NCAA Week 12: What We Learned

Week 12 of the college football season saw a few more upsets and two fantastic finishes, leading up to some great football yet to come that will, one way or another, decide the national championship, so let's get started. 

Even good teams have bad days ... Just ask Alabama. As good as the Tide was last week against LSU, that's how bad it was against Mississippi State, at least offensively. Bama turned the ball over four times Saturday and yet still won by 13 points. The Tide isn't the only team who's sleepwalked through games this season. Fans tend to forget that Florida State was down by three touchdowns at one point to Boston College before waking up and winning that game. Happens to every good team, just happened to Alabama this week.

I Was Right, Part 2 ... Once again I was right. I said that not only can you not trust Oregon, but you can't trust Stanford, either. USC gave the Cardinal all it wanted, and it was enough to cut down the Trees. What didn't hurt Stanford last week against Oregon -- hardly passing the football -- hurt them this week against the Trojans. The Cardinal passed for only 127 yards and had three turnovers. Unless you are Alabama or Florida State, you can't get away with that very often. Don't get me wrong, the Cardinal are a good team, but they weren't the No 4 team in the country, even after they defeated Oregon last week. 

This is Georgia Football ... If you're a Georgia fan, you knew this was coming. You knew the Bulldogs would play this type of game against Auburn. They'd muck it up for the first three quarters and make a tremendous comeback, only to lose on a miracle touchdown play in the final seconds of the game. That's been the definition of Georgia football the last few years. Happened last year with the Alabama game. Five yards away from scoring the winning touchdown, and Mark Richt decides not to spike the ball. This year, it happens against Auburn. All the defenders had to do was knock down the ball, but noooo! They go for the interception and lose the ball game. This, ladies and gentleman, is Georgia football. 

Rape allegations didn't hurt Jameis Winston on the field ... If the allegations against Jameis Winston are bothering him, it didn't show Saturday. Winston was nearly perfect against Syracuse. He was 19-21 for 277 yards and two touchdowns which only heighten his Heisman hype. Now, it was Syracuse, but it was still impressive considering the week he had. Let's see if he holds up while this investigation continues. 

What happened to Texas Tech? ... Remember when I said Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury would be perfect for the USC job? Well, forget what I said. The Red Raiders have totally fallen off the map. Tech, who started off with a 7-0 record, has now lost four games in a row and was blasted by Baylor. Kingsbury may turn out to be a great coach down the line, but right now, his team is getting a hard does of reality on a weekly basis.

What to look for Week 13:

• The game of the year in the Big 12, Oklahoma State vs. Baylor.
• Johnny Football against LSU, can the Tigers overpower the Heisman qb?
• And two weeks of hype leading up to the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn. 

While Auburn won its game on a miracle play, Central Florida's chance at a $17million BCS bowl payout was saved by a miracle catch:

That's the other polls race. The Golden Knights (No 18) must either outrank both Fresno State (No 15) and Northern Illinois (No 16) by season's end or see them fall out of the Top 16. It's gonna be close.