College Football Week 12

Saturday night was one of the more amazing sports nights in my lifetime. I watched Iowa beat Minnesota with about 50 other Hawkeye fans at Spectators! What a great game! Huge win for Iowa. Shortly after that, Albuquerque's Holly Holm, pulled off a huge upset, knocking out Ronda Rousey in the second round. Less than an hour after that, as 30 point underdogs, the New Mexico Lobos beat Boise State 31-24 in Boise to become bowl eligible and gave them a shot to win their division! Not to mention, the Iowa wrestling team beat Oklahoma State 18-16 in front of 42,000 people at Kinnick Stadium earlier that morning. Such a cool event, was so much fun to watch. Sammy Brooks had a huge win, helping the Hawkeyes seal the victory!

The football game was amazing. Iowa controlled the game, but there were some moments where it seemed like Minnesota could have had a shot. LeShun Daniels had a huge game and finally looks 100%. He nearly cracked the 200 yard mark, which would have made him the third Iowa running back to do so this year. He was five yards shy. C.J. Beathard continues to impress me. He's been so banged up this year, but he keeps playing and never gives up. The defense struggled a bit with Minnesota, Mitch Leidner looks much better as a passer this year than he did last year. The defensive line really had a hard time getting any decent pass rush and LB Cole Fisher seemed out of place way too many times. Josey Jewell continues to impress though. He collected another 12 tackles, he has 27 in the last two games! The team is really missing Drew Ott right now. If Ott was healthy, I would give Iowa a shot at winning the Big Ten title game, but it's going to be too difficult without a pass rush. But, they're still 10-0 for the first time in school history and they still have a shot at that conference crown and maybe more! Playing in the Rose Bowl would be huge! Go Hawkeyes!



New Top 25
1-Clemson 10-0 beat Syracuse/vs Wake Forest
2-Ohio State 10-0 beat Illinois/vs Michigan State
3-Alabama 9-1 beat Mississippi State/vs Charleston Southern
4-Oklahoma State 10-0 beat Iowa State/vs Baylor
5-Notre Dame 9-1 beat Wake Forest/vs Boston College (at Fenway Park)
6-Iowa 10-0 beat Minnesota/vs Purdue
7-Florida 9-1 beat South Carolina/vs FAU
8-Oklahoma 9-1 beat Baylor/vs TCU
9-TCU 9-1 beat Kansas/at Oklahoma
10-Michigan State 9-1 beat Maryland/at Ohio State
11-Houston 10-0 beat Memphis/at UCONN
12-Michigan 8-2 beat Indiana/at Penn State
13-Baylor 8-1 lost to Oklahoma/at Oklahoma State
14-North Carolina 9-1 beat Miami/at Virginia Tech
15-Wisconsin 8-2 did not play/vs Northwestern
16-Navy 8-1 beat SMU/at Tulsa
17-Stanford 8-2 lost to Oregon/vs California
18-Florida State 8-2 beat NC State/vs Chattanooga
19-Oregon 7-3 beat Stanford/vs USC
20-Northwestern 8-2 beat Purdue/at Wisconsin
21-Utah 8-2 lost to Arizona/vs UCLA
22-LSU 7-2 lost to Arkansas/at Ole Miss
23-Ole Miss 7-3 did not play/vs LSU
24-Washington State 7-3 beat UCLA/vs Colorado
25-Texas A&M 7-3 beat Western Carolina/at Vanderbilt




This Week's Top Games
Last week I was 7-3, I'm not at 82-37 for the season! Not too bad.

Michigan State at Ohio State: Huge game for the Big Ten this weekend. Michigan State hasn't looked quite as sharp this year, and Ohio State has looked really solid as of late. Ohio State 34 Michigan State 24

Baylor at Oklahoma State: I've seen Oklahoma State play once this year and that was this past weekend at Iowa State, and they did not look good at all despite scoring late and securing the victory. I don't like to judge teams based on one game though. I've seen Baylor play a few times and they'll definitely put up a lot of points. Baylor 52 Oklahoma State 45

Purdue at Iowa: Purdue has played some teams pretty tough this year, but at times they just look awful. The Hawkeyes are really playing at a high level, putting up 40 on a pretty decent Minnesota defense. Iowa 38 Purdue 17

TCU at Oklahoma: TCU barely made it past Kansas last week and Oklahoma went to Baylor and won. Oklahoma is on a mission right now. Oklahoma 42 TCU 31

Northwestern at Wisconsin: This should be a classic Big Ten matchup, the winner will probably hang around the top 25 for the rest of the season. Wisconsin 17 Northwestern 13

California at Stanford: Stanford was eliminated from playoff hopes last weekend, but they will still win the division and play for the Pac 12 title game. Stanford 31 Cal 24

USC at Oregon: This is a big game for both teams. USC has a shot to win the division and a win at Oregon will certainly help. Oregon cracked the top 25 after being absent for awhile after some tough losses. Oregon 38 USC 34

LSU at Ole Miss: Both teams are looking to get back in the win column. LSU hasn't impressed me in the games I've watched them in. If Ole Miss can play like they did against Alabama they'll win easily, but they could also play like the team that played against Florida. This one is a toss up, I'll go with the home team. Ole Miss 24 LSU 21

Colorado State at New Mexico: The Lobos are bowl eligible! Not only that, but if they win their final two games, they'll play in the Mountain West title game. I can't believe I just typed that. I'll probably actually go to this game and show some love! New Mexico 28 Colorado State 23


Heisman Watch

Derrick Henry RB Alabama
vs Miss St: 22-204-2 1-0
Season: 1,458-19 9-69

Baker Mayfield QB Oklahoma
vs Baylor: 34-24-270-3-1 15-76-1
Season: 3,082-31-5 301-6

Leonard Fournette RB LSU
vs Arkansas: 19-91-1 3-36
Season: 1,474-17 10-94

Ezekiel Elliott RB Ohio State
vs Illinois: 27-181-2
Season: 1,425-16 24-169

Corey Coleman WR Baylor
vs Oklahoma: 3-51
Season: 61-1,229-20

Christian McCaffery RB Stanford
vs Oregon: 33-147-1 5-42 60 Kr Yds -5 Pr Yds
Season: 1,354-7 33-367-2 665 Kr Yds 32 Pr Yds

Trevone Boykin QB TCU
vs Kansas: 8-5-54-0-0 1-(-2)
Season: 3,427-29-9 596-8

Dalvin Cook RB Florida State
vs NC State: 22-138-2 2-17
Season: 1,369-14 18-202-1

Deshaun Watson QB Clemson
vs Syracuse: 47-34-360-2-1 14-105-1
Season: 2,593-23-8 598-5

Also keep an eye our for Washington State's QB, Falk, if they keep winning he might move up a bit. I think Baker Mayfield needs more love nationally, he's been killing it since their loss to Texas, Oklahoma is one of the hottest teams in the country right now.


Playoff Watch

Things certainly got more interesting this week. The Pac 12's top teams, Stanford and Utah, were both knocked off and now they don't have any teams in the playoff hunt. I don't see any two loss teams making it this year. Here are the teams who, in my opinion, still have a shot.

Houston 10-0 knocked off Memphis last week to remain undefeated. They still have a tough game with Navy coming up, and the AAC title game.

Clemson 10-0 toughest remaining regular season game is at South Carolina, which should be a win. Clemson vs North Carolina for the ACC title game could be a good one.

North Carolina 9-1 they finish with two road games, at Virginia Tech and at North Carolina State, no easy wins for the Tar Heels.

Michigan State 9-1 playing at Ohio State this weekend, their playoff hopes might go out the window.

Ohio State 10-0 still have two tough games, vs Michigan State and at Michigan. Can the Buckeyes stay undefeated?

Iowa 10-0 shouldn't have a problem with Purdue this weekend, but at Nebraska could be a tough one. Nebraska is one game away from bowl eligibility.

Baylor 8-1 lost to Oklahoma last week and still have at Oklahoma State and at TCU the next couple of weeks. They probably won't survive.

Oklahoma 9-1 I think they're playing at a high level right now and they need to keep that up. They close out with TCU at home and at Oklahoma State.

TCU 9-1 finishes at Oklahoma and home against Baylor. Will any of the Big 12 teams make the playoff?

Oklahoma State 10-0 right now the Cowboys are the Big 12's best bet for the playoff and they finish with home games against Baylor and Oklahoma. Should be an interesting finish.

Florida 9-1 they'll finish with home games against FAU and Florida State before taking on Alabama for the SEC title.

Alabama 9-1 they're on a roll right now and that should continue until their matchup with Florida.

Notre Dame 9-1 Boston College usually gives Notre Dame a good game and they still have to travel to Stanford. Can the Irish finish 11-1 and make the playoff?