Week 5 Postlude

It's getting a little clearer at the top of the rankings, as more teams have been pushed back into the pack. However, the conference races are still a long way from settled, as we have barely scratched the surface of those battles. So let's find out what we learned as the conference races began in earnest this weekend, and inter-conference play largely finished.

Miami over Oklahoma

These two teams played each other pretty even, but Oklahoma couldn't quite pull out the road win. It's hard to tell if that's something for Miami to get excited about, since Oklahoma hasn't really had a big win yet this year. But Miami did hold it together to get the win against, at the very least, a solid Sooner team, so I would say that Miami is definitely well ahead of where they were last year. As for Oklahoma, the only way they are getting to the BCS is by winning the Big XII. And they don't look like a team that is going to do that.

LSU over Georgia

LSU has continued its levitation act with its biggest win of the year so far. From what I saw, it was kind of a sloppy game, but it was an effective game and the Tigers got the victory. Georgia is obviously still a work in progress. LSU, however, is at least in the ranks of the pretty good. They'll have to be, because things get much tougher for them beginning now.

UTEP over Houston

Ladies and gentlemen, example #1 of why you do not complain about a non-BCS team potentially getting jobbed out of the national championship game after they get a couple of decent out-of-conference wins. In-conference teams know their foes much better than the OOC teams that probably signed them on for an easy win. The moral of the story is: Start complaining in November, when they have gotten through most of their conference slate undefeated. Until then, remember that October is the crow-eating month.

Anyway, Houston is another example of how you can kill a team with nice things to say about it. Particularly one that was suddenly thrust into the spotlight after some time in obscurity. Honestly, it's hard for kids to stay focused when all they hear about is how awesome they are. And it is even harder when there aren't people on the team who are used to hearing that sort of thing and recognize it as the heap of excrement that it is.

Penn State over Illinois

In the Iowa game, I thought Penn State looked like they might be vulnerable. However, I think it was more a case of the Hawkeyes being good and taking advantage of mistakes by a Penn State team that was getting frustrated and, late in the game, desperate. Illinois, I thought, might have taken Ohio State to the wire if they hadn't had a couple bad breaks and mistakes early in the game. As it turns out, they just aren't that good. Somehow I doubt that benching Juice Williams is going to fix things.

Michigan State over Michigan

Both teams nearly lived up to (or down to) my expectations of them in this game. But then a funny thing happened: Michigan State actually won after squandering a late lead, then nearly fumbling away their prime opportunity in overtime. It was a wild finish to a crazy game, and it was a lot of fun to watch. Unless you were rooting for one of the teams, in which case this game would have been excrutiating. It should also be noted that Michigan actually seems better off when Tate Forcier is forced to wing it; he seems to be much more at home improvising than he does when he is trying to run a base offense.

Wisconsin over Minnesota

A relatively minor game by most standards, but with this win, Wisconsin moves to 5-0 on the season, with a chance to take revenge on Ohio State for last year's heartbreaker in Madison, and take a big step in the Big Ten conference race.

USC over Cal

We all knew it was going to happen. Except maybe for Cal fans, who were probably hoping that this might be their year. However, they are now in the race to tie for second. And USC is, as usual, the team to beat in the Pac-10.

Boston College over Florida State

Virginia over North Carolina

This week's Examples #1 and #2 of why ACC games are so confounding. It seems like teams that are familiar with Florida State football are able to handle the Seminoles, while teams that don't play them routinely can't. And North Carolina seems to be on the verge, right up until they turn out not to be. All these teams are tough to figure. Except by Virginia and Boston College, who figured out their opponents very well, fine thank you.

Notre Dame over Washington

I am having a bear of a time figuring out this Notre Dame team. They don't seem to be great, but they do seem to be pretty good. They don't have a grueling schedule, but they do play good teams week-in and week-out. And they have won almost every game, but they always do it close (Nevada excepted). Jimmy Clausen has decidedly stepped up his game this year, and he looks much more confident and capable running the offense. If they make it to a BCS bowl, they will have earned it, even if a lot of people whine.

Auburn over Tennessee

I appreciate that Auburn has put together some offensive fireworks this entire year and they were playing against a very good defensive coordinator in Monte Kiffin, but a 4-point win over a team that had already lost two games... I will say that they seem to be better, but I want to see a little more before I start throwing around the superlatives and hyperbole.