The college football season has really started off better than expected. Usually you have to wait to see the theatrics that took place this past week, unless you want to think back to University of Michigan’s defeat at the hands of Appalachian State in 2007.
With upsets like unranked University of Louisiana-Monroe’s shocking upset over then No. 8 Arkansas University and Oregon State University’s defeat of No. 13 University of Wisconsin, top teams were on edge. No. 2 University of Southern California really had a tough time with Syracuse, and Michigan received another scare when Air Force University came to town. It seems like regardless of what the game was last week, it was full of underdogs.
For this addition of the Hot Corner we will debate who we thought was the worst upset and what this means for the rest of the college football season.
Nick:
I think that the worst of these games has to be that of Wisconsin against Oregon State. With a really weak Big Ten this year and Wisconsin being led by Heisman hopeful Montee Ball, there is no reason to lose games like this. Wisconsin ran into a lot of trouble, literally, when they had no chance against Oregon State’s rushing defense.
The loss snapped Wisconsin’s 33-game-non-conference winning streak, which at the time had it second to LSU. Also Montee Ball had a 21 straight game touchdown streak, which was snapped because he was smothered all day by the Badger defense. I would have to say that this Wisconsin loss shows that regardless of your talent, teams are going to key in on your star players.
Sometimes you need to balance your game so that you do not rely on the ground or a passing game because college football has evolved. I do not think this is the last upset we will see this year, and hopefully this is a lesson to ranked teams.
Sam:
The only thing that these upsets mean is that too much stock is taken into the preseason rankings. The officials have no clue of what team is poised to have a breakout year or which team is poised to have a year best left forgotten, cirque de, Michigan losing to Appalachian State a few years back.
Not only are these polls completely erroneous, but it also dictates which team will likely be in the national championship race toward the end of the season. A team that is ranked 60 or 70 and goes undefeated will have a difficult time getting into the national
championship, especially if other teams ahead of them are undefeated as well.
Seeing Arkansas University fall to Louisiana Monroe has only made the polls even more laughable. Seeing this team fall from the graces of the No. 8 ranking has only made me more excited to see which teams fall and which teams will rise.
I loved seeing the 2007 season where every week an upset was brewing. No. 2 teams were falling every other week and there was major uncertainty as to who would play in the national championship game.
The Bowl Championship Series will only be around for another year or two. We need to see how bad the waters muddy toward the end of the season. I hope that there are more upsets across the board.
The college football season is the best sporting event in the fall. Unlike the NFL where upsets happen few and far between, the passion and excitement of college football permeates into every game, every week. Every week there is a chance for a remarkable upset. It happens every year and it will most certainly happen this year as well. Will we see another Boise State University or Texas Christian University make its way to the top? As long as I get to see some great football I will be happy but I sure hope that there will be some increased drama. Bring it on.