JT Thomson
JT Thomson (aka CaneGrad05). Follow on Twitter
The Week That Was
Oh, you just had to go and give the SEC another chance, didn’t you Oregon and Kansas State? It just wasn’t enough to entertain the thought that the last football championship that would be decided mostly by computers and not on the field, would leave out the representative from the SEC. I suppose it’s possible that Georgia could lose to Georgia Tech, but beat Alabama, while Florida State beats Florida, allowing Oregon or Kansas State to find their way back in the mix. Well, of course, assuming that they don’t lose to Oregon State/UCLA or Texas respectively. But let’s face it. The SEC, left for dead a week ago, is now licking their chops at the thought of playing an SEC type matchup against Notre Dame. The only other game of any kind of importance saw UCLA defeat USC.
Best Week by a Conference: Easily the SEC. The three BCS teams at the top of the conference- Alabama, Georgia, and Florida- played three schools you did not know had football teams this weekend. Yet, those three schools just jumped into spots 2-4 of the BCS rankings, and are now primed to play for the national title with the right breaks. The conference was looking at no national title for the first time in 6 years, and are now the odds on favorite to win the whole damn thing again.
Worst Week by a Conference: Easily the Big 12 and the Pac12. How quickly things change from week to week in college football. Last week’s frontrunners became this week’s losers. But they’re not out of it yet…
Soapbox Moment of the Week: Officiating. Postseason bowl bans. First, let’s just admit that the NCAA is in over its head when it comes to policing college football. College football is much too big for the NCAA. But while acknowledging that, there still has to be a better way to punish the school and the people responsible as opposed to the players of later teams. Luckily, it’s not all that complicated, and is actually already used by the NCAA, just not appropriately enough. The NCAA needs to do a better job of punishing coaches and coaching staffs when it comes to violations. If a coach commits a violation serious enough to warrant what eventually is a postseason bowl ban, than that coach should be done coaching at the collegiate level. The head coach should be responsible for his assistants, and should be suspended just the same as players who commit violations, with the severity ranging from a game to a season or worse, which follows the coach no matter what school they are coaching at. Finally, punish the school with scholarship reductions. At least this punishes the school without punishing individual players that were not affiliated with the wrongdoing.
Week 12 Games To Watch
1. Georgia Tech @ Georgia- Saturday 12pm on ESPN: A game that seemed of little importance a week ago has now taken center stage in the noon time slot, as the ACC Coastal Division Champions* take on the SEC East Division Champions. More importantly, Georgia must take care of business in this game as a showdown for the national title game takes place next week against Alabama. A contrast of styles, the last thing you want to do before playing Alabama is get beat up by a cut blocking Georgia Tech team. Unfortunately, that’s what Georgia drew this week, but you’d have to expect a Bulldog team playing better and better will be ready to go for this one.
2. Michigan @ Ohio State- Saturday 12pm on ABC: Hard to believe that a top 25 Michigan team playing on the road against an undefeated Ohio State team garners such little interest nationally, but that’s what happens when you are on a postseason bowl ban. Seeing what has happened around college football, Ohio State must be kicking themselves having an undefeated team with nowhere to go, but with Michigan on the schedule, there’s always something to play for in this one. For their part, Michigan should be given credit for the job they have done this year, having suffered two early losses to what could be the two best teams in the country.
3. Oregon @ Oregon State- Saturday 3pm on PAC12: Will there be a letdown by the Ducks this weekend? Surprisingly, the Ducks can win this game, but no longer control their own destiny of winning their own division, despite being ranked 5th in the latest BCS poll. Should Stanford beat UCLA on Saturday, Oregon sits at home next weekend while rooting against the three SEC schools in front of it. With a USC win over ND, and a Florida State win over Florida, the Ducks could find themselves #2 once again without even having to play in the Pac12 championship. Meanwhile, not enough love has been given to Oregon State this year. Only two losses this year by a combined 7 points. A win this weekend would be enough to cement Coach Riley as coach of the year.
4. Florida @ Florida State- Saturday 330pm on ABC: Should you want to play the “what if” game, these two teams should be your primary choices. Florida, thought to be a popular candidate to struggle in a loaded SEC East with a young quarterback, turned the ball over an obscene amount of times against Georgia. Otherwise, they could be the undisputed, undefeated #1 team in the country coming into this game. Florida State, despite a softer than Charmin schedule with the perfect setup for an undefeated run, managed to mail in a second half against an NC State team that looked completely disinterested in winning the game, only to do so thanks to the Seminoles second half. Otherwise, they could be the undisputed, undefeated #1 team in the country coming into this game. Still, both teams had wildly successful seasons, ignoring the result of this game.
5. Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma – Saturday 330pm on ESPN: A tale of two schools with rather identical records- one undoubtedly elated with how 2012 came to be, and the other completely disappointed. Oklahoma had visions of national title contention, but after an early season loss to what turned out to be a pretty good Kansas State team, a midseason loss to Notre Dame ended any chance of national title glory. Still, when you look back at this season, how this talented Sooner team lost two games at home, to anyone, will be surprising. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State had to replace a lot of talent, but the Cowboys have played very, very well this year with only two close losses in conference play to Top 15 teams. Giving a third home loss to Oklahoma would be the icing on the cake.
6. Auburn @ Alabama- Saturday 330pm on CBS: The Iron Bowl. The one day a year my family wishes ill-will upon one another. When describing the importance of this game to outsiders, I always return to one story. In 5th grade, my soccer team was playing in the state championship tournament, which just happened to coincide with Alabama-Auburn weekend. How that managed to happen, I’ll never know, but I digress. So during the game, my team is playing, and parents from both teams lined up and down the field like any other sporting event. But rather than screaming words of encouragement to their children, the parents were screaming out the play by play of the Auburn-Alabama football game, courtesy of sideline radios and televisions. There is no World Series champion in Alabama. The NBA is a sport that Charles Barkley and Latrell Sprewell used to play in. The NFL is something they do in Georgia. Alabama-Auburn is something that is done 365 days a year. Auburn can win their entire season if they beat Alabama on Saturday, despite having not a single victory over any other BCS school. And any Alabama fan will tell you, Nick Saban may have two national titles, but he also is only 3-2 against Auburn. You don’t survive in Alabama by being .500 against Auburn.
7. Stanford @ UCLA- Saturday 630pm on FOX: Stanford pulls off the upset last weekend, and now must face a UCLA team that has bounced back from a pair of suspect losses and coming off its own huge win against USC. UCLA locked up the division title last week, so they are playing in the championship game no matter what happens in this one. Should they lose, they’ll go on the road to Stanford next weekend for a rematch. Should they win, they go to Oregon (so long as the Ducks win) for the championship game. Regardless, this has been a very successful season for the Bruins, so you have to question just how motivated they will be in this one. Stanford still has at-large BCS aspirations, but know they control their own destiny. Should be fun to watch.
8. South Carolina @ Clemson- Saturday 7pm on ESPN: A very, very underrated rivalry in the eyes of the nation, these two do not like each other. This year, the product on the field should align with the hatred between the schools, as both teams are very, very good. The Tigers have a lot at stake here, which you have to figure with a win, could find themselves in the BCS discussion. If their only loss is a road loss to a Florida State team that is in the BCS, they could very well make do. Meanwhile, South Carolina fell victim to the SEC scheduling dogfight, and yet, could be the only team that beats the national champion should Georgia win the whole damn thing. Go figure. In a day filled with bitter rivalries, this is a nice nightcap.
9. Notre Dame @ Southern Cal- Saturday 8pm on ABC: At the beginning of the season, had I told you this game featured one national title contending undefeated team facing one last challenge before the postseason against a 7-4 program with a big name but underwhelming season, you’d have guessed the game but got the teams reversed. But, that’s what we’re faced with as Notre Dame has just one final road test before finding itself in the championship game. Southern Cal is coming off yet another disappointing loss, this time to cross-town rivals UCLA, and you have to wonder if the Trojans have just given up internally after looking so disinterested a week ago. With starting QB Matt Barkley out for this one, I don’t see how the Trojans can compete with the Irish, but after the last two weeks, pencil the #1 team in for a win at your own peril.
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