You knew that with November would come chaos, and sure enough this weekend brought it in spades. Five unbeatens fell by the wayside (LSU, TCU, Michigan State, Memphis, and Toledo), leaving just six. At most, only four can make it undefeated through the season (Clemson, Ohio State/Iowa, Oklahoma State/Baylor, and Houston). Of those, Houston is the odd man out as the Group of Five team. Most think their schedule won’t be enough to move them into the top four even with potential wins over Memphis, Navy, and Temple upcoming. There are still thirteen one-loss teams remaining, and ten are from Power Five conferences. With four weeks remaining, there’s still no telling who might be the top four.
Of the Power Five unbeaten teams, the one with the least publicity has to be Oklahoma State. The Cowboys had somewhat cruised through the easy part of their Big XII schedule before jumping onto the scene in a big way with a 49-29 win over TCU. They are seventh in the country in points per game (44.6), which puts them a “pedestrian” fifth in the Big XII. However, they are 46th in the country in defense (23.8), which doesn’t sound like much until you realize that ranks them second overall in the Big XII behind Oklahoma, and unlike the Sooners, the Cowboys have already played one of the top four Big XII teams (the aforementioned TCU win).
Everyone seems to be quick to jump off the Leonard Fournette Heisman bandwagon. Yes, he had a tough night against Alabama’s defense, gaining only 31 yards. But consider these two things before dropping the LSU Tiger running back from your personal Heisman ballot: 1) He still leads the nation in rushing by more than fifty yards, despite having at least one fewer game played than any other back in the top seven, and 2) despite the low totals against Alabama, he is still on track to break the all-time SEC record for rushing yards per game (currently held by Herschel Walker with 171.9), at 172.9. He’s a really good player who had one tough game. Even Heisman winners sometimes take one on the chin.
In small-school news, if you can guess the remaining three undefeated FCS schools, you’re a bigger college football fan than I. The answer: McNeese State, Harvard, and Dayton. The odd man out in the bunch is Dayton; the Flyers are 9-0, but have won four games by five points or less, and only one by more than seventeen. As a result, Dayton is currently unranked. However, as the FCS championship playoffs includes all conference champions that wish to participate, the Flyers can get in due to winning the Pioneer Football League, which they can do by winning one of their last two games. If they do, it will be their 12th conference championship.
Congratulations to verntroyer, who wins week 10 with 234 points. Tied for second were JustGuess and AUBrian, who each had 215 points.
Standings after 10 weeks (dropping two lowest weekly scores):
| 1st | JagRag | 1659 |
| 2nd | AllySun | 1657 |
| 3rd | Ralphie | 1651 |
| 4th | AUBrian | 1645 |
| 5th | Jeff4Bama | 1644 |
| 6th | JagAL | 1631 |
| 7th | Crimson White | 1628 |
| 8th | Jhutto | 1623 |
| T-9th | JG Bama | 1620 |
| T-9th | bevo | 1620 |
| T-9th | Maestro | 1620 |
As we turn for the homestretch, this weekend’s slate features rivalry games for bronze pigs (Minnesota – Iowa’s Floyd of Rosedale trophy), wooden turtles (Ohio State – Illinois’ Illibuck trophy), and golden boots (Arkansas – LSU’s, well, Golden Boot trophy). For the first time in a while, however, it does not feature a weekday game. The first games are Saturday, November 14 @ Noon ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!