ShareThisMaybe it shouldn't have come as a big surprise that the top three unbeaten teams in the Bowl Championship Series standings -- Oregon, Auburn and TCU -- all struggled against unranked opponents last weekend.
The road to the BCS title does tend to get more treacherous toward the end.
Still, with the way Oregon and TCU were rolling along, nobody could have foreseen them fighting for survival against California and San Diego State.
Just as nobody could have envisioned then No. 14 Utah getting drubbed by Notre Dame (5-5).
College football pundits and fans alike must have been scratching their heads like crazy as those and other mind-numbing scores were coming in. None as shocking as 2-9 Washington State's 31-14 victory at Oregon State.
Now that everybody's had time to let them sink in, The Unbalanced Line will try to put into context what they mean:
-- No. 1 Oregon 15, California 13: You can write this one off, in part, to Oregon looking past Cal and not being mentally prepared. But to some extent, you've also got to credit the Bears.
Before their loss to the Ducks, they were 4-0 at home and holding opponents there to just 204 yards a game.
Oregon having a close call at this point in the season might be a good thing when it comes to preparing for its remaining two regular-season games, against No. 23 Arizona Nov. 26 in Eugene and at Oregon State Dec. 4.
Oregon may have lost its aura of invincibility, but it won't matter. The Ducks don't need style points, they just need wins, and they'll get them. Pencil Oregon in to the BCS title game.
-- No. 2 Auburn 49, Georgia 31: It wasn't nearly as easy as the score might appear.
Georgia led 21-7 after the first quarter; the game was tied at 21 at the half; and Auburn led by only four, 35-31, heading into the final quarter.
It's the fourth time this year Auburn has given up 31 or more points and still won, three by double digits. However, it's also worth noting that three other Auburn victories -- two against currently unranked teams -- were by a total of nine points.
With such a porous defense, it's difficult to envision Auburn reaching the BCS title game, much less winning it. It's easier to see the Tigers losing back-to-back games to No. 11 Alabama Nov. 26 in Tuscaloosa and to No. 17 South Carolina in the SEC title game Dec. 4 in Atlanta.
-- No. 3 TCU 40, San Diego State 35: With the chase to the title winding down, a close game against a Mountain West opponent is the last thing TCU needed.
Margin of victory isn't supposed to be factored into the computers, but it's definitely weighed in the polls, all of which jumped Boise State over TCU this week.
Because of a higher computer average, the Horned Frogs are still sitting above Boise at No. 3 in the BCS standings. But if Boise wins out, the Broncos will probably displace them.
A win at No. 18 Nevada -- sandwiched between almost certain victories over Fresno State and Utah State -- should provide Boise with enough lift.
The bottom line: TCU's hopes of getting a title shot are just about dead.
Elsewhere, No. 6 Stanford needed a long fourth-quarter scoring drive engineered by quarterback Andrew Luck to survive the Arizona State defense, 17-13, in Tempe.
In this case, a win is a win for Stanford, which moves one step closer to an appearance in the Rose Bowl.
And then there was No. 7 Wisconsin 83, Indiana 20 as Badgers coach Bret Bielema solidified his reputation as a head coach with a wanton disregard for sportsmanlike conduct. With just over seven minutes remaining and his team leading, 69-13, the Badgers went deep for a 74-yard touchdown.
They followed that up with a 17-yard naked bootleg for another score with less than two minutes left. Seriously, Bielema?
Ohio State's 38-14 win over Penn State was a tale of two halves!
If you hadn't seen the game, it's hard to imagine Ohio State fans were actually booing loudly just before halftime, upset with play calling with their Bucks trailing, 14-3.
It's become abundantly clear that many Ohio State fans are getting increasingly fed up with Jim Tressel's conservative coaching style.
But as one Buckeye fan remarked while leaving the game, "It's hard to argue with results."
As for Notre Dame's 28-3 upset of No. 14 Utah, chalk that one up to a Utes' hangover after getting hammered, 47-7, by TCU the week before.
In the end, Utah's loss to the Irish hurts TCU more, since it seriously diminishes TCU's one "quality" win.
Final analysis: Oregon vs. Boise in the BCS title game.
(Contact John Tucker at jtucker(at)unionleader.com)
(E-mail John Tucker at jtucker(at)unionleader.com)
UNBALANCED LINEcolumnMust credit New Hampshire Union LeaderColumn
