Write On Sports LLC - "Interesting week for NCAA teams" by Tyler Clifton

Interesting week for NCAA teams

2007-09-16 21:36:59 | By: Tyler Clifton

It was quite a weekend for the SEC and Big 12 and a not-so-good week for the PAC 10.

SEC

Mississippi State held on for dear life with Auburn reaching its nine-yard line and gave the host Tigers their first conference opener loss since 1992 with its 19-14 win.

The Tigers lost their second straight at home (could've been three in as many weekends if not for Kansas State's meltdown in the season opener), and the win is a major confidence booster for the Bulldogs.

Alabama ran its two-minute offense to perfection and turned what looked to be a blowout victory into a nail-biting win against Arkansas. The Crimson Tide showed true grit and determination it didn't have in last year's encounter, and the Razorbacks came back to show how tough they're going to be in the SEC West.

Arkansas' opponent next week is Kentucky, a team on the rise after exposing Louisville's porous defense and beating the Cardinals.

Florida scored 59 points against Tennessee and showed the country who the national champion really is until someone takes the title away. The Volunteers have been subpar at best so far with losses to Cal and the Gators and an unimpressive win against Southern Mississippi on its resume.

It was the day for the other team in Tennessee, as Vanderbilt defeated Ole Miss in a game it sorely needed to make any hopes of a possible bowl game a reality.

Georgia joined Alabama in beating Western Carolina and got some of its pride back after losing to South Carolina a week ago. The Gamecocks took care of South Carolina State but are still not the team the ol' ball coach Steve Spurrier wants them to be.

LSU clobbered Middle Tennessee State just like it did Virginia Tech a week ago and will be a force to be reckoned with. A date with the people's championship between the Tigers and USC is on many people's minds, but let's see if LSU can escape the wrath of the SEC first.

The SEC went 8-4 with all four losses being conference matchups.

BIG 12

Nebraska didn't have enough to handle the No. 1 Trojans Saturday, and Troy posted the upset of the week against Oklahoma State, but the rest of the conference had a pretty good weekend even if some lucky bounces occurred.

One of them was in Orlando, where Texas recovered a late fumble that seemed destined to roll out of bounds and outlasted upset-minded Central Florida.

Oklahoma went without serious competition for the third straight week (like Miami had a chance) and joins Florida as two key reasons why USC and LSU aren't guaranteed to be in the final dance.

Texas A&M beat Louisiana-Monroe but doesn't have the passing game to survive in the Big 12. Texas Tech steamed Rice, and even though Baylor got a win against Texas State, it might as well have been Texas. Any win is a good one for the Bears.

Iowa State gets bragging rights for the seventh time in the last 10 years by beating Iowa behind five Bret Culbertson field goals. Missouri beat Western Michigan, while Kansas and Kansas State gave the Sunflower State a good weekend with wins against Toledo and Missouri State, respectively.

The conference went 9-3 for the week with its only other loss being Colorado after being shut out at home by Florida State until four minutes left in the game.

PAC 10

USC is the No. 1 team until someone proves otherwise, and there's no problem with that, especially after an impressive win at Nebraska.

California and Oregon got wins against Louisiana Tech and Fresno State, respectively, but the conference's other team in UCLA was soundly beaten by Utah, sending the PAC 10 back a step.

Oregon State did get a win against Idaho State, but Washington was unable to make a statement in its loss to Ohio State. The PAC 10 has some solid individual teams but is still lacking behind the rest when it comes to a whole.

Post a comment