Last week demonstrated perfectly why no one is ever safe in college football. With four top 10 teams suffering a loss, the top 25 poll saw every team but one shift. The one stationary team was, of course, No. 1 overall and National Championship favorite Ohio State who shutout a struggling Wisconsin side. The question this season may come down to who has what it takes to take down the Buckeyes?
We will start with the neighboring state of Indiana as the Hoosiers secured their seventh win of the season against Michigan State last week. Indiana moved into the No. 2 spot after No. 2 Miami fell to Louisville. Indiana is set to take on UCLA at home and keep their undefeated streak alive. Indiana has shown their strength this season as they look to close out their schedule against the weaker half of the Big Ten. With a perfect season within reach, Indiana will most likely find themselves paired up against Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game for what could be a highly anticipated matchup.
Speaking of teams moving up with perfect records, newly ranked No. 3 Texas A&M will find themselves in their toughest matchup of the season as they travel to Tiger Stadium in Louisiana to take on the Tigers of LSU. Texas A&M also secured their seventh straight victory of the season, improving to a perfect 7-0, after defeating Arkansas on the road last week. That game will not compare to the much-awaited visit to one of the loudest stadiums in college football. Although LSU fans suffered a cruel defeat on the road against No. 17 Vanderbilt last week, the Tigers are sure to bring the energy back home as they host the No. 3 team in the country looking for an upset.
With upsets in mind, nothing beats Miami dropping their first game of the season against unranked Louisville. Miami quarterback and former Georgia Bulldog, Carson Beck, struggled to find the endzone as he was picked off by the Louisville defense four times in last Friday’s matchup. No. 9 Miami hopes to get back to their winning ways against a 3-4 Stanford side who will look to win their second straight game for the first time this season.
Ole Miss saw their first loss of the season after falling short to No. 9 Georgia on the road. The Rebels will stay on the road as they play No. 13 Oklahoma. Both sides are 6-1 on the season and searching for another SEC win to boost their resume. Oklahoma is coming off an easy victory after taking down South Carolina on the road. Both sides have shown excellence this season, but new losses have shown points of struggle which could take them out of the SEC championship game. A win for either side would prove otherwise.
Of course, this is not the only ranked SEC matchup of the week as we always have a handful due to the competitiveness of the conference. Two more ranked SEC opponents will take the field this weekend as No. 15 Missouri will travel to No. 10 Vanderbilt in an offensive heavy matchup. With both teams sitting at 6-1, they look to set themselves apart from others and claim another SEC win. Both sides are coming off wins after both had fallen to Alabama previously this season. With a few weeks still left in the schedule, both sides will look to get another ranked win under their belt.
Lastly, it cannot be a week of college football without a good rivalry as we travel to Michigan where No. 25 Michigan will take on Michigan State in the Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. The trophy was first introduced in 1953 when Michigan State joined the Big Ten. The winner of the game gets possession of the trophy until it is played again the following year. Although Michigan State is riding a four-game losing streak, rivalries seem to pull out some shockers and upsets as teams have a lot more to play for.
After last week’s chaos and rankings shuffled around, we are shown yet again the beauty of sports. Unpredictability adds to the excitement as the weeks tick down to the post season. Every team looks to improve their record and prove why they are the best. As the weeks continue though, the margin for error increases. Every game becomes increasingly more important as one wrong move could end the postseason before it even starts.