2017-18 NCAA Football (Week 6)

(17) Louisville 25-39 (24) North Carolina State
Interesting. State's looking like a legit team, huh? Solid pass rush, good QB, how did they lose to South Carolina? Hey, if they can beat Notre Dame (I doubt it) and Clemson (not much of shot on that one)....ehhhhh.....then they'll be killing themselves over a sorry result against South Carolina. As for Louisville, this game is their albatross. The rest of the schedule is very winnable and that loss to Clemson wouldn't have been a killer. Well, they'll be back in the top 20 by the end of the year if they just handle business but the Championship run is officially over for them (too bad, ain't nobody looking forward to basketball season in Louisville this year).

(23) West Virginia 24-31 (8) TCU
This had the makings of a classic 52-48 kinda game but when the halftime score was 7-3, it felt like it was going to be a defensive sludge contest. Well, somewhere in between. The scoring finally appeared in the 2nd half and TCU finally secured late in the 4th. I kinda like this West Virginia squad, they're gritty and they can score some points. But TCU is for real, with Oklahoma and Michigan faltering, expect TCU to sneak into the top 5 soon.


Top 25
Handled their business
(1) Alabama (though Texas A&M has a knack for playing them close), (2) Clemson, (4) Penn State, (5) Georgia, (6) Washington, (8) TCU, (9) Wisconsin, (10) Ohio State, (11) Washington State, (12) Auburn, (14) Southern Cal, (16) Virginia Tech, (19) San Diego State, (21) Notre Dame, (24) North Carolina State, (25) Central Florida


Won but did not impress
(13) Miami. Okay, that annual Seminole grudge match game is a tough one, I get that. But the Hurricanes should've come in smelling blood, they should've put this away quickly and they did not. Indeed, it took a last second miracle to pull this out. I get it: just because the Seminoles are out of it doesn't mean they lack talent, but all the more reason for Miami to jump on them with both feet. Failure to do so is eye-opening.


Not so good
(3) Oklahoma. I watched the 1st half and was convinced that Oklahoma was in control; turned back in the 4th quarter, the game was tied and Iowa State was driving! The Cyclones scored (nice grab!) and then stuffed the Sooners convincingly on their next possession. Puzzling game, looked to me like OU was on their way to a typical home conference W. Nope. (This really puts it on Ohio State to start piling up some blowouts, to creep back into the top 4)

(7) Michigan. I thought the Spartans could give Michigan trouble but I figured the Wolverines would have enough offense to get it done. Nope. Their mercurial QB play this year finally caught up to them. Michigan is a pretty good team that is a consistent QB away from being really good. Maybe next year. They've still got Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State ahead, either they get a chance to get back in it or they get buried.

(17) Louisville. Officially done for the year.

(20) Utah. Aw, losing at home to Stanford is not a good look. Just confirms the notion that the Washington-Washington St game will determine the PAC (though its worth noting that the Huskies haven't actually done anything yet this season, so maybe too early to hang it all on that).

(21) Florida. LSU was beatable and at home Florida should've finished them off. And for god's sake: get a FG kicker, would ya? This is not a classic Florida side.


Bad beat
(23) West Virginia. Tough game on the road to a really good team, thought the Mountaineers acquitted themselves admirably. (Though I had lost sympathy for teams getting conference losses, I'm back to wanting to reward the gutsy performances; I'm curious to see how much that feeling waxes and wanes throughout the season)


Next week's interesting games
(8) Washington State @ Cal
Normally I would stick with only ranked teams playing against each other but we're into that stretch of the season where conference match-ups become interesting. I've been impressed with Washington State but I kinda like Cal's QB and on a Friday night in Berkeley anything can happen. Keep an eye on this one.

(10) Auburn @ LSU
My gut is that Auburn is legit and they're going to handle their business. But LSU has nothing better to do than play spoiler and if Auburn treats them like an also-ran, they may well get stung.