Another college football adventure
A fun Saturday. Watching football from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the house, then a quick trip to Owen Field to set up in the pressbox, a walk back to Campus Corner for some radio duties, then back to the stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
I saw some wild stuff. From my living room, I saw Kansas annihilate Nebraska 76-39. From Campus Corner, on a TV set on the Sports Animal stage, I saw Navy end its epic losing streak to Notre Dame with a 46-44, triple-overtime victory. From the base of the stadium, via cell phone, I learned from my brother’s play-by-play, the end of the OSU-Texas game. From the pressbox, I saw most of the LSU-Alabama holy war, following the final few minutes on the Internet.
ANCHORS AWEIGH
Navy’s ending of a 43-game series losing streak to Notre Dame made me wonder what are the longest streaks in the Big 12. The North has been so upside down in recent years, there are no long streaks between North schools. Here are the five longest in the league:
1. OU-Baylor 16: The Bears never have beaten the Sooners.
2. Texas Tech-Baylor 12: Ironically, this series is close; Tech leads 33-32-1. But Baylor hasn’t won since the Southwest Conference days.
3. OU-Iowa State 11: Sooners are 37-1-1 against the Cyclones since 1961.
4. Texas-Baylor 10: John Mackovic’s final Longhorn team lost 23-21 inWaco.
4. Texas-OSU 10: You know the plot. Cowboys get way ahead, but the streak continues.
BOWL BUSINESS
Last week, I handicapped the Big 12 bowls. This week, let’s do every bowl.
Jan. 7 Big Bowl: Ohio State vs. LSU
Jan. 6 GMAC: Bowling Green vs. Tulsa
Jan. 5 International: Miami-Ohio vs. Louisville
Jan. 3 Orange: Boston College vs. Kansas (It’s looking more and more like the Big 12 will get a second BCS team)
Jan. 2 Fiesta: Oklahoma vs. USC (Dream matchup if the Sooners don’t make it to
New Orleans)
Jan. 1 Rose: Oregon vs. Michigan
Jan. 1 Sugar: West Virginia vs. Hawaii
Jan. 1 Outback: Wisconsin vs. Florida
Jan. 1 Cotton: Missouri vs. Georgia (Mizzou last played in the Cotton in 1946)
Jan. 1 Gator: Texas vs. Virginia Tech (if Gator skips the Big 12 this year, it must take the Big 12 both of the next two years)
Jan. 1 Capital One: Penn State vs. Auburn
Dec. 31 Armed Forces: South Carolina vs. Air Force
Dec. 31 Sun: Arizona State vs. Connecticut
Dec. 31 Humanitarian: Boise State vs. Georgia Tech
Dec. 31 Music City: Alabama vs. Miami
Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A: Tennessee vs. Virginia
Dec. 31 Insight: Oklahoma State vs. Iowa (If OSU beats Kansas, it moves up the ladder)
Dec. 30 Independence: Kansas State vs. Mississippi State (Independence picked OSU over K-State last season)
Dec. 29 Meineke Car Care: Wake Forest vs. Cincinnati
Dec. 29 Liberty: East Carolina vs. Kentucky
Dec. 29 Alamo: Texas Tech vs. Illinois (Red Raiders haven’t played in San Antonio since 2001)
Dec. 28 Texas: Texas A&M vs. Memphis (Aggies will be needed to fulfill Big 12 bowl obligations, despite coaching upheaval)
Dec. 28 Champs Sports: Florida State vs. Purdue
Dec. 28 Emerald: Clemson vs. Oregon State
Dec. 27 Holiday: Colorado vs. California (Don’t laugh; Big 12 will be short of bowl teams that aren’t 6-6)
Dec. 26 Motor City: Central Michigan vs. Indiana
Dec. 23 Hawaii: Nevada vs. Southern Miss
Dec. 22 Papajohns.com: South Florida vs. Houston
Dec. 22 New Mexico: Utah vs. Fresno State
Dec. 22 Las Vegas: Arkansas vs. BYU
Dec. 21 New Orleans: Troy vs. Central Florida
Dec. 20 Poinsettia: TCU vs. Navy
TEN BIG WINNERS FROM WEEK 10
10. Troy: The Trojans were solid in defeat, a 44-34 setback at Georgia. Another big statement for the best of the Sun Belt Conference.
9. Missouri: Quietly, the Tigers have risen to No. 6 in the BCS, and they are deserving, after a 55-10 rout at Colorado.
8. East Carolina: The Pirates were 7-28 the three years before Skip Holtz’s arrival as coach. Now, after a 56-40 win over Memphis, the team coached by Lou’s son has command of Conference USA’s East Division. If East Carolina can beat bottom-dwellers Marshall and Tulane, it will host the C-USA title game.
7. Darren McFadden: The Arkansas flash rushed for an SEC-record 323 yards, reviving a fading Heisman campaign, and the Razorbacks beat South Carolina 48-36.
6. Chuck Long: His San Diego State Aztecs beat Wyoming 27-24, the best win of Long’s two-year tenure. The Aztecs are 3-5 overall but 2-2 in the Mountain West, good for fifth place in the nine-team league.
5. Iowa: Hawkeyes started 2-4 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten. But after two straight rallies for victory (28-17 over Northwestern this week), Iowa is 5-5. With Minnesota and Western Michigan left, Hawkeyes could be headed for a decent bowl.
4. Kansas: In the decade of the ‘80s, KU scored 67 points total against Nebraska. Saturday, the Jayhawks scored 76 points on the Huskers.
3. Virginia: The amazing Cavaliers set up a season-ending showdown with arch-foe Virginia Tech for the ACC’s Coastal Division title, by beating Wake Forest 17-16. Virginia is 8-2 overall, with wins by 11, 2, 5, 30, 2, 1, 1 and 1. That’s right. Six of its eight wins are by less than six points, five by less than three points and the last three wins by one point.
2. America: Navy beating Notre Dame was good for the nation.
1. Les Miles: Losing to Nick Saban, a patron saint of LSU football, would not have been good for Miles’ qualify of living in the Baton Rouge. But beating Alabama 41-34 kept alive LSU’s national title hopes.
TEN BIG LOSERS FROM WEEK 10
10. Michigan State: Spartans led 24-14 with seven minutes left but lost 28-24 to arch-rival Michigan. Now State, 5-5, might not make a bowl, since it plays at Purdue and hosts Penn State.
9. Kansas State: The Wildcats, one of the nation’s great up-and-down teams, lost at Iowa State 31-20 to threaten its bowl hopes.
8. UTEP: Rice was 1-7 before pinning a 56-48 loss on Texas-El Paso, which fell out of Conference USA’s West Division.
7. Turner Gill: The ex-Nebraska quarterback has done a remarkable job at Buffalo U., but in the game that likely will decide the Mid-American’s East Division, Miami-Ohio beat Buffalo 31-28. With the Nebraska job about to come open, Gill needs all his markers.
6. South Florida: A few weeks ago, the Tampa Tribune’s Joey Johnston called me on a week night. He was gauging national perception about the undefeated Bulls, who seemed like a possible national title contender. But now South Florida has lost three straight — including a 38-33 loss to Cincinnati in which USF gave up 31 first-quarter points.
5. Randy Shannon: The first-year Miami coach got off to a 4-1 start, losing only to Oklahoma. But now Miami is 5-4 and is losing close games, including 19-16 in overtime to North Carolina State, which had been 3-5. This is not what Miami had in mind when Larry Coker was fired.
4. Oklahoma State: It’s kosher to say OSU doesn’t get many chances to beat Texas, but that’s not true. The Cowboys have led the Longhorns by at least 19 points in three of the last four years. And won none of them, including a 38-35 defeat Saturday in which they led 35-14 with 12 minutes left.
3. Nebraska: Kansas has beaten Nebraska 76-39, or something similar, often. But always at Allen Fieldhouse.
2. Charlie Weis: Who says Notre Dame’s not getting better under Genius Charlie? Bob Davie’s five-year winning percentage, .583. Tyrone Willingham’s five-year winning percentage, .583. Charlie Weis’ three-year winning percentage, .588. I say build the guy a statue.
1. Boston College: The Eagles are who we thought they were, but still, BC could have made November awfully interesting on Chestnut Hill. Instead, Boston College lost to Florida State 27-17 and tumbled from Big Bowl contention.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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