3 Weeks Away

3 weeks away.

3 weeks away from the start of the greatest regular season in all of sports.

3 weeks away from Ohio State looking to defend their title as they look for revenge against the only team that beat them last year, Virginia Tech.

3 weeks away from new coaches at Florida, Texas, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

3 weeks away a storied program in Texas playing in front of Touchdown Jesus for the 1^st time in 20 years.

3 weeks away from Power-5 teams opening the season with non-conference games against other Power-5 conference. Michigan @ Utah, TCU @ Minnesota, North Carolina @ South Carolina, Louisville @ Auburn, Arizona St. @ Texas A&M, and Wisconsin vs Alabama, just to name a few.

3 weeks away from the return of this guy back into college football.

3 weeks away from fight songs, tailgates and marching bands.

3 weeks away from the rare event of a Power-5 team playing on the road against a mid-major team.  Credit to teams like Oklahoma State (Central Michigan), Michigan St. (Western Michigan), Baylor (SMU, Penn State (Temple), and Mississippi St (Southern Miss), that are willing to schedule a game on the road against the little guys, giving them a chance to host a big team and even more importantly a chance to beat one of the big boys.

3 weeks away from debuts of prominent coordinators like Tom Herman, Chard Morris, Mike Bobo and Pat Narduzzi beginning their head coaching careers.

3 weeks away from a crazed 80 year old man wearing mascot heads on national television.

3 weeks away from college football.

And it can’t get here soon enough.

PITT HIRES HAYWOOD

Earlier today, the University of Pittsburgh will announce Michael Haywood as the football programs 34th head coach. This comes 9 days after the forced resignation of Dave Wannestedt. Many supporters of the program were glad to see Wannestedt go, but then thoroughly disappointed in the hiring process of his replacement. So let’s take a look at what has gone on over the past week plus.

Many Pitt fans were excited about the program not settling for the underachieving that Wannestedt had done over the past three. Most fans also expected the university to make a sexy pick for their next hire to take Pitt to the proverbial “next level.” Michael Haywood is by no means is a sexy pick as the new head coach.

When Wannestedt was forced to resign, the rumors began of who could be the next head coach. We heard Chris Petersen from Boise State was the first person that Steve Pederson contacted. We heard names like Mike Leach tossed around. The way-to-optimistic Pitt fans saw Urban Meyer available as the next coach after he resigned at Florida. Well, none of these guys ended up being serious contenders. The guys that were considered serious candidates included Al Golden from Temple, who took the Miami head coaching position, and Oklahoma State’s offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, who chancellor Mark Nordenberg said no to. That left fans back at square one. However, that was not the case for Pederson and the staff at Pitt. Apparently, they had in fact offered Al Golden the position and he was the schools #1 choice, but he chose Miami instead. However, the school never did offer Holgorsen and reports are showing that the school never actually talked to him directly about the job. Nordenberg did not like his background and thought he was not a “Pitt guy” (whatever that is).

What we have found out is that Michael Haywood was interviewed multiple times during this process, so apparently he was one of the schools top targets from the beginning. And why wouldn’t he be? Haywood has a solid background. Haywood, in his first head-coaching job, went 1-11 in his first season. In season two, he in 9-4 and won the conference title. On that conference title team, 43 of the 65 men on the travel roster were freshmen or sophomores. The guy cleaned house, got the players he wanted and won, what’s not to like?

Haywood has a great coaching background too. Since 1995 he worked at three programs before getting the head-coaching job at Miami. In that time he won a national championship while at LSU working with Nick Saban. He also learned from Mack Brown at Texas and was the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame with Charlie Weis. Nobody liked Charlie Weis at Notre Dame and they didn’t win much, but one thing that never lost them games was the offense, and that was run by Haywood.

Do I love the hire, no. Do I hate it though, certainly not. I like the fact that Haywood has head coaching experience. I like the fact that he has great recruiting connections. I like the fact that it is tough to find another coach in the business that has worked with him that doesn’t rave about his abilities. I get that he was not a sexy pick, but I’m willing to at least give the guy a chance. The last time Pitt fans were this upset that the school didn’t make a “sexy” hire was when the university hired a guy named Jamie Dixon, how’s that working out?

THE REITMEYER RANT COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

ROUND 1

SOUTH REGION
Pitt @ Alabama
Saturday Dec 19th 3:30pm
Weather at kickoff- 42 degrees, light winds.
The Panthers took the opening kick-off and put points on the board. Pitt drove 52 yards in 9 plays and Dan Hutchins finished the drive by making a 41-yard FG. After that, it was all down hill for the Panthers though. This game was played in the trenches and that is where Alabama excels. The Tide defense held freshman RB Dion Lewis to just 91 yards on 32 carries, it was only the 4th time Lewis did not surpass 100 this season. Meanwhile, Alabama tailback Mark Ingram showed off his Heisman Trophy winning skills while running for 132 and 3 scores against the Panthers.
ALABAMA 27, PITT 10

Georgia Tech @ Ohio State
Saturday Dec 19th 3:30pm
Weather at kickoff- 33 degrees, light winter mix of rain and snow
Josh Nesbitt took the title most versatile quarterback in his showdown with Ohio State star Terrelle Pryor. Nesbitt did a little bit of everything for the Yellow Jackets. Nesbitt started the day by breaking a 61-yard run on the first play from scrimmage and never looked back. Tech back Jonathan Dwyer finished that first drive with a 2-yard dive into the endzone to put GT up 7-0. Pryor did what he could to help the Buckeyes throwing for 217 and 2 TD’s and running for 1 more, but Ohio State had no answer for the duo from Georgia Tech. Dwyer finished the game with 171 and 2 TD’s and Nesbitt ran for 142 and a score while throwing 1 more score.
GEORGIA TECH 38, OHIO STATE 24

NEXT GAME:
Alabama vs Georgia Tech, 3:30pm Saturday Dec 26th, Georgia Dome

MIDWEST REGION
BYU @ Texas
Saturday Dec 19th 8:00pm
Weather at kickoff- 47 degrees, partly cloudy
Max Hall, senior QB at BYU, said earlier in the week that his team would have to play a nearly perfect game to upset the Longhorns, but he didn’t help matter himself. Hall threw for over 3,000 yards and 30 TD’s this season, but he also threw 14 INT’s and it was the INT’s that came back to hurt him in this match-up. The Longhorns picked off Hall three times, returning one for a touchdown as the Texas defense dominated from start to finish. Heisman finalist Colt McCoy didn’t put up great numbers but the offense did enough to win the game. McCoy threw for one interception of his own, but he also threw for 251 and 2 scores. Short yardage bruiser Cody Johnson scored twice also for Texas. Johnson finished the game with 4 carries for 5 yards and 2 TD’s.
TEXAS 41, BYU 10

Penn State @ Oregon
Saturday Dec 19th 8:00pm
Weather at kickoff- 57 degrees and cloudy
The Nittany Lions traveled to Oregon for the first time under Joe Paterno, but it was not a memorable trip. Oregon showed why speed kills in sports and scored on 5 of their 6 first half possessions. Penn State made adjustments at halftime and limited the Ducks to just 7 second half points but it was too little too late. Jeremiah Masoli started the scoring off for the Ducks with an 8 yard toss to TE Ed Dickson to take a 7-0 lead. Masoli scored on a QB keeper on the next possession to make it 14-0. After a Derek Moye 18 yard TD catch for Penn State and a stop on defense the Lions looked to be right back in the game. However, on the first play of the possession for Penn State Daryll Clark threw an interception that was returned to the 6-yard line by Oregon. 2 plays later LaMichael James run in from 5 yards and the Ducks never looked back.
OREGON 38, PENN STATE 20

NEXT GAME:
Texas vs Oregon, 7:00pm Saturday Dec 26th, Cowboys Stadium

WEST REGION
Miami @ TCU
Friday Dec 18th 7:00pm
Weather at kickoff- 41 degrees and clear
TCU jumped on Miami early and showed why they are #1 in total defense in the nation. The Hurricanes were held to just 178 yards of offense and their lone score came on a Graig Cooper 97-yard kickoff return. The Horned Frogs meanwhile had no trouble moving the ball. Five different TCU players found the endzone and Andy Dalton threw for 4 scores.
TCU 45, MIAMI 7

Iowa @ Boise State
Friday Dec 18th, 10:30pm
Weather at kickoff- 39 degrees
Iowa controlled the tempo of this game from the beginning and seemed to have Boise State making a lot uncharacteristic mistakes for the first 45 minutes of the game. Going into the 4th quarter Ricky Stanzi led the Hawkeyes to 17-7 lead, but the Broncos finally woke up and made the game interesting. Boise State, who was a +19 in turnovers coming into the game, had 5 TO’s in the first three quarters, but sophomore QB Kellen Moore threw at TD pass to Titus Young on the second play of the 4th quarter to cut the Hawkeye lead to 3. After a 3-and-out by Iowa, Moore wasted no time at all and found Young again after a flee-flicker for a 58-yard score. Boise State would add two more scores in the fourth quarter to finish off the Big Ten runner-up.
BOISE STATE 35, IOWA 24

NEXT GAME:
TCU vs Boise State, 10:30pm Saturday Dec 26th, University of Phoenix Stadium

EAST REGION
LSU @ Cincinnati
Saturday Dec 19th, NOON
Weather at kickoff- 34 degrees and light snowfall
In their first game without new Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly running the show there were lots of questions about the Cincinnati offense, Tony Pike and Co. answered those questions quickly. Tony Pike connected with Mardy Gilyard for a 33-yard TD reception and hooked up with D.J. Woods on the teams second possession and the Bearcats jumped out to a 14-0 lead after the 1st quarter. LSU, who is not known for their offense, had a tough time playing catch-up. Charles Scott got LSU on the board early in the 2nd quarter with a 16 yard run. Josh Jasper added a 49-yard FG for the Tigers to cut the lead to 14-10, but Pike struck again. This time Pike connected with Armon Binns from 12 yards out to put the Bearcats up 21-10 at the half. LSU established a power running game with Scott in the second half, but could never overcome that early 1st quarter deficit.
CINCINNATI 37, LSU 21

Virginia Tech @ Florida
Saturday Dec 19th, NOON
Weather at kickoff- 58 degrees with strong winds
The Florida Gators are known most recently for their all-everything QB Tim Tebow, but this game was dominated by their all-everything defensive line. Yes, Tebow played well totaling over 300 yards of offense and score 4 TD’s (2 run, 2 pass), but the story of the day was the play of the Gators front 4. Virginia Tech freshman running back Ryan Williams had averaged 128 ypg this season, he had 14 yards on Saturday. Carlos Dunlap and Jermaine Cunningham each had three sacks and the Gators totaled eight on the afternoon. The Hokies did not cross midfield until the 12:08 mark of the third quarter.
FLORIDA 31, VIRGINIA TECH 3

NEXT GAME
Cincinnati vs Florida, NOON Saturday Dec 26th, Gillette Stadium

RANDOM RANTING

VOLUNTEERED ROBBERY
As many people have heard, three Tennessee football players were arrested and charged in part with an armed robbery that occurred around 2:00 early Thursday morning at an off-campus gas station. That is not the story. That is no big deal. It is the SEC, Lane Kiffin will probably suspend them for the National Anthem.

The story is about one of the victims, Corey Zickefoose. This man had a gun stuck in his face during the robbery, but thinks the robbers should get off easy. Here is what he has to say, "I think they should still be able to play football, regardless. Tennessee is my place. It's my football team." When asked if he believed this despite having a gun pointed in his face by one of the robbers he added, "Yeah, it's Tennessee. That's the way it is sometimes,"

You have got to check this guy out!

Lane Kiffin and Vols need to hook this kids up with some season tickets!

THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE
While watching the Sunday Sports Showdown last Sunday on KDKA-TV and I heard a very interesting stat about Penn State football given by Paul Zeise. The stat was that Penn State is just 5-20 against Iowa, Ohio State and Michigan in the past 10 years. This stunned me, and it was followed up with the fact that they are just 5-10 in non-conference games vs BCS records that finished with a winning record in that same span. So, Penn State is just 10-30 against good competition over the last 10 years. That got me thinking, and researching, to find other surprising numbers that people may not be aware of regarding some of the top profile teams in the country.

I tried to choose 1 or 2 schools from each of the 6 BCS conferences, here is what I found out.
FLORIDA:
A lot is always made about teams and how they schedule their non-conference portion of their schedule. Somehow, it seems to be overlooked each year that Florida does play road non-conference games, and the ones they do play, they don’t have to travel very far to get to. The Gators have not played a non-conference game outside the state of Florida in 18 seasons. The last time Florida went on the road to play a non-conference game was September 21, 1991 and they lost in the Carrier Dome to Syracuse 38-21.

ALABAMA:
To be the best you have to beat the best, sometimes at least. Alabama, since 2000 is just 4-21 against teams that finished the season with double digit wins including losing the final two games of the season last year to Utah and Florida, both of whom finished with 13 wins on the season.

LSU:
Not as bad as Alabama against winning teams but LSU isn’t beating many powerhouses either, in conference play at least. Over the past 20 years the Tigers are just 7-31 against fellow SEC teams that went on to win 10+ games that season.

GEORGIA:
What’s the old saying, “It’s not a rivalry unless both teams win.” Well apparently Georgia is running short on rivals. If you would ask a Bulldog fan to name their two biggest rivals, they would probably say Florida and Tennessee. In the past 20 years Georgia has won only 10 of the 40 games played against those schools.

OHIO STATE:
Going from the SEC to the Big Ten this seems like the best transition to make, Ohio State has not beaten a team from the SEC since September of 1988. That is right, it has been 21 seasons since the Buckeyes have beaten a school from the SEC. The win occurred September 24, 1988 in a 36-33 win over LSU. That is also the Buckeyes only win versus a SEC team.

MICHIGAN:
The Wolverines haven’t fared much better against their rivals than Georgia. Michigan is 2-8 the past 10 games against Notre Dame and Ohio State and in the past 23 seasons, they have swept their rivals just four times.

NOTRE DAME:
As we all know Notre Dame is pretty much just like any other school in college football, the mystique is gone, although they would never want you to know that. Look at some of these numbers regarding whom Notre Dame plays (and beats). In the past 10 years, Notre Dame has won 69 games; only 26 of those wins came against teams with winning records. The average record of those 69 opponents was 5-6. The Irish have lost 8 straight games to teams with 10+ wins and are just 5-21 in the past 10 seasons against 10-win teams. In the past three seasons, they are 0-6 vs ranked teams and 3-16 against teams with winning records.

CINCINNATI:
Cincinnati is new to this winning thing, so these number may not surprised you, but for a team that is in the Top 5 they are pretty interesting. In the past 10 years Cincinnati is 3-12 against non-conference BCS opponents. Two of those three wins have come against Oregon State over the past three seasons.

PITT:
Being a Pitt fan is difficult; they seem to always lose at least one game every year to an inferior opponent. Well maybe it seems that way because it is 100% true. Pitt has lost at least one game for the past 9 seasons to a team that finished with a losing record. That streak looks like it will stay in tact as the Panthers only loss this season was against 4-5 NC State.

WEST VIRGINIA:
What is the toughest place to play in the Big East? West Virginia. WRONG! A crazy misconception is that playing in Morgantown tough. A hostile environment, yes, but a tough place to win, you may want to reconsider. WVU has lost at least 1 home game every year since 1994. In that span they have lost 13 home games in the last half of the season, when the wins are the most important. So far this season the Mountaineers are 6-0 at home with just one game remaining. WVU hosts Pitt Nov 27th, the last time they hosted the Panthers, Pitt knocked them out of the National Championship game upsetting the #2 Mountaineers in the final game of the regular season.

VIRGINIA TECH:
This one might be a stretch and maybe a little misleading because VT has been so good recently. Of the Hokies last 12 losses, 10 of them came from teams that had a worse record then them.

TEXAS:
The Longhorns and Oklahoma have pretty much been the class of the Big XII since the conference started in 1996. Since that time, Texas has a losing record to only two Big XII foes. One is Oklahoma, who is 6-5 versus the Longhorns. The other is Kansas State. That’s right the Kansas State Wildcats are the 2nd most successful team against Texas since the inception of the Big XII conference. K-State is 4-2 against the Longhorns.

OKLAHOMA:
Sooner fans get on Bob Stoops for not winning the big bowl games, but let’s not stop with just bowl games. Stoops has struggled against every team that is not in the Big XII. Since 2003, the Bob Stoops led Sooners have lost just 19 games. 9 of those games have come against Big XII opponents in 58 games. However, in just 32 nonconference games the Sooners have lost 10 times.

Enjoy your great weekend of college football!

T3R WEEK 3

Sorry for the delay this week, I spent most of the week trying to track down a Nutcracker shirt from the white-out to give to Terrelle Pryor.

#1 TEXAS LONGHORNS (9-0, 5-0)
LAST WEEK: 35-3 win vs UCF
NEXT GAME: Sat @ Baylor
Texas can pretty much sleep walk their way to the national title game at this point. The remaining schedule consists of Baylor, Kansas and Texas A&M. Those three teams are a combined 4-11 in conference play so far this year and they would have to lose 2 of those 3 to not make it to the BIG XII Title game. Then they will go up against one of the jokes from the Big XII South (maybe the worst division of any conference in the history of college football). So I’m saying it now, Texas has already stamped their ticket to Pasadena and will be playing for the national title.

#2 FLORIDA GATORS (9-0, 7-0)
LAST WEEK: 27-3 win vs Vanderbilt
NEXT GAME: Sat @ South Carolina
I am starting to wonder if Florida has just being toying with the college football world this season. Everyone doubted them and they started to lose points in the rankings and then they came out and smashed Georgia in a rivalry game. This week could be interesting though. If the offense really is struggling, SC is not the team you want to have to face. The Gamecocks have a very stingy defense and could be a tough road environment if it is close in the fourth quarter.

#3 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (9-0, 6-0)
LAST WEEK: 25-14 win vs #7 LSU
NEXT GAME: Sat @ Mississippi State
By beating LSU last week, Alabama has clinched a re-match with Florida (who also clinched last week) in the SEC Title game. Alabama should be able to stay unbeaten until that game with only contests against Mississippi State, Chattanooga and Auburn remaining on their regular season slate.

#4 CINCINNATI BEARCATS (9-0, 5-0)
LAST WEEK: 47-45 win vs UCONN
NEXT GAME: Fri vs WVU
The Bearcats survived a scare against a pesky UCONN team. Cincinnati now has two more conference games remaining against the other top teams in the Big East. If the Bearcats win Friday, it makes the Dec 5th match-up with Pitt the unofficial title game for the Big East conference, regardless how either teams fares in their games until then.

#5 TCU HORNED FROGS (9-0, 5-0)
LAST WEEK: 55-12 win @ San Diego State
NEXT GAME: Sat vs Utah
Ten weeks down and TCU is still undefeated! If you are a fan of the BCS-buster then you love this. If you are not, you should be pulling big-time for the Utes this week in Fort Worth. Utah is the only team remaining on TCU’s cake schedule that stands a chance at beating them and knocking them out of BCS consideration.

#6 GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS (9-1, 6-1)
LAST WEEK: 30-27 OT win vs Wake Forest
NEXT GAME: Sat @ Duke
The Yellow Jackets escaped last week with a win against a poor Wake Forest team. GT needs to be on its game this week against a much-improved Duke team that is fighting to get bowl eligible for the first time since 1994. If Georgia Tech wins, they clinch the ACC Coastal division. A loss puts the ball in Miami’s court and the Yellow Jackets would have to hope for a Canes loss in the final weeks of the season.

#7 LSU TIGERS (7-2, 4-2)
LAST WEEK: 24-15 loss @ #3 Alabama
NEXT GAME: Sat vs La Tech
How does a team move up after losing? They play well. The LSU defense played well enough to win that game last week, and minus one terrible call and review by the SEC officiating, they could have won that game. LSU has lost twice this season. Once to Florida and once to Alabama, that is not too bad!

#8 PITT PANTHERS (8-1, 5-0)
LAST WEEK: win 37-10 vs Syracuse
NEXT GAME: Sat vs Notre Dame
Pitt has survived the easy part of their schedule and now has a tough 3-game stretch to close it out. The Pitt secondary should face a stern challenge against Jimmy Clausen and the Irish, but the next two games are what really matter as they push towards their first outright Big East title.

#9 OREGON DUCKS (7-2, 5-1)
LAST WEEK: 51-42 loss @ #16 Stanford
NEXT GAME: Sat vs Arizona State
How do you take the air out of a program after a huge win? Go out and lay an egg the next game out. The Ducks did that exact thing. After coming off arguably the biggest win in school history Oregon got down early and never recovered against Stanford.

#10 SOUTHERN CAL TROJANS (7-2, 4-2)
LAST WEEK: 14-9 win @ Arizona State
NEXT GAME: Sat vs Stanford
The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the college football world have to be the USC offense. They were held under 20 two games earlier this year, then ran 5 straight games scoring 27+, and in the past 2 weeks they have scored a total of three touchdowns.

#11 the OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BUCKEYES (8-2, 5-1)
LAST WEEK: 24-7 win @ #18 Penn State
NEXT GAME: Sat vs Iowa
Well I was hoping for a 40 point win and a career day for Pryor last week, I guess I will settle for a 17-point win and seeing an empty Beaver Stadium as the time ticked off the clock in the 4th quarter. If last week was the Big Ten semi-final for the Buckeyes, that would make this week the Championship game. Looks like the Ohio State University will be going back to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1996.

#12 ARIZONA WILDCATS (6-2, 4-1)
LAST WEEK: 48-7 win vs Washington State
NEXT GAME: Sat @ California
Mike Stoops FINALLY has his team in place to reach expectations that were set when he took over in Tucson, but he still has a tough road ahead of him. The Wildcats still have this week vs Cal, then they host 1st place Oregon before going on the road to rival Arizona State and finishing at USC. Can it be done? Yes, but it certainly won’t be easy.

#13 BOISE STATE BRONCOS (9-0, 4-0)
LAST WEEK: 45-35 win @ La Tech
NEXT GAME: Sat vs Idaho
59-2 on the Smurf Turf this decade is all you need to know about this match-up. Idaho is not a bad team and if this were a road game for Boise State, it would pose a challenge, that being said the Broncos will roll to a very unimpressive 10-0.

#14 WISCONSIN BADGERS (7-2, 4-2)
LAST WEEK: 31-28 win @ Indiana
NEXT GAME: Sat vs Michigan
John Clay and his power running game for the Badgers versus a hit-or-miss Michigan team who has had trouble stopping anyone on the defensive side of the ball. Wisconsin has quietly played itself into a battle for 2nd place in the Big Ten.

#15 OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS (7-2, 4-1)
LAST WEEK: 34-8 win @ Iowa State
NEXT GAME: Sat vs Texas Tech
Oklahoma State has two bad losses, but I really do feel that they could play with anyone in the country outside of the top 3 teams. The loss to Houston is still a bad loss despite what the Cougars have done since. And the Texas game was a bad loss simply due to the margin of defeat, you can’t be ashamed losing to the Longhorns, it was just how it happened, at home none the less.

#16 STANFORD CARDINAL (6-3, 5-2)
LAST WEEK: 51-42 win vs #9 Oregon
NEXT GAME: Sat @ Southern Cal
The Trees had a big win last week on the road to get into the rankings this week, now they need to do it again on the road to stay in the rankings. If they do upset the Trojans, not only will they stay in the rankings but also they will vault right into the Pac-10 race for the Rose Bowl.

#17 MIAMI HURRICANES (7-2, 4-2)
LAST WEEK: 52-17 win vs Virginia
NEXT GAME: Sat @ North Carolina
The Canes are an OT loss against Clemson from being in first place in the Coastal Division of the ACC. They are not out of it however, with two games to play in conference and the head-to-head tiebreaker over 1st place GT, the Canes still have a lot to play for. This week won’t be easy though, they have never won in Chapel Hill.

#18 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (8-2, 4-2)
LAST WEEK: 24-7 loss vs #11 Ohio State
NEXT GAME: Sat vs Indiana
What happened to the home field advantage that Penn State used to have with 110K crazy loud fans? Last week was the second time they lost at Beaver Stadium this season, and most of the fans left before the game was even over. Indiana won’t be as easy as many Nits think this week. The Hoosiers have lost their last three games and are just 1-5 in conference but they just haven’t finished well. In those five conference losses, they have held leads late in the 4th quarter or lost by one possession in four of them.

#19 HOUSTON COUGARS (8-1, 4-1)
LAST WEEK: 46-45 win @ Tulsa
NEXT GAME: Sat @ UCF
Tulsa had a lot of hype coming into the season for their high-powered offense, but they haven’t really produced much. They were 4-5 coming into this game and got smacked by Oklahoma 45-0. This game should not have been close. The Cougars escaped thanks to a 51-yard FG by a freshman as time expired capping a 9-point rally in the final 21 seconds of play. You can’t struggle to win two straight weeks against bad competition and expect to climb in the rankings.

#20 CLEMSON TIGERS (6-3, 4-2)
LAST WEEK: 40-24 win vs Florida State
NEXT GAME: Sat @ NC State
Clemson started the season 2-3, including a terrible lost at Maryland, but since has won four straight and currently lead the ACC Atlantic division.