.260 Hitters

If there’s ever anything that is consistently true about college football, it’s that no team is ever safe. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at the win/loss column for this week — we’ll start with the losses:

Iowa
Michigan
Notre Dame
Kansas
Oregon
Cal
Penn State
Oklahoma

And the respective wins:

Indiana
Purdue
Navy
Kansas State
Stanford
Oregon State
Ohio State
Nebraska

Charlie, oh Charlie. You had a good run. You provided Notre Dame with some of its worst seasons in history, fought the good fight, had talent flock to you from far and wide, and you successfully dismantled a winning tradition. Yeah, you only have three losses this year, but something tells me that (a) you’ll likely have four, and (b) the ND alum aren’t too thrilled right now. But I could be wrong, and not to worry! RichRod will be taking a significant amount of the limelight for the next few days.

Speaking of my buddy Rich, let me pull up espn.com and take a look at the conference standings for the Big Eleven. Hmm, I can’t seem to find… oh, there you are! At the bottom. And when I say bottom, I mean dead last (such as my picks league score two or three weeks ago), tied with Indiana (now there’s some proud company) with a glaring 1 – 5 conference record. Ouch. But do not despair, oh Michigan fan. Yes, you lost back-to-back to Illinois and Purdue, but there is hope. Next week you play Wisconsin on the road (cake) and Ohio State at home (creampuff). That’ll save your season, right? How are you going to feel when your team is 5 -7 overall, 1 – 7 in conference play? Rodriguez was a good pick.

Northwestern took Iowa’s BCS title dreams and crushed them like a bug on the proverbial windshield. Defeating the Hawkeyes 17 – 10, the Wildcats took advantage of the Sports Illustrated Cover jinx on Iowa (and a QB injury), and though they have not propelled themselves into the forefront of Big Eleven football, they are certainly making waves next to schools such as Notre Dame and Stanford.

“Even though we’re similar academically, we’re in a little different boat as Stanford and Notre Dame,” said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. “We’ve been consistently winning since 1995. They’re still saying they can do it, but we’re doing it.”

Sport Illustrated further discussed the growing disparity (or the narrowing of similarities depending on one’s perspective). “Proud Domers would surely scoff at any comparison between their beloved Irish and the historically second-class squads in Evanston and Palo Alto, but is there really that much difference between the three programs these days? All three sport six victories this season. Northwestern just became bowl-eligible for the third straight season (compared with two for the Irish) and sixth time in seven years (five for Notre Dame). Stanford had been in rebuilding mode but now appears headed in the right direction thanks in part (see if this sounds familiar) to a gifted 6-foot-4 drop-back passer.” (si.com) Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Keeping things local, Penn State’s season wrapped up Saturday with its loss to the Buckeyes of Ohio State. In the most confusing conference this season, the Nittany Lions seem to still be searching for their identity, with Indiana and Michigan State left on the agenda to end their seasons somewhere around third in conference.

Oklahoma dropped yet again, moving its record to 5 – 4 on the season (3 – 2 in the Big XII), in a game that the ill-informed would describe as a defensive battle, and the observant would see as a complete failure on Oklahoma’s part to do anything on offence and maintain security of the football. And let’s be honest, this isn’t the Nebraska of old. Iowa State beat them for crying out loud, and they don’t beat anyone!

Texas, on paper, took care of business against visiting UCF, but for those who watched the game, the score did not reflect the Longhorn’s performance, and the voters noticed as Texas dropped below Alabama to No. 3 in the BCS standings. Despite Shipley setting the school record for receiving yards and the team putting up more than 500 yards of total offense, the game was less than impressive, leaving many to wonder if Texas simply played down to the level of its opponents, or if it still haven’t gotten things figured out yet?

On the West Coast, Stanford put the beat down on Oregon – a surprise to many, including those in the stadium. Though the Ducks still control their own Pac-10 destiny, their confidence has got to be shaky at best, and desperation kicking in at worst, as they announce the return of MMA fighter Blount to the team’s roster after being suspended for the “remainder of the season” after the Boise State game. I guess they don’t know what “remained of the season” actually means. (Kind of like the NY Life “Rookie of the Year” award.)

Bama beat LSU by nine. The spread for the game was nine. Freaky.

Florida beat Vandy even without Spikes… shocking. But not to worry, Mr. Spikes’ lesson in how to be a great example of moral fiber and class was absorbed and quickly put to use by Clemson defensive end Andre Branch (No. 40) (you’ll see him on the left-center of the screen).

And I was DYING to find a segue into this video, and this is the closest thing I could find. First of all, how can anyone be mean to BYU chicks? They are so nice. Plus, you know more than half the team members are likely moms. Something tells me the New Mexico chick is going to have a rough time with the Big Fella upstairs.