Afterbirth (Week 6)

You know... the stuff that just kind of falls out when the party's over.

The Calm After the Storm

Week 6 in college football was remarkably calm and predictable after the Top 25 massacre that happened last week. I was 10-0 on my Crystal Ball picks (*pats self on back*). Hey, when I suck, I'll admit it, so humor me on the rare occasions when I'm brilliant.

The only “upsets” were Pittsburgh’s Thursday night win at South Florida, and Hawaii’s overtime win at Fresno State. I suppose Vanderbilt’s win over Auburn could be considered an upset, but that was at least somewhat predictable (I predicted it!), and very enjoyable. You’ve heard of the Prevent Defense? Auburn is apparently running the Prevent Offense. LSU's close win over Auburn is suddenly looking a bit less impressive.

Speaking of the Tigers...

If you're a Gator fan, and I am, there is only one thought that will pervade every waking moment (and some of the sleeping ones) during the upcoming week:



Conference Cannibalism

The Big 12 is finding out what it's like to be in the SEC, where you eat your own on a weekly basis. It's so difficult to escape the SEC regular season schedule unbeaten. Then toss in the league championship game, and it's a recipe for a one or two loss season, even for the best of teams. Only in recent years have the alleged experts decided that a one or two loss SEC team is still better than most of the teams out there.

This week, Oklahoma and Texas meet in the Red River Shootout. Which means one of the nation's top five teams will lose. I would argue that Oklahoma and Missouri are the two best teams around. But, assuming both teams continue to win in the regular season, one of them will beat the other in the Big 12 championship game. The loser of that game won't play for the national championship, but they may be, arguably, better than at least one of the teams that does.