Who says there weren't any good matchups yesterday?

Yesterday I made a couple bold statements. One, I said there weren't many good matchups, and I apparently was wrong. I guess I figured that most of the Top 10 teams who lost or nearly lost yesterday were going to play like Top 10 teams. That was wrong.

Iowa lost, Oregon lost, USC only put up 14 points on Arizona State, Alabama squeaked by LSU, and Cincinnati and Boise State also had scares.

Let's start with Iowa's loss to Northwestern. The Hawkeyes were undefeated entering this game, but they'd looked shaky almost every week. They've played from behind for miraculous wins in several games this season. Someone was going to sneak up on them, and it happened to be, of all teams, Northwestern. Northwestern had a good run there in the mid 1990s. Since then they've been dreadful. And they're still dreadful, and Iowa made them look good. So that got rid of one of our undefeated teams.

Cincinnati remains one of the 6 remaining undefeated teams, but they had to put up 47 points to beat UConn, 47-45. A coach has to be concerned when UConn can put 45 points on your defense.

But what I'd really like to talk to you about is the Oregon Ducks. Now, I would like you all to quickly scroll down to the previous post, where I said Stanford would beat the Ducks. Give me a mental pat on the back, because I was right.

The Ducks found themselves in a classic situation -- you get a big win over USC, then you figure you're great and don't have to worry about a little team like Stanford. You are wrong. Stanford put up 51 points on the Ducks, a week after the Ducks put up nearly 50 points on USC. I don't understand how you score 42 points and fail to win a game. But I am pleased that the result is silent Oregon fans.

Finally, Alabama snuck past LSU. I don't know why, but I kind of like Alabama. Even though he's sort of slimy I think their coach, Nick Saban, is pretty cute, and I really like a team that has a tradition of wearing funny houndstooth fedoras into the stadium because Bear Bryant liked to wear them too. Like, seriously? I would love to be part of a school that in addition to wearing a bright yellow Superfan shirts, students were also expected to don men's hats for each game. That would be awesome.

Case in point:


I mean, I probably wouldn't pair my hat with knee-high boots, a skirt and a shoulderless top (who knew they made shoulderless tops? What purpose does the missing shoulder part serve?) but you catch my drift. Having a hat like that to wear to football games would be fantastic.

Anyway, Bama's win over LSU puts them in the SEC championship with Florida. It's probably our country's best chance of seeing Tim Tebow cry this year. So I'm officially rooting for the Crimson Tide.

One last thought: last night Clemson pulled out a win against Florida State. It was a good win, but it's not like Florida State was ranked #1 or the win means Clemson will play in the National Championship or something...which is why I don't understand why the student section stormed the field after the game.

Are you celebrating the fact that your team is now bowl-eligible? Because half the teams in the country are going to be bowl-eligible. I'm so confused.