ShareThisNever, in a hundred years, had there been a college football season as crazy as 2007.And now... here we go again.Oregon State started the shock wave a week ago Thursday, stunning top-ranked USC, 27-21, in Corvallis.For Trojan fans, the upset had to bring back the painful memory of Week 5 last season, when Stanford, a six-touchdown underdog, shocked the nation with a 24-23 victory over USC in Los Angeles.This time, the unranked Beavers were merely four-touchdown underdogs. But their victory was almost as shocking. They lost their opener, 36-28, to Stanford, and were blasted by Penn State, 45-14, a week later.And since then, USC's coronation had begun on the heels of a resounding 35-3 victory over then No. 5 Ohio State on Sept. 13.But, like so many times last season, something crazy happened on the road to the BCS title game. Which has to start people wondering... could it happen again?Tim Tebow and No. 4 Florida reinforced the answer last Saturday, after losing to Ole Miss, 31-30, in the Swamp.Folks, it's now official: Last season was no aberration.Besides Southern Cal and Florida, two other Top 10 teams in last week's Associated Press poll -- No. 3 Georgia and No. 9 Wisconsin Badgers -- lost. And, for Florida and Georgia, home was anything but sweet.When Tebow, the 2007 Heisman winner, can't gain an inch on fourth-and-about two feet to go, with the game on the line... when Georgia's Bama Blackout backfires into a 31-0 halftime deficit and when Wisconsin squanders a 19-0 halftime lead in Michigan's Big House, well...Fasten your seat belts, and get ready for another wild ride. Top 10 turnover has shifted into high gear.The upsets practically mirrored what happened in the last week of September 2007. Only difference -- last season five top 10 teams fell, four of them to unranked opponents, and three were playing at home.And as we watched in amazement week after week last year, we began to realize that once this train gets rolling, there's no stopping it.Not only is that bad news for teams sitting in this week's Top 10, it's especially bad for those sitting at or near the top at season's end, when the conference championship games roll around on Dec. 6.Looking at this Saturday's games, you can just about bank on more Top 10 shakeup.Traps are set for No. 4 Missouri in Lincoln, Neb.; No. 5 Texas in Boulder, Colo.; No. 6 Penn State in West Lafayette, Ind.; and No. 7 Texas in Manhattan, Kan. All four of their respective opponents -- Nebraska, Colorado, Purdue and Kansas State -- are unranked. Which is all the more reason to expect one or more of them to get upset.And who's to say No. 2 Alabama couldn't suffer a letdown against unbeaten Kentucky in Tuscaloosa... or USC isn't still shell-shocked and might not have the bounce-back ability to beat No. 23 Oregon in Los Angeles?As for No. 1-ranked Oklahoma's chances of losing to 2-2 Baylor in Waco, Texas... Let's get real, that would be on a par with USC losing to Oregon State. Oh yeah, that just happened.Since this season is taking on a life much like the previous one, and since we've all come to realize it's not an aberration, The Unbalanced Line is confident in predicting that once again there will not be a single unbeaten team from any of the six conferences affiliated with the Bowl Championship Series. Which means the title game will likely feature a couple of once beaten teams, probably the Big 12 and SEC champions.BYU has the best shot at going unbeaten, but the Cougars won't get enough of a boost in the polls to make the title game. Competition in the Mountain West Conference still doesn't quite measure up.Then again, who knows?No matter what you attribute it to -- coaching, recruiting, an abundance of talent or a combination of the three -- the playing field in college football's upper tier has been leveled like never before. Which helps explain how No. 16 Wake Forest could lose at home to Navy, 24-17, the Midshipmen's first victory over a ranked team since 1985.Words like "fluke" and "lock" no longer apply. Especially lock. Too many teams have the combination.Underdogs, even big underdogs, actually do have a chance of winning on any given day -- in any given stadium.And if you're a college football fan, you've got to love it.(Contact John Tucker at jtucker@unionleader.com) (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Here we go again for college craziness
Submitted by SHNS on Thu, 10/02/2008 - 16:42
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