I genuinely thought this was going to be a normal week compared to some of the upcoming weeks of top 25 teams battling out. Only one single ranked vs ranked matchup, and everything else that was ranked was going against unranked teams. It didn’t feel like today was going to feature great games, or even upsets.
Oh How Was I Wrong
College Football is a game full of chaos, uncertainty, and most of all: The Upset. Each week is a brand new week for teams. A team can go from beating one of the top-ranked teams and possibly making their way to a bye week and the 1st seed in the 12-team college football playoffs. The next, losing to an unranked Vanderbilt. It almost feels like we’ve been transported back to 2007, with the amount of upsets we had in one, single week. Along with more realignment news, this legendary week of college football can simply be explained with one word: Upset.
First, A Little Appetizer: Former #25 UNLV falls to Syracuse In Vegas.
Starting things on Friday Night, the Syracuse Orange heads into Vegas and is able to get an overtime win against former #25 UNLV Rebels. The castoff from Ohio known as Kyle McCord was able to go for 40/63 passing, 355 yards, and only three touchdown passes for one interception. One more rushing touchdown in overtime allowed the Orange to seal the win against another ranked team this year. But this would only be the appetizer, as the chaos and insanity will transfer over to Saturday.
#1 Alabama Falls To Unranked Vanderbilt In The Most Stunning Upset Of The Week!
It’s one thing to go from Nick Saban to another head coach, and it’s seen as a downgrade. Even if this head coach were to be in the national championship last year with the Washington Huskies(more on them later). But Kalen DeBoer may have proven that statement big time. At first, a possible game-of-the-year win against former #2 Georgia should mean that the dynasty would continue, even under new ownership. They were even ranked #1 in last week’s poll, so you would think that everything would be alright coming in against an unranked, 2-2 Vanderbilt away. Especially if Saben once said the only place in the SEC that isn’t hard to play in was Vandy, right?
Absolutely Not
In possibly the new game of the year candidate, the Commodores were able to pull off one of the program’s biggest wins in a long time, a 40-35 win against the Crimson Tide. At first, taking a 23-14 lead by halftime, one would think that Alabama would start the half hot again, and come out with a blowout in the final quarter. But, Diego Pavia put an end to such speculation. With this win, it’s the first-ever win for the Commodores against a #1 ranked team at home, as well as ending a streak of most losses against a top five team, sixty being the school’s record. But with this win, it’s enough to knock out Alabama from one to seven, with Texas reclaiming the spot during a bye week(Thank goodness they didn’t play during this week). It was also enough for the fans of Vandy to take down the goalpost and send off to Cumberland River, much reminiscent of Tennessee’s win against Alabama in 2022 when they did the same thing. Speaking of Tennessee…
Former #4 Vols fall to the Razorbacks in Razorback Stadium, Another Top 5 Upset!
Up until the 4th quarter, the Vols took complete control of the game, almost having a 78.5% chance of winning in the last quarter. But apparently, it still wasn’t enough to pull away a victory, as they would collapse in the finale, losing 19-14. A last-second rushing touchdown by QB Malaci Singleton was just enough to end a dramatic victory against the Vols. Once again, fans stormed the field but didn’t tear down the goalposts this time (Since, you know, the Vols didn’t win). With this loss, they fall a rank under Alabama, now ranked 8th, but it seems that they still manage to be in the top 10, unlike this other team.
Missouri Falls Out the Top 10 In A Blowout Against Former #25 Texas A&M!
The other 25th-ranked team this week, due to there being a tie in last week’s AP Poll, had seen more success than the Rebels. This time, the Aggies were able to absolutely blowout the Tigers, 41-10, in the most lopsided match this week, not even giving them a chance. They also blew them straight to #21, while they get to be #15 in the new polls this week. But for some reason, they lead the SEC due to having more conference wins than Texas, only by one however since Texas did not play this week. But at the very least, the Tigers didn’t lose a championship rematch, did they?
Revenge Achieved! The Washington Huskies Upset former #10 Michigan in a rematch of last year’s championship game!
The Washington Huskies were finally able to avenge their loss in the national championship last year, getting an impressive win against the Wolverines, 27-17. Will Rogers did just enough to achieve a victory against them, along with another storming the field by the fans. With this upset, Michigan falls right down to #24th, only edging out newly 25th-ranked SMU. But still, at the absolute very least, they’re ranked within the polls, unlike this team who ended up getting knocked out entirely in the top 25.
The Golden Gophers Knock Out the Ranking Out of USC, Ends Up With a 24-17 Victory.
Just like Tennessee, USC had mostly dominated the game until the last quarter, once having a 91.7% chance to win. But, Minnesota managed to finally force one more punt, ending with a Max Brosmer rushing touchdown to seal off the win. Unfortunately for USC, they took the biggest hit out of any of the ranked teams, going from former #11 to no longer in the top 25. And with newly ranked #4 Penn State coming into California, it may stay that way for the long run.
Other Major Storylines:
#8 Miami Avoids Major Upset Against Cal, Possible Frauds of the Top 10?
#22 Louisville Falls To SMU, Knocking Them Off The Rankings and Putting SMU at #25
Three Teams Are Now ranked 18th in the polls, being Oklahoma, Indiana, and Kansas State, Texas Reclaims the #1 Spot, with Ohio State and Oregon Right Behind
UL Monroe Achieves a Major Upset Against JMU in the Top Unranked Upset Of The Week
Boise State Remains the Last Group of 5 Team Ranked Because of Another Ashton Jenaty Masterclass Game, Aims to be the Next G5 Heisman Winner Since Roger Staubach
The Pac-12 Gains Gonzaga From the West Coast Conference For Basketball, and the Mountain West obtains UTEP From C-USA, Also in Talks To Obtain Hawaii Full Time
