BritanniaTex is the Week 12 Winner

If you ever needed a reminder that college football is sometimes inexplicable, last Saturday around 10 PM would have been about as crystal-clear an example as you could ask for. #1 Kansas State was playing out the string of a four-touchdown loss to a Baylor team that entered the game 4-5. It was the first time ever that a team with a losing record entering the game beat the #1-ranked BCS team. Meanwhile, Oregon and three-touchdown underdog Stanford were going toe-to-toe in a rare Pac-12 defensive showdown. Speaking as an SEC fan, I hope that the West Coasters learned that 17-14 games can be as exciting and fun to watch as 63-59 games. It was the first time that the #1 and #2 BCS teams lost in the same weekend since December 1, 2007 (when Missouri and West Virginia lost).

And so we are down to two unbeaten teams, which is where the BCS honchos would usually get to puff out their chests and say, “See? The system worked again.” Unfortunately for them, one of those two teams is Ohio State. The Buckeyes had the option to take a postseason ban last year or this year. They chose to go to the Gator Bowl last year, where they lost to Florida. As a result, they may be 12-0 with no place to go if they can beat Michigan in their annual rivalry game this weekend. Instead, we’re left with Notre Dame and a contingent of SEC schools chomping at the bit to claim a spot in the title game. Alabama and Georgia have a direct path to Miami – win two more games, and they’re in – but it’s also theoretically possible for Florida or (given a really wacky set of circumstances) even LSU to claim a championship berth. Don’t think it could happen? Go back to 2007, when the Tigers leaped from 7th to 2nd in the final BCS standings before claiming the national title. And of course, Oregon and Kansas State can still make it with some luck as well.

It is time for the year-end rivalry games! As I have mentioned before in this space, this is my favorite weekend of the college football season, because each of these games means just a little bit more to the players and the fans. Some games are played for trophies, others just for pride, but they all mean something special to all of the participants. If there was ever a time to take someone who had never seen a college football game, a good rivalry game is about the best one I could think of. Sadly, this weekend also is a stark reminder that former rivals won’t be playing each other. Texas won’t face Texas A&M in the Lone Star Showdown (Texas will play TCU; A&M faces Missouri). Missouri won’t play Kansas (which is idle this week) in the Border War. Pittsburgh and West Virginia won’t have their Backyard Brawl (the Panthers play Rutgers while West Virginia plays Iowa State). What do all three of those former matchups have in common? Each of them had been played over 100 times before. Kansas-Missouri was the second-most played game in I-A (120 games); Texas-Texas A&M was the third-most (118 games). Traditions left behind, time marches on, to the beat of the almighty dollar.

Meanwhile, in small college news, John Gagliardi retired today. Who’s that, you ask? He was the coach of St. John’s University in Minnesota, a Division III school. He was the head coach there for 60 years. Counting four years before that at Carroll College in Montana, his overall record was 489-138-11, a 77.5% winning percentage. This makes him the winningest coach in NCAA history across all divisions. He also won four national championships at St. John’s. He began coaching at age 16 while still in high school, and retires seventy years later. He had an interesting way of coaching to say the least; there was no tackling or wind sprints at practices, which were very short by today’s standards. He didn’t have a playbook. His players called him “John” instead of “Coach”. Yet he leaves the sport on his terms and remembered as nothing but a winner, and as we all know from recent events, this is something special. Perhaps the final word is this; the Division III equivalent of the Heisman Trophy is called the Gagliardi Trophy. It has been known as such since 1993.

Congratulations to BrittaniaTex, who won week 12 with 216 points. JustWinAWeek finished second with 215 points, and there was a three-way tie at third between Bamarock, AUBrian, and CUtigers, all at 206 points.

Standings after twelve weeks (dropping “two worst” weeks)…

This week features another 21 games! I know that this is a short week for most of us, so remember to pick before Thanksgiving! This week’s first game is TCU at Texas, Thursday, November 22 @ 7:30 ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!
—
Brandon German
e-Systems.net, Inc.