2024-25 NCAA Football (Week 13)

Games I watched (some of):

(9) Mississippi 17-24 Florida

Ole Miss just kept shooting themselves in the foot (whiffing on 4th down, missed FG, late interceptions to finish the game) and Florida played with maximum intensity (just being the spoiler was all this season had left to offer). Mississippi was fool's gold all along, the QB and the coach both kinda overrated, the defense was so-so at best, the Rebels just didn't play like a top 10 team all season long, even when their offense was going full throttle. And the Gators are mediocre but they play hard and the unexpected W's are sometimes the most fun.

(4) Penn State 26-25 Minnesota

(16) Colorado 21-37 Kansas

Kentucky 14-31 (3) Texas

Went back and forth between these games. Minnesota just kept adding points but somehow the game never felt out of reach for Penn State, so even though this was the nailbiter of the three, it never really felt like Penn State was going to lose. I could've called this a "Won but did not impress" game, but actually I was sorta impressed with how cool and collected the Nittany Lions stayed throughout. The Gophers kept back-assing their way onto the scoreboard but the Lions just rolled with it. 

Colorado just couldn't get stops on Kansas, so they never could cut into the lead or dig their way back into this game; I thought their offense might come alive but it couldn't keep pace. This was the one I watched the most of the three because I expected the most fireworks but KU kept the game out of reach, good W. 

UK-UT was not what I expected: somehow the Longhorns were firmly in control throughout and yet the Wildcats kept this from being a runaway and yet there was never a moment when Kentucky looked capable of winning and yet Texas kinda had to scramble to put this one away. I thought Kentucky would keep them close til halftime then Texas would run away with it in the 2nd half; more like, UT built a nice but not overwhelming cushion, then sat on the cushion for as long as they could, then got a late TD to put it away. I dunno, weird game. (Meanwhile Clemson was pummeling the Citadel, so didn't peak at that one too much)

Top 25

Handled their business

(2) Ohio State, (3) Texas, (4) Penn State, (6) Notre Dame, (8) Miami, (10) Georgia, (11) Tennessee, (13) Southern Methodist, (17) Clemson, (18) South Carolina, (21) Arizona State, (22) Iowa State, (23) Missouri, (24) UNLV, (25) Illinois

Won but did not impress

(12) Boise State. I didn't see any of this game but when a playoff-bound Boise State squad goes on the road in conference, I expect a more decisive victory than a 4th quarter scramble at (2-9) Wyoming. Sometimes I forgive road games in conference, sometimes I expect more. (I dunno, I'm just like that, man)

Bad beat

(5) Indiana. What do you know? Indiana get decisively smoked at Ohio State. Undefeated no longer, but I'd say they're still in line for a playoff spot. 

(19) Army. Also, undefeated no longer after also getting smoked at the home of their very first quality opponent of the season. 

Not so good

(7) Alabama. Never in the game at Oklahoma, best the Sooners have played all year, Bama picked a bad time to flounder. A 3rd L surely drops them out of the playoff (I mean....right? Surely....).

(9) Mississippi. Ole Miss has some nice W's this season but their 3 L's are all pretty sorry. I dropped them from playoff contention a while ago but I'd say they are finished now.

(14) Brigham Young. Back to back disappointing Ls and that's all she wrote for the Cougars.

(15) Texas A&M. Like Ole Miss, they have some nice W's and some sorry L's. 

(16) Colorado. They stormed back into our hearts and then lost in Kansas. So much for Colorado. 

Next week's intriguing matches

Memphis @ (18) Tulane (yup, its Memphis-Tulane time again: that point of the season when these two teams you've paid no attention to all year long get together and we all see--hey, they're both actually pretty good!)

Michigan @ (2) Ohio State (I mean, no one is expecting a Wolverine victory but we're still gonna watch, right?)

(7) Tennessee @ Vanderbilt (the Vols have had their ups and downs this year but they're still probably in line for the playoff....can better-than-expected Vandy ruin their season? (maniacal laugh) I got my popcorn ready!)

(16) South Carolina @ (12) Clemson (can Clemson get back into the playoff with a W over South Carolina? I think maybe they can. How about vice versa?)

(8) Miami @ Syracuse (hey, man, 'Cuse has actually been pretty good this year and Miami has been their usual overrated selves, this games might be better than you think)

My Top 12

1 Oregon

2 Ohio State

3 Texas

4 Notre Dame

5 Penn State

6 Georgia

7 Tennessee

8 SMU

9 Miami

10 Boise State

11 Indiana

12 Clemson