College Football 2018, Week Twelve!

The Spartans once again dropped from the polls after losing to a higher-ranked team (just after being reinserted in the polls after a couple of wins against non-ranked opponents).  Polling shenanigans perhaps (to ensure Ohio State would face another “ranked” opponent for their resume?)?  On the road against the Cornhuskers of Nebraska, Michigan State continued their offensive meltdown and could only muster two field goals to the Cornhusker’s three.  Wow, I am underwhelmed.  The Big Ten continues to have four (4) teams ranked in the AP top-25 poll: Michigan [#4], Ohio State [#9], Penn State [#16], and Northwestern [#24]).  And, there continue to be only four undefeated teams remaining: Alabama [#1], Clemson [#2], Notre Dame [#3], and UCF [#11].

Next up for the Spartans, at home to face the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University.  Go Green!

The upsets this week included:
West Virginia (#9) losing to unranked Oklahoma State by four (4) points.
Boston College (#20) losing to unranked Florida State by one (1) point.

The close calls this week (games that were won by a touchdown or less) included:
Ohio State (#10) defeating unranked Maryland by one (1) point.
Utah State (#2 ) defeating unranked Colorado State by five (5) points.

Top-25 match-ups won by the higher-ranked team included:
Notre Dame (#3) defeated Syracuse (#12).
UCF (#11) defeated Cincinnati (#24).
Texas (#15) defeated Iowa State (#16).

 

College Football 2012, Week Ten!

The Michigan State Spartans hosted the Cornhuskers of the University of Nebraska and have still not managed to defeat the Huskers!   And, yet another tough and frustrating loss by giving up two touchdowns in the last seven minutes of the game (the winning touchdown coming with just six seconds remaining).  Major bummer!  Next up for the Spartans: another home game against  the Wildcats of Northwestern.  Go Green!  Not too many upsets this week, but teams from Texas turned the tables on a few . . . and there are always a few close calls.

The upsets this week included:
Mississippi State (#15) losing to Texas A&M (#16).
Texas Tech (#18) losing to Texas (#23).
Boise State (#19) losing to unranked San Diego State by only two points.
West Virginia (#21) losing to unranked TCU by one point in double overtime.
Arizona (#23) losing to unranked UCLA.

Some of the close calls this week included (won by a touchdown or less):
Alabama (#1) defeating LSU (#5) by only four points.
Notre Dame (#3) defeating unranked Pitt in tripe overtime by only three points.
Florida (#7) defeating unranked Missouri by only seven points.
Nebraska (#20) defeating unranked MIchigan State by only four points.

Other ranked teams that were defeated this week (by a higher ranked team) included:
Oklahoma State (#24) lost to Kansas State (#2).
USC (#17) lost to Oregon (#4).

Spartans Are Victorious!

Despite squandering an 18-point first-half lead, and finding themselves 9-points down midway through the second half, the Michigan State University Spartans put on a late 20-0 run and handed the scrappy Indiana Hoosiers their first loss of the season in the Big Ten opener for both teams.  Next up for the Spartans: the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  Go Green!

College Football — Week Nine!

Wow, what another exciting weekend of college football!  And, with the BCS standings in full swing and national championship hopes on the line, the upsets are starting to become more and more important.  The Michigan State Spartans managed to stumble against Nebraska (at Lincoln), but with some key wins against Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin their Big Ten title hopes are still very much alive.  Go Green!

The upsets this week included:
Clemson (#5) lost to unranked Georgia Tech.
Kansas State (#8) was hammered by Oklahoma (#9).
Michigan State (#11) lost to Nebraska (#14). [But Nebraska was at home and was actually favored to win]
Wisconsin (#15) lost to unranked Ohio State.
Texas A&M (#16) lost to unranked Missouri.
Texas Tech (#20) lost to unranked Iowa State.

Other top-25 losses that weren’t upsets included:
There weren’t any this week.

The close calls included:
Stanford (#6) beat unranked USC in triple overtime.
Arkansas (#10) beat unranked Vanderbilt by only three.
Virginia Tech (#12) beat unranked Duke by only four.
Penn State (#19) beat unranked Illinois by three.
Georgia (#22) beat unranked Florida by four.

It’s Almost Time!

The preseason polls are out and college football is just around the corner (less than two weeks to go)!  The Big Ten Conference has four teams in the preseason top-25: Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.   I’m hoping that the Spartans’ success from last year (co-Big Ten Champs with Wisconsin and Ohio State) will continue this year — they start their season against Youngstown State and Florida Atlantic, travel to Notre Dame, and finish their non-conference schedule with Central Michigan.  The possible good news: the Spartans play Ohio State before the multi-player suspensions are lifted; the possible bad news: a brutal road schedule that includes three top-25 teams (Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Nebraska), Iowa, and Northwestern.  Go Green!

It’s Getting Interesting!

There remains a three-way tie for the lead of the Big Ten Conference as Wisconsin (#7), Ohio State (#9), and Michigan State (#11) continued their winning ways and all improve to 10-1.  The Badgers won easily on the road at Michigan while both Ohio State and Michigan State had to “come from behind” to win against Iowa and Purdue respectively.  Michigan State was actually down 28-13 at the end of the 3rd quarter and scored 22 points in the 4th quarter to secure the victory.   The Spartans seem to be playing from behind a lot this season . . . but they continue to get the job done and are having a fabulous year.  Next up: @ Penn State.  An interesting note: the Spartans only loss came at the hands of a ranked Iowa team (at Iowa) and they have the lowest ranking of the three despite having beaten a ranked Wisconsin team who in turn defeated the then #1 Buckeyes.  Go Green! 

There was only one major upset in college football yesterday: in the Big 12, A&M (#19) defeated Nebraska (#8).