2017-18 NCAA Football (Week 10)

(19) LSU 10-24 (2) Alabama
LSU hung around but Alabama effectively smothered them throughout. LSU played them well but hard to make a dent on that defense. Another solid victory for Alabama (ehh, this isn't a classic LSU squad but they're not bad), dropping them to #2 is another sign how lame the rankings still are after all these years.

(4) Clemson 38-31 (20) North Carolina State
This was a good game, lot of back and forth, but Clemson held them off in the 4th (dumb penalty on last drive doomed the Wolfpack). I've been impressed with both of these teams all year long--still think Clemson is possibly the best team out there--and this was a lively, fun game. 

(5) Oklahoma 62-52 (11) Oklahoma State
Thank you for the rain delay in Michigan that allowed me to watch the rest of this game--which is the one I really wanted to watch! Wow, the score says it all, total shootout of a game, back and forth, fast break football. But in crazy games like this it just takes one bad drive to end it all and the Cowboys had a coupla those (uhhh....not sure the Sooners had a single bad possession....). I thought Oklahoma State would emerge as the better team and take their place atop the Big 12 but the Sooners took that spot instead.

(7) Penn State 24-27 (24) Michigan State
Kooky game, can't remember a rain delay that was longer than the game itself (well, not in football). Thought Penn State QB McSorley had a poor game--and that was before the rain came. He was sailing passes and missing receivers all the way through, that was the difference. If Penn State had protected the ball I think they would've won handily. But they let Sparty hang around and that last drive to the winning FG was a good one. That Ohio State-Michigan State game is still meaningful. 

(13) Virginia Tech 10-28 (10) Miami
Thought Tech made too many dumb turnovers, if they'd held on to the ball, they may have won (the game certainly would've been more competitive). The first half was fairly even but Tech couldn't hold them back after halftime. This is Miami's first notable win of the season but I'm still not convinced.

(22) Arizona 35-49 (17) Southern Cal
(21) Stanford 21-24 (25) Washington State
I didn't see either of these games. Pac-12 is a crazy crap shoot this year, these games solved none of the puzzle of that conference.


Top 25
Handled their business
(1) Georgia, (2) Alabama, (3) Notre Dame, (4), Clemson, (5) Oklahoma, (8) TCU, (9) Wisconsin, (10) Miami, (12) Washington, (14) Auburn, (17) Southern Cal, (18) Central Florida, (23) Memphis, (24) Michigan State, (25) Washington State

Got it done but did not impress
(16) Mississippi State.  Come on, man, at home against a weak opponent from a lesser conference should not have been a struggle.  This game went into the 4th quarter and there's just no need for that.

Not so good
(6) Ohio State. Got stomped in a winnable game. That's not so good.
(7) Penn State. Two weeks in a row they let it slip away, disappointing.
(11) Oklahoma State. I thought they could hang with Oklahoma, this was their shot at something big.
(13) Virginia Tech. Gotta win the games you gotta win.
(15) Iowa State. Up and down all year, this was one of the downs.

Bad beat
(19) LSU. Gave Bama as good a game as they've gotten all year.
(20) NC State. Hung with Clemson, had a real shot to pull it out.
(21) Stanford. PAC-12 is...who knows, man?
(22) Arizona. Let's be honest: they were only ranked to make this game look good on TV. USC has been better all year and still is.


Next week's interesting games
(13) Michigan State @ (11) Ohio State
(12) Oklahoma State @ (24) Iowa State
(2) Georgia @ (10) Auburn
(25) Iowa @ (6) Wisconsin
(1) Alabama @ (18) Mississippi State
(3) Notre Dame @ (7) Miami
(8) TCU @ (5) Oklahoma