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

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jmik58's Blog

College Football Week Twelve Recap: Winners and Losers Stuck

Posted on November 19, 2012 at 03:59 PM.

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Welcome to the state of BCS.
Capital: Upset City.
Population: As many undefeated teams as you have.
Official Bird: Snail Kite.
Official Flower: Autumn Corcus
Motto: "Crushing dreams since '98"

The only way to solidify your BCS title hopes is to schedule a quality opponent late in the season, right? Oops! Goodbye Kansas State; fall back in line Oregon Ducks. Hey Irish, have fun with the "lowly" USC Trojans to lock-down your title game appearance next weekend.

And we all thought the SEC was a joke for scheduling FCS teams on Saturday. Here are five winners and losers from week twelve of the college football season.

FIVE TEAMS ON THE RISE

#13 Stanford (9-2)
Week 12: #2 Oregon, won 17-14

No Andrew Luck, no problem. Actually, Luck would have only made things worse for the Ducks. The Cardinal defense was incredible in holding the juggernaut Oregon offense to a pedestrian fourteen points.

#3 Notre Dame (11-0)
Week 12: Wake Forest, won 38-0

The Irish did exactly what they had to do. They took care of business and in a convincing way. As the last remaining undefeated BCS-eligible team, Notre Dame simply needs to win and they're in the title game.

Utah State (9-2)
Week 12: #20 Louisiana Tech, won 48-41

It doesn't look like we'll have the next Boise State anytime soon as the Bulldogs were downed by the Aggies in overtime. What is it with Aggies screwing up everyone's party lately? First it was Alabama and now Louisiana Tech.

#22 Rutgers (9-1)
Week 12: Cincinnati, won 10-3.

We can complain about the Big East having an automatic bid to a BCS game all we want but the reality is that we have to watch them play in the Orange Bowl regardless. Thankfully, Rutgers is doing their best to put a quality product on the field should they survive their season finale with an equally dangerous Louisville.

The SEC
Week 12: FCS Obliteration

Rumor has it that the SEC originally intended to finish their season with rivalry games, but when conference championships extended the season they were forced to push back those games leaving a void in "week twelve." The conference decided to fill said "void" with FCS teams instead of taking on a bye week. Whether true or not, much of our complaining was redirected at the horror of the top-two falling in Kansas State and Oregon. Well played SEC, well played.

FIVE TEAMS ON THE DECLINE

#1 Oregon (10-1)
Week 12: #13 Stanford, lost 17-14

It's not completely over for the Ducks, but they need a lot of help to get back into the title hunt in such a short amount of time. Don't expect the SEC to be in a giving mood.

#1 Kansas State (10-1)
Week 12: Baylor, lost 52-24.

Unlike Oregon, it is over for the Wildcats. This loss, while still a conference contest, reeks or non-quality. Kansas State needed that signature moment that every championship team has and they wilted under the early pressure like a deer in headlights.

West Virginia (5-5)
Week 12: #12 Oklahoma, lost 50-49

It's not Geno Smith's fault that the Mountaineers don't play defense. Once again we're reminded that exceptional talent on offense is never enough as West Virginia has been humbled in their transition to a big-boy BCS conference.

#20 Louisiana Tech (9-2)
Week 12: Utah State, lost 48-41

Colby Cameron had been phenomenal all year long. Until Saturday he hadn't thrown an interception in over four hundred pass attempts while the Bulldogs' only loss was a heart-breaker to top-ten Texas A&M earlier in the season. Obviously, all of those things changed as the Aggies from Utah State grabbed the Louisiana Tech party and moved it to Upset City.

Iowa (4-7)
Week 12: #21 Michigan, lost 42-17

Here is my plate of homerism crow for the year. With their loss to Michigan, the Hawkeyes are denied of a bowl game for the first time since the 2000 season. The departure of offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe and defensive coordinator Norm Parker hasn't gone well for Iowa and head coach Kirk Ferentz is on the hot seat once again. Realistically, however, the program won't do much better than above-average and fans of Iowa just need to sit tight and let the current valley run its course.

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

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