College Football Week Ten Recap: Winners and Losers - jmik58's Blog

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College Football Week Ten Recap: Winners and Losers Stuck

Posted on November 5, 2012 at 01:35 PM.

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Those at the top remain at the top -- at least for one more week.

Schedule strengths will shift as teams build their resume's and thus the BCS standings shuffle around the top unbeaten squads. And now the waiting game begins.

Only two teams are allowed to battle it out for the national championship but the top five aren't cooperating. Something has to give and someone has to lose -- at least the BCS hopes so. Now that we're in the home stretch, winning and losing is much more than simply earning the victory -- style points are a must. Here are five winners and losers from week ten of the college football season.

FIVE TEAMS ON THE RISE

#1 Alabama (8-0)
Week 10: #5 LSU, won 21-17

Every team that wins a championship has one of these games. A lucky break or a last minute drama-filled moment to come from behind. This could be the signature moment for the Crimson Tide who likely won't face a more formidable opponent until the BCS title game.

#2 Kansas State (9-0)
Week 10: #24 Oklahoma State, won 44-30

Concussion problems could be disastrous for the Wildcats if Collin Klein has lingering effects of his third-quarter injury. As much as Klein means to this team, however, you don't get to this point without having a solid all-around squad. The 'Cats have a good defense and a potent running attack that can survive these final few weeks when upsets are bound to happen in the Big-12.

#4 Oregon (9-0)
Week 10: #17 USC, won 62-51

There are a few ways to look at this win for the Ducks. It's unlikely that a team as good as Alabama, Notre Dame, or Kansas State would give up this many points to Oregon. Also, it's scary to see any national title contender give up fifty points or more at any point in the season. The name of the game is "win", however, and Oregon did it against a tough -- and ranked -- USC squad.

#3 Notre Dame (9-0)
Week 10: Pittsburgh, won 29-26.

The Irish aren't winning the style side of things, but the other three unbeaten squads vying for a BCS title appearance didn't stand out much more this week either. Throw in the fact that America (and the BCS) would love to see Notre Dame play for the championship, and it may be a matter of "as long as you win, we don't care how" for Notre Dame.

#10 Louisville (9-0)
Week 10: Temple, won 45-17

Mark your calendars for Thursday, November 29th when the likely-unbeaten Cardinals will travel to Rutgers for a top-25 showdown for the Big East crown. I'm assuming, of course, that the status quo will remain. If it does, however, that also means a major upset is brewing in the Big East with a Thursday matchup on the horizon. Until then, Louisville is the best BCS side-show in college football this year.

FIVE TEAMS ON THE DECLINE

#5 LSU (7-2)
Week 10: #1 Alabama, lost 21-17

The Tigers had it and then lost it. A win meant everything in their title hopes and path to redemption. In the grand scheme of things the rest of this season is now meaningless for LSU.

#15 Mississippi State (7-2)
Week 10: #13 Texas A&M, lost 38-13.

We all saw this one coming from a mile away. Not the manner in which the Aggles took down the Bulldogs, but the fast start thanks to a weak schedule finally exposed the 'Dogs as they continue their fall out of relevancy. The top ten is riddled with SEC teams, but it's likely that Mississippi State has been riding their coattails to this point.

#19 Boise State (7-2)
Week 10: San Diego State, lost 21-19

Maybe the Broncos should have stayed in the WAC. The Aztecs took down Boise State on the Smurf Turf to push the one-time BCS busters into mediocrity for the rest of the season. Like a good fling we had in high school, Boise State was fun while she lasted.

Michigan State (5-5)
Week 10: #20 Nebraska, lost 28-24

This wasn't the way things were supposed to go in Lansing. Not after taking down Boise State to start the year. We all know now that neither team was all the hype made them out to be when the year started. The Big Ten can be summed up as a disappointment this year with the only relevant teams being deemed irrelevant by sanctions and postseason bans. The others -- well five-and-five pretty well sums it up.

#21 West Virginia (5-3)
Week 10: TCU, lost 39-38

From national title contender to a team without a ranking -- week eleven will be a lonely and humbling one for the Mountaineers. Teams like Notre Dame can't lose if they try, yet an explosive offense and one of the nation's best players in Geno Smith can't do it all as West Virginia keeps finding ways to lose.

Sound Off: Who are your winners and losers from week ten of the college football season?

Justin Mikels is a staff writer for Operation Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @long_snapper

Comments

# 1 SkillzKillz719 @ Nov 6

Personally, I would say Oregon State played the most important game of the year and responded to their upset at Washington.

The Boise State upset was surprising to say the least... San Deigo State lost Katz for the year with an ankle so I assumed that it would have been a win for Boise State.

Michigan State has been a constant disappointment this whole year (I'm looking at you Iowa game) and only further proved that making a line for their games are tough. You just don't know what you are going to get.

If college football was a stock market though, I would (as much as it pains me to say) buy Notre Dame and sell Kansas State. K-State is for real, but I feel like they are bound to lose a game. They aren't taking anyone by surprise, and some one is due to shut down their offense. Arthur Brown and their defense is solid. On the other side, everyone is throwing Notre Dame away like they are done. This was their final wake up call and I think they respond.

Once again personally, I can't wait for the Oregon State-Stanford game this weekend. Everything I'm hearing from practice at OSU is great. (insert troll comment on how nobody cares about Oregon State) I think outside perception is that their is a QB controversy, but I would say that we have two guys (Vaz and Mannion) that can both get the job done. We didn't just bench Mannion after his first pick in the Washington game. He had the entire game, minus the final drive, to avenge himself. And Vaz has done a great job so far.
I'm going to look up highlights of the Washington-Stanford game to see how to shut down that Stanford offense. I watched that entire game from start to finish and the Washington defense absolutely stifled the Cardinal.

I would like to say things like this to all your week-reviews, but I always find myself getting lazy about it. I don't know why. It's sure better than a term paper!

# 2 Eski33 @ Nov 7

What sucks is Michigan State lost four Big Ten games by a combined total deficit of 11 points. The defense is awesome. The offense is in transition and the reason they are no longer in contention.

As a huge ND fan, yeah they got lucky against Pitt. Amazing how people forget that just a week earlier they dominated a team that was supposed to shatter NDs unbeaten season.

Add to winners Indiana. A sub-500 team that, with a win over Wisconsin, can make the Big Ten championship game. Now that would just add insult to injury for the conference. In defense of Indiana, they are hella fun to watch. Up tempo like Oregon. They could be a factor in two years.