Upsets Rock AP Top 10 and College Football Playoff Landscape Entering Week 12
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
Week 11 of the college football season was as dramatic of a weekend on the gridiron as seen throughout the 2015 season with three Top 10 teams falling. The end result puts the Big 12 and Pac-12 on the edge of the college football playoffs with Notre Dame appearing to be on the verge of an at-large invite if the Fighting Irish can win out.
Pac-12
The two biggest upsets took place in the Pac-12 with then- No. 7 Stanford falling to Oregon 38-36 and No. 10 Utah getting dropped on the road by Arizona 37-30 in double-overtime. Stanford led Oregon at the end of the first two quarters but fell behind by the end of the third 35-23. The Cardinal made it a one score game early in the fourth on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Hogan to Greg Taboada but an Aidan Schneider 31-yard field goal midway through the final frame ended up being the insurance score the Ducks needed to stave off a last minute Stanford rally.
Utah struggle out of the gate against Arizona but caught up by the end of the third quarter with both squads going scoreless in the fourth for a 27-all tie. The teams traded field goals in the opening frame of the first overtime but the Wildcats got a 25-yard Jerrard Randall pass to Nate Phillips in the second overtime then held Utah on the change of possession for the upset win.
Another loss, albeit not a true upset but still worth noting, occurred when Washington State continued their run through the Pac-12 getting a win over then- No. 19 UCLA 31-27 on the road. USC won their fourth straight knocking off Colorado 27-24 on the road and Cal beat up on a visiting Oregon State team 54-24.
Big 12
The cries a week ago from Big 12 fans about a bias against conference teams was silenced in-part when No. 12 Oklahoma bounced No. 6 Baylor 44-34. TCU escaped Kansas 23-17 but All-American candidate Trevone Boykin left the game with an ankle injury putting the rest of the season for the Horned Frogs on high alert.
Oklahoma State was bumped up four spots from No. 8 to No. 4 despite a close 35-31 call on the road against Iowa State. OSU is now in the driver’s seat in the Big 12 with a legitimate shot at the college football playoffs if the Cowboys can survive their stretch run.
The other Big 12 games saw Texas Tech push Kansas State to 3-6 on the season, 0-6 in-conference, after falling 59-44. West Virginia is now one game shy of being bowl eligible with a nice 38-20 win over Texas.
American Athletic Conference
The AAC devoured upon each other with South Florida shocking college football with a resounding 44-23 win over former No. 22 Temple. Another in-conference battle saw No. 21 Memphis fall to No. 24 Houston 35-34. The win for Houston puts the undefeated Cougars in the national spotlight but drops Memphis from bigger bowl consideration.
Navy slid from No. 20 to No. 19 after beating SMU 55-14. Rounding out the conference, Tulane beat Army 34-31 and Cincinnati stopped Tulsa 49-38.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Much like the Pac-12, the ACC is proving to be a wild conference week by week. Georgia Tech (3-7) continued their preseason fall from grace losing to Virginia Tech 23-21 on Thursday night. Duke could not pull it together for a visiting Pitt team falling 31-13 and Louisville topped Virginia 38-31 putting Cardinals head coach Bobby Petrino in a bowl game.
The rest of the conference unfolded with the favorites winning but Syracuse hung with No. 1 Clemson before losing 37-27. Florida State toppled N.C. State 34-17 and Notre Dame beat Wake Forest 28-7. North Carolina added to their resume beating Miami 59-21 in a blowout.
Big Ten
The Big Ten was full of near misses for the ranked squads but no teams fell. Iowa had the biggest threat and the most to lose but held off Minnesota 40-35 to remain undefeated. Michigan escaped Indiana 48-41 in double-overtime moving to 8-2 on the year. Through all of the tough last second defeats, Nebraska is now one game away from being bowl eligible knocking off Rutgers 31-14 on the road.
Ohio State easily handled Illinois on the road 28-3 and Northwestern took care of Purdue 21-14 at home. Michigan State had a going away 24-7 win against Maryland but starting quarterback Conner Cook injured his throwing shoulder in the game scaring Spartan Nation with the meat of the schedule still left to play.
SEC
LSU’s slide from playoff contender to out of SEC West contention continued with a 31-14 thumping by Arkansas in Death Valley. Alabama took care of Mississippi State 31-6 leaving a Nov. 28 date against Auburn as the only potential stumbling block left for an outright SEC West title for the Crimson Tide.
Florida won the SEC East with a 24-14 win against South Carolina punching their ticket to Atlanta and an outside shot at a playoff berth.
Three SEC teams had non-conference games with all three winning, Tennessee 24-0 over North Texas, Texas A&M 41-17 over Western Carolina, and Missouri notching a 20-16 win over BYU. Missouri getting a win over BYU helped the conference and placed soon to-be retiring Gary Pinkel one game shy of a bowl berth.
Georgia got a punt return for a touchdown to upend Auburn 20-13 on the road. The Bulldogs could be in line for a 10-win season if they can close out Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, and whoever they may face in their bowl game.
The surprise of the weekend, perhaps other than LSU falling to Arkansas, was Vanderbilt stopping Kentucky 21-17. Derek Mason’s Commodores had two goal line stands to help secure Vandy’s second in-conference win of the season. Kentucky and Vanderbilt both have two games left to become bowl eligible. The Wildcats have Charlotte and Louisville while Vanderbilt has a tougher road with Texas A&M coming to town and a road trip to Tennessee.
Overview
Four teams dropped out of the rankings with the AAC being hit the hardest losing Memphis and Temple. UCLA and Mississippi State also stepped out the side door in the Week 12 rankings. Washington State, Oregon, and USC moved into the rankings along with Ole Miss filling out the Top 25.
What Bias?
For all the college football fans that rail against the SEC and voter bias, there are now just four teams from the SEC currently ranked. The Big Ten leads the pack of conferences with six ranked teams followed by the Pac-12 with five, and the Big 12 with four. The ACC (3) and the AAC (2) round out conference teams ranked with Notre Dame being the lone Independent in the Top 25.
Looking Ahead
The rankings, especially in the Top 10, are sure to receive another mix up with Michigan State taking on Ohio State, Baylor squaring off against Oklahoma State, and TCU meeting up with Oklahoma.
AP Top 25 Rankings Week 12 (Nov. 15, 2015)
- Clemson
- Ohio State
- Alabama
- Oklahoma State
- Notre Dame
- Iowa
- Oklahoma
- Florida
- Michigan State
- Baylor
- TCU
- North Carolina
- Houston
- Michigan
- Stanford
- Florida State
- LSU
- Utah
- Navy
- Northwestern
- Wisconsin
- USC
- Oregon
- Washington State
- Ole Miss
Photo credit: Gerald Herbert; Alex Collins runs up the middle against LSU helping secure a 31-14 win for the Hogs against the Tigers.