2024-25 NCAA Football (Week 12)

Games I saw (some of):

Utah 24-49 (17) Colorado

Thought Utah might put up a good fight after an embarrassing collapse to BYU the week before, but not so much. Colorado moved the ball well, played stout defense and just all round looked better than I thought they would. Utah is having a disappointing season, Colorado is getting hot at the right time (are they still in on the playoff?)

(22) Louisiana State 16-27 Florida

LSU has been weird all season and though Florida is not particularly strong this year, somehow I knew the Gators were gonna handle the Tigers and they did. LSU's QB is maddening: when he's not throwing the ball away for no reason, he's actually pretty good. As for Florida, they're just playing for the pride at this point. 

(7) Tennessee 17-31 (12) Georgia

I thought UGA would control this match and they did. UGA still has a superior defense and good skill talent, but they're not as cohesive as recent years (and their QB kinda stinks), but I still have them as a top 4 squad, I still think they can hang with just about anybody. Tennessee is nice and when their offense is rolling, they can really pile up points; that said, when they stall, they go all the way to zero (as Newton would say, "an object at rest"), so it was a matter of whether a tough home match against a conference for would get their juices flowing and, well, not enough. UT is still on the edge of my top 12, kinda just depends on how many SEC teams you wanna invite.

Top 25

Handled their business

(2) Ohio State, (3) Texas, (4) Penn State, (8) Notre Dame, (10) Alabama, (12) Georgia, (13) Boise State, (14) Southern Methodist, (15) Texas A&M, (17) Colorado, (20) Clemson, (21) South Carolina, (25) Tulane

Won but did not impress

(1) Oregon. Really had to scramble at Wisconsin, not inspiring, but a conference W on the road ain't bad, I guess. 

Bad beat

(7) Tennessee. If UT was really good, they would've handled UGA at home, but they didn't and....no one is shocked.

(23) Missouri. Getting stomped at Alabama is not normally nothing to be too embarrassed about, but the Tide is as gettable as they've been in a while and Missouri has spent time in the top 10, so I suppose the Tigers thought this was gonna go a different way but....I didn't. Did you?

Not so good

(6) Brigham Young. Woooooowwww! BYU losing at Kansas on some fluke plays in the 4th quarter (holy shit, I don't remember the last time I saw a quick kick! And it worked!) was the stunner of the week. All they had to do was keep skimming through their weak sauce schedule and they were in the playoff. But even a single lame L has probably knocked them out. Did not see that coming, thought this was an easy one for the Cougars.

(16) Kansas State. They got thoroughly handled at home by Arizona State....not good.

(18) Washington State. Couldn't pull out the shoot out at New Mexico State. Not necessarily a terrible loss but if the Cougars were truly top 20, they would've won this match.

(19) Louisville. Likewise, losing late a Stanford isn't the end of the world....for a non-ranked team. But if the Cards are worthy of top 20 consideration, then this is a game they should've won. 

(22) Louisiana State. Losing at Florida is just the next bend of this year's roller coaster.

Next week's intriguing matches

(5) Indiana @ (2) Ohio State (Hoosiers in the top 5? It's a new world....)

Kentucky @ (3) Texas (this should be a blow out, but UK does play their best against good teams, so if Texas is actually good, this could turn interesting; but if UT is overrated and isn't for real....then...this will be over by halftime....?)

(4) Penn State @ Minnesota (is it weird that I find this match compelling? The Nittany Lions should win with ease and yet I can't help thinking they won't)

(14) Brigham Young @ (21) Arizona State (BYU probably blew their season last week and really have nothing play for, Arizona State has been coming on lately and is playing their best ball right now; this might be nothing or it might be a for-real match)

(16) Colorado @ Kansas (can KU go back-to-back heartbreaking upsets? Can Colorado keep their last season march going? Again, this should be a walkover but somehow I feel like it's gonna be a good one)

(19) Army @ (6) Notre Dame (the Irish have been low key trucking people for two straight months, while Army has low key just been piling up W's; Notre Dame should roll the Cadets but they might not)

My top 12

1 Oregon

2 Ohio State

3 Texas

4 Notre Dame

5 Penn State

6 Indiana

7 Georgia

8 Alabama

9 Southern Methodist

10 Mississippi

11 Boise State

12 Miami

(Army, Colorado still lingering with Tennessee and Brigham Young not completely out)