NCAA Top 25 - Week 12

Upset of the Week:  There were no catastrophic upsets, but there were enough to make this title a battle.  Some of the upsets were actually close games, like Ole Miss' defeat of LSU and Northwestern's shocker over Wisconsin.  That was Northwestern's second victory over a ranked Big Ten team in three weeks, as they previously beat Iowa.  Texas Tech blew away Oklahoma, which surprised me, but perhaps the biggest shocker was in my home state, as struggling Syracuse found life under QB (and former basketball standout) Greg Paulus and pounded Rutgers 31-13.

You know, I can't remember the last time we had this many unbeaten teams going into Thanksgiving.  We have six of them, and only two are playing each other before postseason (Alabama and Florida).  Could we have SIX unbeaten teams going into the bowls?  Maybe.

This week's rankings [Last week's position]
1.  Alabama Crimson Tide (11-0) [1]
2.  Texas Longhorns (11-0) [2]
3.  Florida Gators (11-0) [3]
4.  Boise State Broncos (11-0) [4]
5.  TCU Horned Frogs (11-0) [5]
6.  Cincinnati Bearcats (10-0) [6]
7.  Pittsburgh Panthers (9-1) [7]
8.  Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-1) [8]
9.  Oregon Ducks (9-2) [10]
10. Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) [9]
11. Iowa Hawkeyes (10-2) [11]
12. Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2) [13]
13. Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-2) [12]
14. BYU Cougars (9-2) [14]
15. Central Michigan Chippewas (9-2) [15]
16. Utah Utes (9-2) [16]
17. Houston Cougars (9-2) [20]
18. Virginia Tech Hokies (8-3) [21]
19. Clemson Tigers (8-3) [22]
20. Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-3) [NP]
21. Temple Owls (9-2) [23]
22. Ole Miss Rebels (8-3) [24]
23. LSU Tigers (8-3) [17]
24. Wisconsin Badgers (8-3) [19]
25. USC Trojans (7-3) [25]

On the Edge:
+1 Oregon State Beavers (8-3)
+2 Navy Midshipmen (8-3)
+3 Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-4)
+4 Arkansas Razorbacks (7-4)
+5 West Virginia Mountaineers (7-3)
+6 North Carolina Tar Heels (8-3)

Dropped:  Stanford Cardinal [#18]

Title races:  This past weekend sealed many of them, including:
ACC Atlantic:  Clemson will face Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game next week
Big XII North was won by Nebraska, so they face Texas in the Championship Game
MAC West:  Won by Central Michigan
Mountain West was won by unbeaten TCU
Sun Belt title is in the hands of Troy

There are a few still up for grabs:
MAC East:  The winner of the Ohio/Temple battle will face Central Michigan in the Championship Game
Conference USA East:  The division will be won by the winner of the Southern Miss - East Carolina battle
Conference USA West:  If Houston wins, they capture the title.  If Houston loses and SMU wins, it belongs to the Mustangs
Big East:  This one will be decided by the winner of Pittsburgh v Cincinnati
Pac-10:  Thanks to Cal, Oregon captures the title with a win.  However, their opponent, Oregon State, can capture the title if they upset the Ducks
WAC:  This title goes to the winner of the game between Nevada and Boise State