2013 College Football Pool – Week 9 Results

November – where championships can’t be won, but they can certainly be lost. In the recent history of the BCS, only 2004, 2005 and 2010 stand out as years when the two teams that started November in the 1 and 2 positions ended there unscathed. Otherwise, chaos tends to reign. Remember 2007? Yes, 1 and 2 at the start of November ended up 1 and 2 in December, but take a look at how they got there! Here are the top 5 BCS standings through the month of November and into December in 2007:

Where did LSU go on November 25? All the way down to seventh after a triple-overtime loss to Arkansas. Thanks to craziness afterwards, they made it all the way from 7^th to 2^nd in one week – and the rest is history. Alabama and Oregon probably aren’t resting on their laurels right now anyway, but it pays to remember that steadfastness is the exception, not the rule, when it comes to November.

It’s the matchup ten years in the making! When Miami joined the ACC in 2004, many thought that the annual matchup between the Hurricanes and Florida State would continue to have national implications, and also directly impact the ACC. It hasn’t worked out that way so far, as Florida State has won the ACC only twice since 2004, while Miami has never even been the ACC Coastal Division champion. But the winds of change are blowing (see what I did there?), and the Seminoles and “The U” are again playing in one of the biggest games of the year. It might be the first of two meetings between the ‘Noles and the ‘Canes this year, which wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened. The teams met twice in the 2003 season, with Miami winning both at Tallahassee in October and Miami (in the 2004 Orange Bowl) in January.

Your way too early bowl picture: Believe it or not, Duke and Tulane are already bowl-eligible! Thanks to Duke’s 13-10 upset of Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils will make a bowl trip in consecutive years for the first time in school history. The Green Wave not only are set to make their first bowl since 2002, but have a shot at a Conference USA championship – they’re currently 4-0 in conference play. BYU is not only bowl-eligible, but can book hotel rooms and airfare. After their win over Boise State officially gave them their sixth victory, the Cougars accepted a bid to the Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco, making them the first official entrant into the 2013 bowl season.

In small school news: I almost always include an annual mention of Division III Mount Union, and for good reason – they are, in a word, dominant, having won their last 80 regular-season games. The types of performances they have against their competition put Alabama and Oregon to shame. For example, in their 48-0 win over Otterbein this past week, the Purple Raiders allowed one first down. One. They allowed 37 total yards. Except for an early 30-27 scare against Franklin (Indiana), the most points they’ve given up in a game is 14 – and they won that game 84-14. The average final score in a Mount Union game this year is 54-7. Might they meet their match this weekend, when they play fellow-undefeated Heidelberg, who’s only been held under 49 points once all year?

Congratulations to maestro, who wins week 9 with 197 points! Tied for second place were Crimson Gator and Allison, with 195 points. Just behind them were JagRag and bamaken, with 193 points.

Standings after week 9 (dropping two worst weeks):

Okay, admittedly, this week the pickings are slim. There are sixteen games this week. But any week can make a difference in the overall standings, so remember to pick! The first game this week is Arizona State at Washington State, Thursday, October 31 @ 10:30 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!