When yesterday’s college-football action kicked off, there were 29 undefeated teams in Division I-A. By the end of the day, 19 still stood. Knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten: Alabama, Arizona State, Boston College, Kansas State, Michigan State, Navy, Oklahoma State, South Florida, Wisconsin and — oh, the joy it brings me to say this — UCLA. :)
Whereas there were three games yesterday between a pair undefeated teams, meaning someone was guaranteed to lose their first game (er, barring a tie, I suppose), next week’s action features just one battle of unbeatens: #1 Ohio State at #14 Iowa. But there are quite a few other games which also pit undefeated teams against quality opponents on the road. At least two undefeateds will be considered underdogs: 4-0 Purdue at 3-1 Notre Dame and 4-0 Houston at 1-2 Miami. Rutgers, ranked for the first time in 30 years, will take its newfound credibility on the road against 3-1 South Florida, which stunned Louisville last year. #2 Auburn travels to South Carolina; #3 USC travels to Wazzu. Michigan must win at Minnesota to finally make it through September undefeated for the first time this millennium. Oregon travels to ASU, which will be looking to bounce back from an awful loss to Cal. Boise State heads to Utah for a big intraconference mid-major showdown. And a few teams face tough tests at home: Virginia Tech hosts Georgia Tech, Texas A&M hosts Texas Tech and Florida hosts Alabama.
On paper, we should see just three or four unbeatens lose, but I wouldn’t be surprised if six or more take a tumble. There are definitely some potential “upset specials” on next week’s slate. Full details after the jump.
Rankings are from this week’s AP poll; I’ve again assigned rankings to teams in the “others receiving votes” category based on how many votes they received. Unlike last week, all of the undefeated teams received at least a few votes in this week’s poll. The same can’t be said of their opponents, though, so opponents receiving no AP votes are ranked by the SportsLine 119 instead. Schedule from ESPN. All times Eastern.
#1 Ohio State (4-0) — at #14 Iowa (4-0), 8:00 PM
#2 Auburn (4-0) — at #44 South Carolina (3-1), 7:30 PM Thursday
#3 USC (3-0) — at #53 Washington State (3-1), 7:00 PM
#4 West Virginia (4-0) — Idle
#5 Florida (4-0) — vs. #40 Alabama (3-1), 2:30 PM
#6 Michigan (4-0) — at #43 Minnesota (2-2), 8:00 PM
#8 Louisville (4-0) — Idle
#10 Georgia (4-0) — at #88 Ole Miss (1-3), 9:00 PM
#11 Virginia Tech (4-0) — vs. #24 Georgia Tech (3-1), 3:30 PM
#13 Iowa (4-0) — vs. #1 Ohio State (4-0), 8:00 PM
#14 Oregon (3-0) — at #28 Arizona State (3-1), 3:30 PM
#17 TCU (3-0) — vs. #54 BYU (2-2), 6:00 PM Thursday
#22 Boise State (4-0) — at #35 Utah (3-1), 3:00 PM
#23 Rutgers (4-0) — at #40 South Florida (3-1), 8:00 PM Friday
#25 Missouri (4-0) — vs. Colorado (0-4), 12:30 PM
#29 Purdue (4-0) — at #12 Notre Dame (3-1), 2:30 PM
#30 Texas A&M (4-0) — vs. #33 Texas Tech (3-1), 3:30 PM
#36 Wake Forest (4-0) — vs. Div. I-AA Liberty (3-1), 3:30 PM
#38 Houston (4-0) — at #27 Miami (1-2), 6:00 PM
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Categories: College Football
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September 24th, 2006 at 5:32:27 pm
Predicted losses: 7, leaving us with an even dozen unbeatens at the end of next Saturday.
The victims: Michigan, Virginia Tech, Iowa, Boise State, Rutgers, Purdue, Houston.
I know picking Minnesota over Michigan is probably crazy, but I can’t resist predicting that Llloyd Carr will lose in September after all. On the very last day of September, no less, just to make it uber-painful. :)
September 24th, 2006 at 5:53:04 pm
Loy,
Did you see Carr go all Ron Burgundy on Wisky yesterday?
Play action bomb with less than a minute and up by 14. The upside is that Sonia got drilled after he released the ball. What a cockshot.
September 24th, 2006 at 8:48:27 pm
And Holy f***ing sh**t Batman!
AP Poll: Washington 13 votes
Coaches Poll: Washington 6 votes
I think its been atleast 2 years since we’ve recieved a single top 25 vote!
September 24th, 2006 at 9:26:59 pm
Actually, you got a couple of coaches poll votes last week. I was going to post about it, but Safari crashed in the middle of my writing the post. :) But now you’ve got AP votes, and as all USC fans know, the AP poll is more legitimate… hehe. :)
September 24th, 2006 at 9:34:48 pm
That was a big win for UW on Saturday. I saw UCLA with a lead early and assumed they were going to cruise in for the comfy win.
Ty has been known to sneak up on folks in the past, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them win 6 games this season now that they’ve gained some confidence. They will probably be favored against O State and W State, no?
September 24th, 2006 at 10:15:32 pm
O State and W State, maybe. Stanford, definitely.
September 24th, 2006 at 11:02:24 pm
Ahh, yes. I forgot about the treefolk. Harris is not a bad coach, they must have no talent left.
Thanks Buddy!
September 24th, 2006 at 11:03:14 pm
It’s probably Ty’s fault. ;)
September 24th, 2006 at 11:31:05 pm
Well damn Brendan, way to steal my thunder :)
But i did go back and look. Last time we recieved votes in the AP poll? Week 12 of 2003. One vote.
Coaches poll? Well apparently last week, but before that, Week 8 of 2003, 69 votes.
September 25th, 2006 at 12:45:04 am
Ty just seems to be more at home in the Pac-10. I think he’s the kind of coach that does better when not in the spotlight all the time. I remember how Stanford would suddenly come out of nowhere and play a great game against a decent team and everyone would kind of nod their heads and say, “That Ty Willingham is a good coach.” Too bad Notre Dame took that to mean “Ty Willingham should be at Notre Dame.”
September 25th, 2006 at 2:56:55 am
Personally i don’t think you guys gave Ty a fair chance, but we are certainly glad for it :)
September 25th, 2006 at 10:39:34 am
Come to think of it, character has slipped noticeably since Weis took over.
September 25th, 2006 at 1:46:18 pm
character has slipped how?
September 25th, 2006 at 2:03:13 pm
I think what KC was getting at is that the emphasis is more on winning in the Post-Monk Davieham era than solely the ‘molding of men.’
September 25th, 2006 at 2:34:05 pm
Can we “mold” Brady into a more consistently accurate passer? Please?
September 25th, 2006 at 4:58:22 pm
My stress level, and my interpersonal relationships on Saturdays, would certainly appreciate that.
September 25th, 2006 at 5:01:48 pm
Heh.