2016 e-Systems College Football Pool – Week 9 Results

Many prognosticators predicted that “Road Test Saturday” would bring an end to more than one undefeated season, and they were right; the number of undefeated teams was cut almost in half as a result of four teams taking their first losses in opposing teams’ stadiums. Boise State suffered perhaps the toughest way to drop their first game, losing to Wyoming 30-28 on a safety with a little over a minute to go in the game. One team of Broncos’ loss is another team of Broncos’ gain: Western Michigan now finds themselves as the only undefeated Group of Five team, and the one with the inside track to an automatic New Year’s Six bowl bid.  The biggest hurdle that couldn’t be overcome belonged to Nebraska, which faced the unenviable task of going into Camp Randall Stadium and beating a Wisconsin team whose two losses were to Ohio State and Michigan by a combined 14 points.  The Huskers made a valiant effort but couldn’t match the Badgers’ score in overtime, and lost 23-17. Wisconsin still needs one more Nebraska loss to take the lead in the Big Ten West and have a shot at a rematch against either the Buckeyes or Wolverines.

Everyone talks about Alabama’s defense in the SEC, and they make a lot of headlines with turnovers turned into touchdowns.  But don’t sleep on what Florida is doing down in Gainesville. The Gators, now 6-1 following a 24-10 win over rival Georgia, have only given up 82 points all season, the lowest figure in the country. Their points allowed per game of 11.7 is one-tenth of a point behind Michigan for the national lead in that category, and they’re also second to Michigan in total defense. All of that defensive prowess was on display in Jacksonville. Florida held Georgia to just 21 yards rushing on 19 attempts, 164 yards total and eight first downs in the win. Florida’s road doesn’t get any easier going forward, as they still have several tough SEC games and Florida State left on the schedule, but that defense will keep them in every one of them.

Speaking of strong defenses, let’s head northeast and talk about two schools off of the national radar that have really strong ones this year.  Boston College finally put together enough offense to go with that defense and snapped a 12-game conference losing streak.  They beat NC State 21-14 for their first win in the ACC since beating Syracuse in 2014.  Boston College has the seventh-best total defense in the country, but they will be tested greatly in the next two weeks: first against Lamar Jackson and Louisville, then at Florida State.  Meanwhile, Temple is quietly having another solid year.  The Owls beat Cincinnati 34-13 in Philadelphia this past weekend to move to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the American Athletic Conference East Division. Temple held the Bearcats to 186 total yards in the win, moving them to 11^th nationally in total defense.  Coach Matt Rhule has the Owls three wins away from another shot at a conference title after having come up just short last year against Houston.

Other notes: California is the only team in the country without a winning or losing streak greater than one. The Bears’ eight games thus far have gone W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L. That might change soon – Washington is next on their schedule…Army, currently 5-3, can make it to a bowl game for the first time since 2010 with one more win – over an FBS school. The Black Knights can’t use a win over Morgan State, because they already have one win over an FCS opponent (Lafayette).  They must defeat at least one of Air Force, Notre Dame, or Navy to qualify…the only FBS team this year that hasn’t converted a fourth down attempt is LSU; they’re 0-3. Western Michigan has converted 12 of their 13 attempts; South Florida has converted 11 of their 12…Troy has put together a 6-1 year thus far, their only loss being by just six points to Clemson. One more win, and the Trojans are guaranteed their first winning season since 2010, the year they also won their last conference title. Four more wins would give them their first 10-win season since 2000, when they were still in what was known as Division I-AA…

In small-school news, the major service academies aren’t the only ones playing great “military-style” football this year. The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, has a traditional military team game plan – run the triple option and play sound defense.  This year it is being done with high-level precision. The Bulldogs are 8-0 and ranked #7 in the latest FCS poll, including having given #8 Chattanooga their only loss to date. The Citadel is 2^nd in the FCS in rushing yards per game at 362.9 yards per game, 13^th in total defense, and 7^th in scoring defense. At this rate, a second straight Southern Conference championship and FCS playoff berth are within reach, but a foe familiar to those of us in Birmingham makes its way to Charleston this week. Samford, with its 6-2 record and offense averaging 40.6 points per game, comes to Citadel’s Johnson Hagood Stadium. If the Bulldogs from South Carolina can beat the Bulldogs from Alabama, only a win over VMI in the traditional “Military Classic of the South” rivalry stands between them and the outright conference title.

Congratulations to AUBrian, who takes week nine by virtue of tie-breaker over Crimson Gator!  Both finished with 142 points.  In third place was maestro, with 137 points.

Standings after nine weeks:

Lots of games are on the docket this weekend; there are only two matchups between ranked opponents. But as we all know, anything can happen, and with this many points at stake, it’s going to be more important than ever to pick wisely!  The first game this week is Oklahoma at Iowa State, Thursday, November 3 @ 7:30 ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!