Oregon, Boise State Are 1-2 in the Final Top 25 Before the Playoffs

Oregon and Boise State have plowed through their schedules undefeated except for #2 Boise State's 37-34 loss to #1 Oregon as a field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired to give the Ducks the win on their home field.  That instant classic is what a football aficionado would expect in a battle between the nation's top two teams.  But the battle for #2 tightened this week with Texas's win over Georgia, avenging a loss earlier in the season to the Bulldogs.

There were some exciting games in the conference championships, with Boise State's defense putting on its best show of the year in stopping a potent UNLV offense, 21-7.  Oregon had a solid 28-10 lead in the second quarter and double-digit leads several times in the second half only to see Penn State storm back to make it interesting before the Ducks took it, 45-37.

Georgia's starting quarterback suffered a bad injury to his elbow when he was sacked and had to go to the sidelines in the second half as his relatively inexperienced backup sparked his team to a comeback.  Texas was able to tie the game 16-16 on a field goal in the final seconds, sending it into overtime, and took a 19-16 lead on another field goal in the extra period.  On the ensuing possession, the substitute Bulldog quarterback had to leave the field for one play when his helmet came off, and who should enter the game but the banged-up starter.  He approached the line of scrimmage with a noticeably-limp left arm and even when handing it off, had to do it ever so slowly because of the injury.  But his running back grabbed the ball and went into the end zone for the win.

But the most exciting of the championship games was in the ACC, as Clemson controlled the first half and owned a 31-14 lead in the fourth quarter only to see SMU storm back to tie it at 31 with just 16 seconds left.  But Clemson got an excellent kickoff return and then hit a pass over the middle to the SMU 38 with 3 seconds left.  Their best chance was to let their kicker try a 55-yard field goal, and he nailed it with room to spare for the dramatic win.

Here is the Blue Football Through and Through Top 25 heading into the playoffs!

1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.  Oregon 13-0, prevailed over #6 Penn State 45-37, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #2 Boise State, #6 Penn State, #7 Ohio State and #25 Illinois, Losses:  None, Bad Losses:  None) 

7-7-7-7-4-4-3-2-2.  Boise State 12-1, throttled #14 UNLV 21-7, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #14 UNLV (2), Lost to #1 Oregon, Bad Losses:  None)

23-12-11-11-20-15-7-6-3.  Georgia 10-2, defeated #4 Texas 22-19 in overtime, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #4 Texas (2), #11 Tennessee and #19 Clemson, Lost to #16 Alabama and #17 Mississippi, Bad Losses:  None)

6-18-17-14-10-8-6-3-4.  Texas 11-2, lost to #3 Georgia 22-19 in overtime, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #23 Texas A&M 17-7, Lost to #3 Georgia (2), Bad Losses:  None)

4-5-4-4-5-3-5-5-5.  Indiana 11-1, did not play (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat Nebraska, Lost to #7 Ohio State, Bad Losses:  None)

3-3-3-9-7-5-4-4-6.  Penn State 11-2, lost to #1 Oregon 45-37,  (Impressive Wins: #25 Illinois, Lost to #1 Oregon and #7 Ohio State, Bad Losses:  None)

10-13-9-6-3-2-2-8-7.  Ohio State 10-2, did not play, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #3 Penn State and #5 Indiana, Lost to #1 Oregon and Michigan, Bad Losses:  Michigan)

32-25-19-16-14-12-10-9-8.  Notre Dame 11-1, was idle, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #9 Army, #23 Texas A&M, #28 Louisville and #30 Navy, Lost to Northern Illinois, Bad Losses:  Lost to Northern Illinois)

17-19-16-13-8-6-11-10-9.  Army 11-1, annihilated #26 Tulane 35-14, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #26 Tulane, Lost to #8 Notre Dame, Bad Losses:  None)

11-14-12-5-6-10-8-7-10.  SMU 11-2, lost a heartbreaker to #19 Clemson 34-31 on a 55-yard field goal as time expired, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #28 Louisville, Lost to #13 BYU and #19 Clemson, Bad Losses:  None)

21-17-14-12-11-17-13-11-11.  Tennessee 10-2, did not play, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #16 Alabama, Lost to #3 Georgia and Arkansas, Bad Losses:  Arkansas)

19-35-32-27-32-24-16-13-12.  Arizona State 11-2, clipped #22 Iowa State 35-19, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #14 BYU, #22 Iowa State and #27 Kansas State, Lost to Cincinnati and Texas Tech, Bad Losses:  Cincinnati and Texas Tech)

2-2-2-2-2-9-17-14-13.  BYU 10-2, was idle this week, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #6 SMU and #27 Kansas State, Lost to #12 Arizona State and Kansas, Bad Losses:  Kansas)

31-28-30-26-18-19-14-12-14.  UNLV 10-3, fell to #2 Boise State 21-7  (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:   San Jose State, Lost to #2 Boise State (2) and Syracuse, Bad Losses:  Syracuse)

14-6-6-3-13-11-9-15-15.  Miami of Florida 10-2, did not play,  (Impressive Wins:  Beat #28 Louisville, Losses:  Lost to Syracuse and Georgia Tech, Bad Losses:  Syracuse and Georgia Tech)

22-32-21-17-12-7-19-17-16.  Alabama 9-3, did not play, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #3 Georgia, #18 South Carolina, #19 Missouri and #29 LSU, Lost to #11 Tennessee,  Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, Bad Losses:  Oklahoma and Vanderbilt)

37-36-33-28-19-14-18-18-17.  Mississippi 8-3, was idle, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #3 Georgia 28-10 and #18 South Carolina, Lost to #29 LSU, Florida and Kentucky, Bad Losses:  Florida and Kentucky)

_-37-34-29-29-18-20-19-18. South Carolina 9-3, did not play, (Impressive Wins: Beat #19 Missouri, #19 Clemson and #23 Texas A&M, Lost to #16 Alabama, #17 Mississippi and #29 LSU,  Bad Losses:  None)

24-21-18-19-21-16-12-21-19.  Clemson 10-3, Stole a 34-31 win from #11 SMU in the final seconds, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #11 SMU, Lost to #3 Georgia, #18 South Carolina and #28 Louisville, Bad Losses:  None)

34-29-26-21-26-25-22-20-19. Missouri 9-3, did not play, (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat Arkansas, Lost to #16 Alabama, #18 South Carolina and #23 Texas A&M, Bad Losses:  None)

24-28-_-_-_-_-24-22-21.  Duke (8-3) was idle, (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Connecticut, Lost to #6 SMU, #15 Miami of Florida and Georgia Tech, Bad Losses:  Georgia Tech)

11-8-15-_-_-_-27-16-22.  Iowa State (10-3), lost to #12 Arizona State 45-19,  (Impressive Wins:  Beat #27 Kansas State, Lost to #12 Arizona State, Texas Tech and Kansas,  Bad Losses:  Texas Tech and Kansas)

33-26-20-18-16-13-21-23-23.  Texas A&M 8-4, did not play,  (Impressive Wins:  Beat #19 Missouri and #29 LSU, Lost to #4 Texas, #9 Notre Dame, #18 South Carolina and Auburn, Bad Losses:  Auburn)

_-16-23-_-31-_-24-24.  Memphis (10-2), was idle, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #26 Tulane, Lost to #30 Navy and Texas-San Antonio, Bad Losses:  Texas-San Antonio)

12-8-15-34-30-27-25-26-25.  Illinois 9-3, did not play,  (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Wins:   Beat Nebraska, Lost to #1 Oregon, #3 Penn State and Minnesota, Bad Losses:  Minnesota)

Dropped Out of Top 25: 

Louisiana

Also Considered:

_-_-_-32-26-20-15-27-26. Tulane (9-3), lost to #10 Army,  (Impressive Wins:  Beat #30 Navy, Lost to #10 Army, #24 Memphis, #27 Kansas State and Oklahoma, Bad Losses:  Oklahoma

18-15-13-23-24-28-28-27.  Kansas State 8-4, did not play, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #26 Tulane, Lost to #12 Arizona State, #13 BYU, #22 Iowa State and Houston, Bad Losses:  Houston)

35-38-31-22-22-_-29-28.  Louisville (8-4), was idle, (Impressive Wins: Beat #19 Clemson, Lost to #6 SMU, #9 Notre Dame, #15 Miami of Florida and Stanford, Bad Losses:  Stanford)

25-22-24-20-28-_-_-30-29.  LSU (8-4), did not play, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #17 Mississippi and #18 South Carolina, Lost to #16 Alabama, #23 Texas A&M, USC and Florida, Bad Losses:  USC and Florida) 

13-4-22-30-27-_-31-30.  Navy (9-3), was idle, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #24 Memphis, Lost to #9 Notre Dame, #27 Tulane and Rice, Bad Losses:  Rice)

Dropped Out of Consideration:

Louisiana

The Scramble for the Playoffs as Teams Jockey For Position in the Top 25

The Oregon Ducks have gone wire-to-wire as the #1 team, taking care of every team on their schedule--they'll play #4 Penn State for the Big 10 Championship next week.

Boise State has scored the biggest win of the one-loss teams that have no bad losses with a narrow victory over #12 UNLV.  The Broncos will need to repeat that win in the Mountain West Championship Friday night if they are to hold their position.

Texas finally scored a win over a ranked team when they outpointed #23 Texas A&M.  Since that win tops Penn State's win over #26 Illinois, Texas's loss (to #6 Georgia) is not as bad as Penn State's loss to #8 Ohio State and neither team has a bad loss, the Longhorns vaulted to #3 over the Nittany Lions.

Miami of Florida and Ohio State each suffered losses to unranked teams, with the Hurricanes going down to Syracuse and the Buckeyes losing to Michigan.  Syracuse couldn't crack the Being Considered list because of three bad losses--Stanford, Boston College and Pittsburgh.  Michigan is 7-5, with one of those losses being to unranked Washington.

Iowa State was the biggest climber, as the Cyclones finally got the big win (over #28 Kansas State) they've been lacking.

Alabama is tied for the most wins over ranked teams (4) with Notre Dame, even more than #1 Oregon (3), but the Tide have two bad losses (to Oklahoma and Vanderbilt) and thus are yet unable to pass teams ranked ahead of them which have better records.  

Notre Dame has the worst loss of teams in the Top 10 (to Northern Illinois) and as bad losses are the most important factor, has a low ceiling.  The Fighting Irish are ahead of Army, which has no impressive wins on its resume.

Mississippi and South Carolina benefitted from LSU's return to Teams Considered (at #30), taking away a bad loss from each.  LSU also gave Alabama and Texas A&M another impressive win.

Note that #19 South Carolina, #20 Missouri and #21 Clemson each have no bad losses as compared to three-loss Alabama ahead of them.  South Carolina, with three impressive wins, would be ahead of even two-loss Miami of Florida and Iowa State with that resume, but are limited in their position because of losses to #17 Alabama and #18 Mississippi and thus must be ranked behind both, each of which have two bad losses and thus have to be behind both Miami and Iowa State.  Missouri and Clemson both lost to South Carolina on the field and by logic have to be ranked behind the Gamecocks.

Memphis re-entered the Top 25 by virtue of their upset win over #27 Tulane, even though they have a very bad loss to Texas-San Antonio.  #29 Louisville, #30 LSU and #31 Navy squeaked into the Being Considered list because of their impressive wins.

The humans made a big mistake last week by ranking Colorado, completely forgetting that the Buffaloes have no wins over ranked teams and have bad losses to 6-6 Nebraska and 5-7 Kansas.  Note that even this week, all the teams Being Considered ahead of Colorado have impressive wins over ranked teams and Colorado's losses to Nebraska and Kansas are worse than all of them, including LSU's losses to 6-6 Florida and 7-5 USC.

Here is the Blue Football Through and Through Top 25 heading into Championship Week!

1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.  Oregon 12-0, walloped Washington 49-21, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #2 Boise State, #8 Ohio State and #26 Illinois, Losses:  None, Bad Losses:  None) 

7-7-7-7-4-4-3-2.  Boise State 11-1, turned back Oregon State 34-18, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #12 UNLV, Lost to #1 Oregon, Bad Losses:  None)

6-18-17-14-10-8-6-3.  Texas 11-1, tumbled #23 Texas A&M 17-7, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #23 Texas A&M 17-7, Lost to #6 Georgia, Bad Losses:  None)

3-3-3-9-7-5-4-4.  Penn State 11-1, mashed Maryland 41-7,  (Impressive Wins: #26 Illinois, Lost to #8 Ohio State, Bad Losses:  None)

4-5-4-4-5-3-5-5.  Indiana 11-1, ran it up on Purdue 66-0, (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat Nebraska, Lost to #8 Ohio State, Bad Losses:  None)

23-12-11-11-20-15-7-6.  Georgia 10-2, outlasted Georgia Tech 44-42 in 8 overtimes, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #3 Texas, #11 Tennessee and #21 Clemson, Lost to #17 Alabama and #18 Mississippi, Bad Losses:  None)

11-14-12-5-6-10-8-7.  SMU 11-1, smothered California 38-6, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #29 Louisville, Lost to #14 BYU, Bad Losses:  None)

10-13-9-6-3-2-2-8.  Ohio State 10-2, Lost to Michigan 13-10, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #3 Penn State and #5 Indiana, Lost to #1 Oregon and Michigan, Bad Losses:  Michigan)

32-25-19-16-14-12-10-9.  Notre Dame 11-1, put away USC 49-35, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #10 Army, #23 Texas A&M, #29 Louisville and #31 Navy, Lost to Northern Illinois, Bad Losses:  Lost to Northern Illinois)

17-19-16-13-8-6-11-10.  Army 11-1, prevailed over UTSA 29-24, (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat North Texas, Lost to #9 Notre Dame, Bad Losses:  None)

21-17-14-12-11-17-13-11.  Tennessee 10-2, ran by Vanderbilt 36-23, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #17 Alabama, Lost to #6 Georgia and Arkansas, Bad Losses:  Arkansas)

31-28-30-26-18-19-14-12.  UNLV 10-2, humiliated Nevada 38-14  (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:   San Jose State, Lost to #2 Boise State and Syracuse, Bad Losses:  Syracuse)

19-35-32-27-32-24-16-13.  Arizona State 10-2, blitzed Arizona 49-7, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #14 BYU and #28 Kansas State, Lost to Cincinnati and Texas Tech, Bad Losses:  Cincinnati and Texas Tech)

2-2-2-2-2-9-17-14.  BYU 10-2, humbled Houston 30-14, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #7 SMU and #28 Kansas State, Lost to #13 Arizona State and Kansas, Bad Losses:  Kansas)

14-6-6-3-13-11-9-15.  Miami of Florida 10-2, fell to Syracuse 42-38,  (Impressive Wins:  Beat #29 Louisville, Losses:  Lost to Syracuse and Georgia Tech, Bad Losses:  Syracuse and Georgia Tech)

11-8-15-_-_-_-27-16.  Iowa State (10-2), scored a 29-21 win over #28 Kansas State,  (Impressive Wins:  Beat #28 Kansas State, Biggest Win:  Iowa,  Bad Losses:  Texas Tech and Kansas)

22-32-21-17-12-7-19-17.  Alabama 9-3, squeaked by Auburn 28-24, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #6 Georgia, #17 South Carolina, #20 Missouri and #30 LSU, Lost to #11 Tennessee,  Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, Bad Losses:  Oklahoma and Vanderbilt)

37-36-33-28-19-14-18-18.  Mississippi 8-3, downed Mississippi State 26-14, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #6 Georgia 28-10 and #19 South Carolina, Lost to #30 LSU, Florida and Kentucky, Bad Losses:  Florida and Kentucky)

_-37-34-29-29-18-20-19. South Carolina 9-3, edged #21 Clemson 17-14, (Impressive Wins: Beat #20 Missouri, #21 Clemson and #23 Texas A&M, Lost to #17 Alabama, #18 Mississippi and #30 LSU,  Bad Losses:  None)

34-29-26-21-26-25-22-20. Missouri 9-3, outpointed Arkansas 28-21, (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat Arkansas, Lost to #17 Alabama, #19 South Carolina and #23 Texas A&M, Bad Losses:  None)

24-21-18-19-21-16-12-21.  Clemson 9-3, Lost to #19 South Carolina 17-14, (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Beat Pittsburgh, Lost to #6 Georgia, #19 South Carolina and #29 Louisville, Bad Losses:  None)

24-28-_-_-_-_-24-22.  Duke (8-3) nudged Virginia Tech 31-28, (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Connecticut, Lost to #7 SMU, #15 Miami of Florida and Georgia Tech, Bad Losses:  Georgia Tech)

33-26-20-18-16-13-21-23.  Texas A&M 8-4, lost to #3 Texas,  (Impressive Wins:  Beat #20 Missouri and #30 LSU, Lost to #3 Texas, #9 Notre Dame, #19 South Carolina and Auburn, Bad Losses:  Auburn)

_-16-23-_-31-_-24.  Memphis (10-2) upset #27 Tulane 34-24, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #27 Tulane, Lost to #31 Navy and Texas-San Antonio, Bad Losses:  Texas-San Antonio)

_-_-_-31-15-26-23-25. Louisiana (10-2), took care of Louisiana-Monroe 37-23, (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Win:  Wake Forest, Lost to #28 Tulane and South Alabama, Bad Losses:  South Alabama)

Dropped Out of Top 25: 

Illinois and Tulane

Also Considered:

12-8-15-34-30-27-25-26.  Illinois 9-3, turned back Northwestern 38-26,  (Impressive Wins:  None, Biggest Wins:   Beat Nebraska, Lost to #1 Oregon, #4 Penn State and Minnesota, Bad Losses:  Minnesota)

_-_-_-32-26-20-15-27. Tulane (9-3) lost to #26 Memphis 34-24,  (Impressive Wins:  Beat #25 Louisiana and #31 Navy, Lost to #25 Memphis, #28 Kansas State and Oklahoma, Bad Losses:  Oklahoma

18-15-13-23-24-28-28.  Kansas State 8-4, lost to #16 Iowa State, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #27 Tulane, Lost to #13 Arizona State, #14 BYU, #16 Iowa State and Houston, Bad Losses:  Houston)

35-38-31-22-22-_-29.  Louisville (8-4) clipped Kentucky 41-14, (Impressive Wins: Beat #21 Clemson, Lost to #7 SMU, #9 Notre Dame, #15 Miami of Florida and Stanford, Bad Losses:  Stanford)

25-22-24-20-28-_-_-30.  LSU (8-4) pasted Oklahoma 37-17 (Impressive Wins:  Beat #18 Mississippi and #19 South Carolina, Lost to #17 Alabama, #23 Texas A&M, USC and Florida, Bad Losses:  USC and Florida) 

13-4-22-30-27-_-31.  Navy (9-3) got by East Carolina 34-20, (Impressive Wins:  Beat #24 Memphis, Lost to #9 Notre Dame, #28 Tulane and Rice, Bad Losses:  Rice)

Dropped Out of Consideration:

None