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Winners, losers from early-season shakeup

Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 18:00

Well, that didn't take long.The ghosts of 2007, the zaniest, most unpredictable college football season ever, returned with vengeance last weekend. How else could you explain three of the nation's top four teams -- USC, Georgia and Florida -- all losing, two at home and two favored by 24 points or more?The top-ranked Trojans fell at Oregon State, 27-21, on Thursday night, this the same Beavers team that SC had beaten 31 of 33 times since 1968. Georgia at least lost to No. 8 Alabama, 41-30. But that's little solace considering the Bulldogs took the Sanford Stadium blackout way too literally, falling behind 31-0 at halftime.And for only the second time under Urban Meyer, Florida fell at The Swamp. To Ole Miss, 31-30, no less, the same Rebels that had lost eight straight SEC games and hadn't beaten a ranked team since 2004.Elsewhere, No. 9 Wisconsin's gag job at Michigan, Navy's torpedoing No. 16 Wake Forest and the farewell tour for Clemson coach Tommy Bowden (following a come-from-ahead 20-17 home loss to Maryland) highlighted eight ranked teams losing.But remember that recent history remains on the side of the vanquished Trojans, Bulldogs and Gators. Only twice in the last six years has the Bowl Championship Series produced an undefeated national champion. And those two (USC in 2004 and Texas the following year) were wonder-teams stocked with NFL talent unseen on this season's landscape.So who benefits and who is hurt from this early shakeup?WINNERS:-- Oklahoma: Never mind that the Sooners' last two BCS bowl games have been colossal embarrassments (Fiesta Bowl losses to Boise State and West Virginia surrendering a combined 91 points). The Sooners are No. 1 and if they can get by a tricky October two-step (Texas and Kansas), OU has what it takes to get to a shot at redemption at the BCS national title game in Miami Jan. 8.-- Alabama: Here's why the Crimson Tide (5-0) doled out $32 million for Nick Saban. Two of second-ranked 'Bama's toughest hurdles to clear (at Tennessee and Auburn) don't look so tough any more with the Vols and Tigers setting the game back 75 years with Saturday's Cro-Magnon struggle won by Auburn, 14-12. Saban's return to LSU Nov. 8 looks like the real Game of the Year.-- Other Big 12 contenders: If the Sooners do stumble, it might just open the door for No. 4 Missouri, No. 5 Texas and No. 7 Texas Tech, all undefeated and poised to take their best shot at Oklahoma.-- Ohio State: Yes, the Buckeyes (4-1) were last seen as the Coyote to USC's Roadrunner. And it's hard to see freshman QB Terrelle Pryor holding up in hostile road trips Wisconsin and Illinois. But something about the Buckeyes' 22-2 Big Ten record since 2005 says to pay attention. Also remember that Georgia fell all the way to No. 24 in October last year and finished ranked second.-- BCS Dreamers: Anybody notice that Northwestern is 5-0 for the first time since 1962? Or that 5-0 Connecticut leads the Big East? Or that No. 19 Vanderbilt (4-0), which hasn't had a winning season since 1982, sits atop the SEC East? Sure these guys will likely go away. But expect the unexpected in today's college game.LOSERS:-- The ACC: How exactly does a 12-team league not even reach October with one unbeaten? And you thought the Wall Street collapse was hard to fathom. Currently, the top two teams are Virginia Tech, 4-1 despite a robust offense ranked 108th in the nation, and Maryland (4-1), who lost to Middle Tennessee State. We can't wait for that Tech-Duke ACC Coastal showdown Nov. 22 in Blacksburg. This is football, right?-- The Pac-10: Only one team (No. 9 USC) ranked in the top 20. Only five teams with winning records and a pitiful overall out-of-conference mark of 13-13. The Surfer Boys always claim they get no respect nationally. This won't help.-- The Mountain West: The league most pretend doesn't exist is probably better than half the BCS conferences. Yet when out-of-touch poll voters start casting ballots in November and a once-beaten MWC wanna-be needs votes to get to that coveted No. 12 spot for a BCS at-large bowl, who do you think gets the benefit of the doubt. BYU or Georgia? TCU or Florida? Utah or Ohio State? As Judge Smails so famously barked in "Caddyshack,'' "You'll get nothing, and like it!''UPSET PICK: Virginia Tech got us off the deck to 1-4. We'll keep moving towards .500 when Florida State beats 3-point favorite host Miami Saturday in what used to be the Game of the Year.LINDSAY'S LOSER: Has there ever been a more decent guy but overmatched coach as Washington's Ty Willingham? Now in his third stop at a BCS program, Willingham career mark is 76-80-1 (11-29 with the Huskies) after angry UW fans booed his team off the field following Saturday's 35-28 loss to Stanford in Seattle.On Monday, Willingham said he would resign if that was in the best interests of the UW program and players. Not that new athletic director Scott Woodward will give him much of a choice after the season. To think Willingham took Stanford to the 1999 Rose Bowl and had Notre Dame sitting at 8-0 and ranked fourth in the nation in 2002.(John Lindsay is sports editor for Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com. Contact him at lindsayj@shns.com)