Trent's Touchdown - Week 12

Wow, we’re at Week 12 of the college footbal season and yet another number 2 team has lost. The thing is, I’m not surprised. There is nothing that could happen in college football that would surprise me, well, except maybe Notre Dame winning a game. Anyway, on to the rundown:

1) Ohio State (7) at Michigan (21) (12:00 on ABC) – There are two reasons this game gets top billing over the BC/Clemson tussle. One, at the end, we will actually know who’s going to the Rose Bowl. Two, this may be Lloyd Carr’s last game, if you believe the rumors (and when are rumors ever false?) This game has gone over so many makeovers this year. First, it was going to be the last game Michigan would need to win to get to the National Championship (then the season actually started). Then, it was just a ho-hum game. Then, it was going to be the last game Ohio State would need to win to get to the National Championship. Now, it decides the Big 10 champ and Rose Bowl contestant. I would say OSU has been playing very well this year, but they haven’t really played anyone. My old high school football team could beat half the teams the OSU beat. The same could be said about Michigan, if not for the non-conference game against Oregon. When it comes to this game, throw everything you think you know out the window, except one thing. Lloyd Carr has never beat Jim Tressel. However, his boys may step up and give him this one if it truly is his last game.

2) Boston College (17) at Clemson (15) (7:45 on ESPN2) – I remember when Clemson lost two straight to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech and I wrote them off for the year. Not only because they had back to back conference losses, but I didn’t think anyone could be the juggernaut that was Boston College. Then I remembered that they only beat UMass by 10, but realized Matt Ryan was just too good to let his team fold under the pressure. Then the Virginia Tech game happened. Matt Ryan led BC from 10 down to win the game with two drives in the last few minutes of the game. I was in awe, until Matt Ryan threw up on the sidelines. I realized at that moment he could be beat. Then FSU and Maryland proved me right. Will Clemson getting a bye week after there two losses, they rebounded and became an entirely new team, blasting there way throw opponents like a hot knife through butter. I’m not going to bore you with the fact that Clemson has a better ranked offense and defense, and the fact that their QB has better numbers than Ryan. You only need to know two things. One, they are playing in Clemson, one of the toughest places to play in college football. Two, BC is completely demoralized after those back to back losses, and they have no time to recover, like Clemson did.

3) Kentucky (23) at Georgia (9) (12:30 on ESPN Gameplan) – Remember when Kentucky beat LSU and had a good site on a possible National Championship shot? Now, they don’t even have a shot at the wacky SEC East, but they can play spoiler. I can’t believe Georgia has just found another gear. They had that massive team celebration after the first touchdown in the Florida game and haven’t looked back since. They even busted out the black uni’s last week. I’m just finding it hard to believe that Tennessee controls their own destiny. Are you serious? In this game, either one of these teams can win. If Kentucky plays the way they are capable of playing, Georgia better watch out.

4) West Virginia (6) at Cincinnati (22) (7:45 on ESPN) – I never would have guessed that Cincinnati would be ranked, but the Big East sucks and they actually have a very good QB. Sure, the transferred from Wake Forest, but that’s not the point. Plus, if you told me that the West Virginia/UConn match-up next week could possibly decide the Big East, I would have laughed in your face. West Virginia plays like they get extra points for style. They are run and gun, all out, lets score and do it in bunches. Cincinnati just wants to win, and they consistently do it.

5) Oklahoma (4) at Texas Tech (8:00 on ABC) – Please tell me I’m not the only one hoping Oklahoma takes the pipe in this game. I seriously cannot deal with Oklahoma in the National Championship Game. They get overvalued by the BCS, and they aren’t that good. LSU will wipe the floor with them, if it gets to that. They are lead by a QB that I wouldn’t trust a Pop Warner game to. I mean, the NFL scouts see that Oklahoma has below average QB’s, that’s why none of them are in the NFL. Texas Tech is a complete trap game for Oklahoma, except for the fact they can’t play defense. Any team with defensive speed (any team in the SEC or Pac-10) can give Oklahoma troubles. Texas Tech will try and beat them the old fashioned way, in a shootout. You can’t beat Oklahoma that way.

6) Miami at Virginia Tech (10) (3:30 on ABC) – Remember when this was a huge game in the Big East? Then the Larry Coker era happened and Miami went to pieces. This is totally a game that VT might overlook because they are looking ahead to the big tussle against Virginia next week (I never thought that would be possible). Miami isn’t horrible, but they are rebuilding, and it’s tough when you are relying on Kyle Wright. Miami will be much better once the Kyle Wright era is over. As for VT, they are just a good team. They go out there and take care of business on both sides of the ball, unless they are playing LSU.

Extra Point:

7) I was going to write about how we were finally going to get a championship game without a team from the Big 12, but Oregon crapped the bed on me, but it gave berth to a new weekly rank. The number 2 position is cursed this year. If I had a team, I would want to stay in third until the last possible second. Five different teams have held the position and have all lost. But they’ve all lost for specific reasons. USC lost because John David Booty broke his finger and Sanchez sucks. Cal lost because Nate Longshore was injured and they had a freshman QB running the 2 minute drill. South Florida and BC both lost for the same reason, they were ranked higher than they deserved and they came crashing down to Earth. Oregon lost last night because Dennis Dixon went down with a knee injury and Brady Leaf wasn’t comfortable with the new offense scheme. So, to recap, two teams lost because they never should have been there in the first place, and three lost because they couldn’t fully rely on their back-ups. Here’s a newsflash, INJURIES HAPPEN. You have to be prepared for your best player to go down at the worst possible time. That’s what practice is for. USC, Cal, and Oregon could have all held on to their rankings if they let there back-up QB’s take a few snaps with the first team. Hey, I’m just saying.