{"id":387,"date":"2017-11-14T11:39:11","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T17:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.e-systems.net\/news\/?p=387"},"modified":"2017-11-14T11:39:11","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T17:39:11","slug":"2017-e-systems-college-football-pool-week-11-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.e-systems.net\/news\/2017-e-systems-college-football-pool-week-11-results\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 e-Systems College Football Pool – Week 11 Results"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.\u00a0 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\u2019s 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.\u00a0 Almost Fifty-two years later, Alabama found itself teetering on the wrong side of history.\u00a0\u00a0 #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.\u00a0 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\u2026the college football season doesn\u2019t really begin until November comes around.<\/p>\n

With only two weekends left in the regular season, it\u2019s a good time to take stock of all of the conference races. So, in a nutshell, here\u2019s how everything stands:<\/p>\n

American:<\/strong> 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

ACC:<\/strong> this one\u2019s easy. It\u2019s Clemson (the Atlantic winner) against Miami (the Coastal winner) in the ACC championship game.<\/p>\n

Big Twelve:<\/strong> 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Big Ten: <\/strong>Wisconsin has won the West.\u00a0 In the East, Ohio State has a one-game lead, but it\u2019s 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\u2026Ohio State. Well, never mind. They need to lose twice for anyone else to have a chance.<\/p>\n

Conference USA:<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

MAC:<\/strong> in the East, Ohio and Akron control their own destinies; win out and they\u2019re in.\u00a0 Tonight\u2019s tilt between the Bobcats and Zips is of utmost importance.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Mountain West:<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

Pac-12:<\/strong> the South\u2019s representative is USC.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

SEC:<\/strong> Georgia has won the East.\u00a0 The West all comes down to the Iron Bowl; the winner between Alabama and Auburn takes the crown.<\/p>\n

Sun Belt:<\/strong> what, no championship game?\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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!<\/p>\n

In small-school news, it\u2019s 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\u2019ve heard mentioned in this space before: Harvard-Yale in the 134th<\/sup> playing of \u201cThe Game\u201d and Lafayette-Lehigh in the 153rd<\/sup> meeting of \u201cThe Rivalry\u201d, the most-played game in college football history, to name two.\u00a0 Here\u2019s four more happening this weekend that have both regional and historic importance.<\/p>\n