2017 e-Systems College Football Pool – Week 11 Results

Approximately 9 PM Central Time on Saturday night, the college football world was on the verge of seeing something that had happened just once in the history of the game.  Since the advent of the AP poll in 1936, only one time had the teams ranked #1, #2, and #3 in the AP poll all been defeated on the same day. In fact, it happened on New Year’s Day 1966, when #1 Michigan State lost to #5 UCLA, #2 Arkansas lost to LSU, and #3 Nebraska lost to #4 Alabama in a series of events that propelled the Crimson Tide to a national title.  Almost Fifty-two years later, Alabama found itself teetering on the wrong side of history.   #2 Georgia had been beaten 40-17 by Auburn earlier in the day, Miami was in the process of wrapping up a 41-8 win over #3 Notre Dame, and #1 Alabama was losing in the fourth quarter against Mississippi State.  The Tide came back to win 31-24 and avoided becoming a historical footnote. Given that #6 TCU and #9 Washington also lost this past weekend, it lends power to the old adage…the college football season doesn’t really begin until November comes around.

With only two weekends left in the regular season, it’s a good time to take stock of all of the conference races. So, in a nutshell, here’s how everything stands:

American: In the East, only UCF and South Florida can win the division. If South Florida wins its game against Tulsa this week, the season finale between the Knights and Bulls determines the division winner.  In the West, Memphis wins the division if it wins one of its last two games against SMU and East Carolina; Houston needs two losses by the Tigers in addition to winning out themselves.

ACC: this one’s easy. It’s Clemson (the Atlantic winner) against Miami (the Coastal winner) in the ACC championship game.

Big Twelve: Oklahoma, at 6-1 and with tie-breakers over TCU and Oklahoma State, can clinch a spot in the Big Twelve championship game with one more win. The second spot is trickier.  In their tie-breaker order, TCU, Oklahoma State, and West Virginia have 5-2 marks. Of the three, only TCU controls its destiny; two wins and they’re in.

Big Ten: Wisconsin has won the West.  In the East, Ohio State has a one-game lead, but it’s not decided yet; with a loss to Michigan in the season finale, there exists the possibility for a four-way tie between Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State! If that happens, and I understand my Big Ten divisional tie-breakers correctly, the winner of the division would be…Ohio State. Well, never mind. They need to lose twice for anyone else to have a chance.

Conference USA: with one more win, Florida Atlantic clinches the East division; Florida International needs to win out, including beating FAU this week, and have the Owls lose against Charlotte as well. In the West, North Texas is the division champion.

MAC: in the East, Ohio and Akron control their own destinies; win out and they’re in.  Tonight’s tilt between the Bobcats and Zips is of utmost importance.  In the West, Toledo and Northern Illinois are tied, but the Rockets have the tie-breaker over NIU due to a 27-17 win, so the Huskies need another Toledo loss to have a chance.

Mountain West: In the Mountain division, Boise State can lock up a championship berth with a win in either of their final two games. Wyoming needs the Broncos to lose twice in order to make it. In the West Division, Fresno State has a one-game lead over San Diego State and the tie-breaker over the Aztecs, but must still play Boise State and Wyoming. San Diego State needs two Bulldog losses and wins over Nevada and New Mexico.

Pac-12: the South’s representative is USC.  In the North, things are much more up in the air. Washington State wins the division with a win in the Apple Cup over rival Washington. If the Huskies win that game, the outcome of the division rests on the result of the Big Game between Stanford and Cal. A Cardinal win sends them to the title game; a loss means Washington goes.

SEC: Georgia has won the East.  The West all comes down to the Iron Bowl; the winner between Alabama and Auburn takes the crown.

Sun Belt: what, no championship game?  Nope, not until next year. In the meantime, four teams have one loss in-conference: Troy (to South Alabama), Georgia State (to Troy), Appalachian State (to Louisiana Monroe), and Arkansas State (to South Alabama). Games yet to be played among those four teams: App State/Georgia State and Arkansas State/Troy.  If things break just right, Louisiana (who currently has two conference losses), could also be in the mix; there exists the possibility of a five-way tie at the end of the season!

In small-school news, it’s rivalry week! This is the last weekend of the FCS regular season, and just like the big boys, many teams historically reserve it for classic long-standing games. Some of them you’ve heard mentioned in this space before: Harvard-Yale in the 134^th playing of “The Game” and Lafayette-Lehigh in the 153^rd meeting of “The Rivalry”, the most-played game in college football history, to name two.  Here’s four more happening this weekend that have both regional and historic importance.

• Richmond plays William & Mary in the 128^th edition of the “Capital Cup”; named for the trophy that echoes the status of Richmond and Williamsburg as the historical capitals of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
• Out west, Montana makes the three-hour trip from Missoula to Bozeman to face Montana State in the 116^th edition of their rivalry. The winner receives the “Great Divide” trophy, named both for the geographic feature separating the schools as well as the nature of the rivalry itself.
• In Vermillion, South Dakota, the 113^th game in the South Dakota Showdown will happen between the South Dakota Coyotes and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. South Dakota State has won the last eight meetings, but if the Coyotes can win, they’ll tie the overall series 53-53-7.
• Finally, there’s the annual matchup between Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State. While the game has only been played a small number of times (this weekend will be the 53^rd) compared to the other games mentioned, the game is most well-known for the trophy – Chief Caddo, a 7 ½ foot tall, 330-pound wood carving of a Native American chief whose tribe (the Caddo) were responsible for settling the area where both schools are located. He has been given to the winner of the game since 1961.

Congratulations to pachyderm, who wins week 11 (and thus, back-to-back weeks!) with 160 points! JagAL was second with 155 points, and AUBrian and AllySun tied for third with 154.

Standings after eleven weeks:

There are twenty. Three. Games. To pick this weekend. What does that mean? Well, there aren’t many ranked-vs.-ranked games (one, in fact). But for a race this close, it means that one big upset could mean the difference between glory and “wait till next year”. Pick carefully! The first game this weekend is Tulsa at South Florida, Thursday, November 16 @ 7:30 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!