2013 College Football Pool – Week 7 Results

From Merriam-Webster.com…

upset (transitive verb): to defeat unexpectedly. To force out of the usual upright, level, or proper position. To throw into disorder.

Examples: this past week! This was the first weekend of true upsets this year in college football, and the impact could be felt far and wide throughout the country. In the SEC, Georgia couldn’t overcome the multiple injuries they’d had inflicted upon their team, and were beaten at home by Missouri. In the Big Ten, a plucky Penn State team outlasted Michigan in four overtimes in what was the first 4-OT game in both schools’ history. In the Big XII, Texas took the Golden Hat back from Oklahoma as a double-digit underdog, and in the Pac-12, Utah stunned Stanford at home in the first win by an unranked team against a top-10 opponent this year. I mentioned in last week’s email that this past week might be the week we finally saw some upsets, and a few of the pickers went with their gut (or maybe in BEVO’s case, their heart) on an upset pick and got it right!

This rash of upsets leaves the college football landscape with 14 unbeaten teams. We know that of these teams, several still must play another currently-unbeaten team:
Houston – Louisville
Clemson – Florida State
Florida State – Miami (FL)
Baylor – Texas Tech
Oregon – UCLA
Alabama – Missouri (in the SEC title game if both remain unbeaten in the regular season)

This leaves us with the possibility of as many as eight undefeated teams at the end of the regular season. As we’ve all learned, things tend to work themselves out as the season progresses. But, man…it’d be tough on fans to see, for instance, a 13-0 Ohio State and a 13-0 Florida State left out of the national championship game because Alabama and Oregon ran the table. That playoff can’t come soon enough, can it?

What can you say about an offense where 35 points is an off-day? What Baylor is doing, even in today’s standards of pinball scoring, is just ludicrous. The Bears average 63.4 points – over nine touchdowns per game. They have averaged – averaged – 715.4 yards per game. For perspective, Auburn set a school record for total offense in their game against Western Carolina this past week – with 712 yards. They are second in the country in passing yards per game – and fourth in the country in rushing yards per game. They average gaining more than 1/5 of the field on every pass completion (20.71 yards). They average 14.38 yards gained every time they throw the ball, period. They’ve scored as many or more rushing touchdowns (24) than 61 teams have scored touchdowns in any manner. They were the first team to score 70 or more points in three straight games since 1930. And they’ve only played five games so far. The modern-day I-A record for points in a season is held by the 2008 Oklahoma team, with 716. If the Bears make it to a bowl (exceedingly likely, since they’re currently 5-0) and were to maintain their current average through all of those games, they would finish with 824 points. And they’d have done it in thirteen games, one fewer than that Oklahoma team played. It would be the second-most points any team has ever scored in a season, and the record is held by a team that played 15 games (Pittsburg State, a Division II team, scored 837 in 2004).

Congratulations to AUBrian, who wins week seven (their second weekly win) with 154 points! In second place was verntroyer with 152 points, and Crimson Gator took third with 147 points.

Standings after seven weeks (dropping two worst weeks):

There is a big slate this week, with 20 games to pick, including four top-25 matchups! I get the feeling that this week may have a big influence on the standings, so it’s going to be really important to pick wisely and well! The first game this week is Miami (FL) at North Carolina, Thursday, October 17 @ 7:30 ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!