of the Big Dance.

USC's victory against Oregon makes a big case for Pete Carroll's team, but that loss at Oregon State's going to be HUGE. However, beating Notre Dame will do them no harm whatsoever.

As for Notre Dame, the Irish have vastly improved since they were trounced at South Bend. Yeah, they may have beaten everyone since that loss, but is that a product of excellent coaching or a product of fairly awful opposition? We can't wait til next year, when they go to Penn State and Michigan.

We'll know one half of the National Championship game after Michigan- Ohio State. But my feeling is is that we won't know the other half until after the SEC Championship game finishes in Atlanta.