NCAA Week 7: What We Learned

Adding some spice to the BCS scenario, upsets were the norm Week 7 of the college football season.

Some were surprising (see Oklahoma), and some were not so surprising (see Georgia). Overall, it was an exciting weekend if you are college football fan so let's get to it.

Did the OU Victory save Mack Brown's job? ... I wasn't shocked that OU lost, but I was shocked by how they lost and to whom. Raise your hand if you picked Texas to win this game! The Longhorns dominated the Sooners in impressive fashion, which leads to the question: Was this enough to save Mac Brown's job? Not yet; the dogs are still at his doorstep. Texas has now won three straight games and looks like it's are back on track, at least until you realize the Longhorns haven't even played the really good teams in their conference yet like Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech. Mack may have saved his job for now, but as for later, who knows? On the other side of the field, Big Game Bob Stoops lived down to his sarcastic nickname once again.

Missouri looked impressive in beating Georgia ... This was another situation where no one should have been very surprised by the outcome. Georgia had a bunch of injuries and Missouri was on a roll, albeit against light opposition. The combination was bad news for the Bulldogs. The Tigers built up a hefty lead on the Bulldogs going into the second half, and Georgia did fight its way back and almost tied the game. But turnovers and a bad defense cost them. You know your defense is bad when the back-up quarterback for Missouri beats you. As I've said before and say every year, until Georgia learns how to play defense, they won't win a national championship. And now the Tigers believe they've legitimized themselves.

Lane Kiffin had no business being on Gameday ... Does anyone really care what the former USC coach had to say? Kiffin being on the ESPN Gameday set begging for another chance was embarrassing not only to him, but to ESPN. It took away some of the spotlight from the Oregon-Washington game, too. That was one of the biggest games of the day, and it was diminished to a certain extent by a whiny former coach. Nice job, ESPN.

Stanford didn't take care of business against Utah ... After Oregon did an impressive job of going to Washington and trouncing the Huskies, we all expected the Cardinal to do the same to Utah. Wrong! They fell flat on their faces against a team clearly jacked to make a statement. It changed that Thu 7 Nov meeting with the Ducks from a must-win to an absolutely must-win for the Cardinal. You have to ask, though, what with Stanford's high academic standards and best ground game on the West Coast, what were they doing, down by six with a third-and-two on the Utah 6 and a minute left in the game, calling two passing plays? The Cardinal were averaging almost five yards per rush in that game! There's your October mystery, and for Stanford, possibly your January regret.

Let the hype begin for FSU v Clemson ... It was close for most of the game, but Clemson finally put away Boston College in the final minutes, allowing the hype to begin for one of the biggest games in ACC history. When was the last time an ACC game meant so much to the national picture? One of these two teams, national championship hopes will most likely die next Saturday. Will it be the Seminoles, led by their freshman sensation QB Jameis Winston, who has taken the league by storm, or will it be the senior-led squad from South Carolina? Should be a good one, but take a moment to think about BC. The Golden Eagles almost upset both of these teams in the past few weeks, which would have been a double-barrelled killing of the ACC's BCS title hopes. What a story that would have been!

Next week, the BCS shakedown should continue. Besides having the Florida State-Clemson clash on the horizon, another hurdle for Louisville to cross is Central Florida. The Cardinals predictably -- at least on The Daily Player -- had a tough time with Rutgers this past weekend and the Golden Knights are no pushover; just ask South Carolina. Another key contest is UCLA visiting a visibly cranky Stanford club.

Remember if the Cardinal beat Oregon in a few weeks and both teams win the rest of their games, Stanford will be the Pac-12 North champion. The Bruins travel to Oregon in two weeks, too, so they've got a lot to say about both Pac-12 divisions this season. Should be fun.