2017-18 NCAA Football (Week 7)

Top 25
Handled their business
(1) Alabama, (4) Georgia, (6) TCU, (9) Ohio State, (16) Oklahoma State, (18) South Florida, (20) North Carolina State, (21) Michigan State, (22) Central Florida, (23) Stanford,


Got it done but did not impress
(7) Wisconsin. Eking a victory at home to Purdue is not a good look for a top ten squad.

(11) Miami. Is it rude to suggest that a team called the Hurricanes should have an advantage playing in the rain? Felt like this game should've been theirs and they waited til the last minute to claim it.

(12) Oklahoma. If you'd said at the beginning of the year that OU would struggle in Austin but pull out the W, that would've seemed just fine. But 6 weeks in, we've seen enough of Texas to know that they're not so good this year and enough of Oklahoma to think that they should've dominated this game early. Not impressive.

(13) Southern Cal. I watched this game and I generally thought Utah was the better team but didn't finish it off. There was a moment late: Utah scores under a minute to go, lines up for two instead of tying the game, then USC takes their last time out--I thought that would've been a great moment for Utah to come back out with the kicking unit and take the tie. But they went for two, came up short, let USC off the hook. USC pulled it together in the second half and I respect that but they were lesser team for most of this game.

(17) Michigan. Going to overtime to beat Indiana at home is not filling the Wolverine faithful with a lot of confidence. Yes, IU does have a weird knack for scoring points but there's no way Michigan should've let the Hoosiers into this game.


Not so good
(2) Clemson. Wow, this is the shocker of the year! Clemson looked to be on a steady glide path back to the final four and Syracuse looked like nothing special at all. I figured on a Friday night, the Tigers would bring their A game for the TV crowd and pummel the Orange. Not so much. This is a bad loss for Clemson and with Florida State and Louisville flailing, there's not many opportunities left for them to make a statement.

(5) Washington. Hmmm, can't get it done at Arizona State, huh? I was wary of Washington, haven't seen them actually do much this year though they had a good chance at being the last man standing. The PAC is in flux though so there's still a shot for the Huskies to pull it together and get it done.

(8) Washington State. I watched Cal earlier this year and I kinda liked their QB and their vibe but I figured they were a year away from making much of a noise. As for Wash State, I've generally been impressed with their play so far and figured they had a good shot at winning the PAC. The PAC kinda got turned upside down this weekend, now it looks like everyone is in play again. Even Cal.

(10) Auburn. I had a feeling LSU would play them close but I thought Auburn would pull it out. They did not. They still have Georgia and Alabama ahead, those are their opportunities to get back in the race.

(19) San Diego State. Dang, they got drilled at home by an unranked Boise State squad.

(24) Texas Tech. Getting outrun by West Virginia on the road is pretty much a Bad Beat. (I'm guessing the Mountaineers will be taking over the 24 spot next week?)

(25) Navy. Still can't win in Memphis.


Next week's notable games:

(19) Michigan @ (2) Penn State
(11) Southern Cal @ (13) Notre Dame