Breakdown of Week 11 College Football Games with AP Week 12 Rankings

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Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

The Associated Press College Football Rankings once again showed the bias of voters for teams atop their poll giving as much as a hand slap to the three Top 4 teams that lost over the weekend.

College football fans were expecting a big shakeup in the AP rankings released on Sunday but received nothing more than a flip-flopping of some teams beloved by the voters. One team to feel the wrath of the voters – Washington.

ACC

As many top teams that lost in the ACC, very little actually changed. Clemson’s 43-42 loss to unranked Pitt at home dropped the Tigers from No. 2 to No. 5. In the voters’ eyes, Clemson still deserves a shot at being in the college football playoff. The Tigers will face the Coastal Division winner in the ACC Championship Game, which is now down to Virginia Tech and North Carolina, two teams that lost to unranked teams over the weekend. Duke lost 28-27 to Duke and Georgia Tech upended Virginia Tech 30-20.

Louisville benefitted the most with a jump from No. 5 to No. 3. As mentioned, Louisville is tied atop the Atlantic with Clemson, but the Tigers own the tie breaker with a head-to-head win. All Louisville can do is hope that Clemson loses again.

Big 12

The Sooners have to love the results of “Upset Saturday” giving Oklahoma a chance to move up the rankings despite beating an unranked Baylor team 45-24 at home. OU moved ahead a spot from No. 9 to No. 8. West Virginia showed resolve holding on to beat Texas 24-20 in Austin. Oklahoma State also held on holding off visiting Texas Tech 45-44.

The Sooners are still unbeaten in the Big 12 with OSU and WVU nipping at their heels with one loss each. Oklahoma can add some much needed clout to their season this weekend by beating West Virginia on the road.

Big Ten

As Willie Nelson so eloquently phrased it, “It’s not supposed to be this way.” Ohio State fans should be sending gift baskets to the Iowa players and coaches after the Hawkeyes upended Michigan 14-13. OSU helped their cause by destroying Maryland 62-3. Penn State remained in the fight for the East beating Indiana 45-31. Nebraska found the winning magic beating Minnesota 24-17 at home. Wisconsin remained in the lead in the West topping Illinois 48-3.

Penn State travels to Rutgers and ends the season with Michigan State. Ohio State gets MSU next then Michigan while Michigan loads up for OSU with Indiana this week. PSU needs OSU to beat Michigan giving them the Big Ten East title to the Nittany Lions with the head-to-head tie breaker. A Wolverines win over OSU, assuming they beat Indiana, puts them into the Big Ten Championship Game.

Pac-12

Washington was the team pundits did not like in the Top 4. The Huskies hurt their cause dropping a 26-13 home game to a very strong USC squad. Surprise-surprise, but Washington State is now leading the Pac-12 North. WSU does not have a loss in conference action after beating Cal 56-21 at home. Colorado remained in the lead down South beating Arizona 49-24.

Washington State and Colorado can play spoiler for one another this weekend. WSU is the team that can afford the loss getting Washington the following week in the Apple Cup. The Buffaloes have to run through WSU and then Utah or potentially surrender the South to either USC or Utah. Washington can only hope Colorado wins and then get that needed road win in Pullman.

SEC

The team that got hurt the most this week was Auburn. The Tigers somehow came out flat on the road against Georgia losing 13-7. Auburn had an outside shot of winning the SEC West but that now belongs to Alabama regardless of what happens in the Iron Bowl. Another shocker in the SEC was Ole Miss going on the road beating Texas A&M 29-28. Both teams were without their starting quarterbacks but the Rebels found a way for a comeback road win. LSU swatted Arkansas 38-10 assuring the Tigers of a good bowl berth at the end of the season.

Games of Note

Western Michigan remained undefeated knocking off Kent State 37-21. The Broncos did not move in the latest poll staying at No. 14. Boise State moved ahead two spots from No. 24 to No. 22 with a 52-16 road win over Hawaii.

Jumping into the rankings this week is San Diego State and Troy. Troy is 8-1 tied with Arkansas State for the lead in the Sun Belt. The Trojans host the Red Wolves on Thursday night. SDSU leads the Mountain West – West Division at 9-1, 6-0. Boise State leads in the Mountain Division at 9-1, 5-1. The top MWC teams do not face one another in the regular season. SDSU has the West sewed up. BSU is in a three-way tie with New Mexico and Wyoming in the Mountain.

Top Week 12 Games

No. 3 Louisville at Houston

Virginia Tech at Notre Dame

No. 2 Ohio State at Michigan State

Maryland at No. 19 Nebraska

No. 6 Wisconsin at Purdue

No. 8 Oklahoma at No. 10 West Virginia

No. 13 Oklahoma State at TCU

No. 21 Florida at No. 16 LSU

Oregon at No. 11 Utah

No. 15 USC at UCLA

No. 20 Washington State at No. 12 Colorado

Indiana at No. 4 Michigan

Buffalo at No. 21 Western Michigan

AP Top 25

  1. Alabama
  2. Ohio State
  3. Louisville
  4. Michigan
  5. Clemson
  6. Wisconsin
  7. Washington
  8. Oklahoma
  9. Penn State
  10. West Virginia
  11. Utah
  12. Colorado
  13. Oklahoma State
  14. Western Michigan
  15. Southern Cal
  16. LSU
  17. Florida State
  18. Auburn
  19. Nebraska
  20. Washington State
  21. Florida
  22. Boise State
  23. Texas A&M
  24. San Diego State
  25. Troy

 

Photo credit: Hawk Central; No. 25 Akrum Wadley celebrates an Iowa touchdown.