Welcome to this week's edition of BCS Top 10 series trivia.
For the first time ever, the Kansas State Wildcats are the top ranked team in the country and congrats to them. This week, they will go to Floyd Casey Stadium to defend their #1 ranking against the Baylor Bears. Kansas State leads the series 7-2, but the Bears are 2-2 against the Wildcats since 2006. Kansas State is 3-2 in Waco, losing the last two times they went there. They first met in 1969 and Kansas State won 45-15. The highest scoring game in the series was in 2010, a 47-42 Baylor victory. There are no shutouts in the series.
The #2 Oregon Ducks will host the #13 Stanford Cardinal in Eugene. Stanford leads the series 44-30-1, but Oregon is 10-2 against the Cardinal since 1998. Oregon is 16-17 against Stanford at home and is 6-1 there since 1998. They first met in 1900, when Stanford blanked the Ducks 34-0. The highest scoring game in the series was in 2009, when Stanford won 51-42. The last time Oregon shut out Stanford was 35-0 in 2003. The last time Stanford shut out Oregon was 17-0 in 1974. Their only tie was 7-7 in 1936.
The #3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish will host the Wake Forest Deacon Demons. This will be their second ever meeting. The Irish won their first meeting last season 24-17.
The #4 Alabama Crimson Tide have a cream puff game against the Western Carolina Catamounts. This will be their third ever meeting. Bama won the other two: 52-6 on 2007 and 52-0 in 2004.
After shutting out Auburn for the first time since 1976, the #5 Georgia Bulldogs have a cream puff game against the Georgia Southern Eagles. Hey, they could have played a meaningful opponent this week such as, uh, Alabama, who is not on this year's schedule. Georgia leads the series 4-0 and beat the Eagles in their last meeting in 2008, 45-21. They first met in 1992, a 34-7 Georgia win. The highest scoring game in the series was in 2004, when the Bulldogs took it 48-28. At least there are no shutouts in the series.
Another cream puff opponent? The #6 Florida Gators will host the Jacksonville State University Gamecocks for the first time ever. This would be a much closer matchup if it were a battle of the bands, since JSU has an outstanding band. However, the Gamecocks knocked off an SEC opponent before. They beat Ole Miss in 2004, so are they a cream puff opponent? We'll find out Saturday.
Et tu, LSU? Uh, no. At least their opponent is in the SEC. The #7 LSU Tigers will host the Ole Miss Rebels in Death Valley. LSU leads the series 57-39-4 and is 9-3 against the Rebels since 2000. LSU also leads the series at home 37-23-1 and LSU is also 6-4 against the Rebels in Baton Rouge since 1993. They even met in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day in 1960, when the Rebels blanked the Tigers 21-0. They first met in 1894, when Ole Miss won 26-6. The highest scoring game in the series was in 2010, when LSU won 43-36. The last time Ole Miss shut out LSU was 32-0 in 1992. The last time LSU shut out Ole Miss was 14-0 in 1985. Their last tie was 27-27 in 1981.
After knocking off Alabama from the #1 spot, the #8 Texas A&M Aggies will also have a cream puff game against the Sam Houston State Bearkats (yes, the spelling is correct). This is their second meeting since 1941. Texas A&M owns the series 10-0 and nailed the Bearkats 59-6 in their last meeting in 1997. The Aggies are 9-0 at home against Sam Houston State, allowing a grand total 26 points in the overall series. They first met in 1919, when the Aggies nailed Sam Houston State 77-0. This, along with another 77-0 win in 1925, is the highest scoring game in the series. Texas A&M shut out the Bearkats seven times, the last time, a 54-0 win in 1941.
Wofford? Really? Wofford this late in the season? That's five out of six SEC late season cream puff games. Oh well. Rounding out the streak of SEC teams in the BCS Top 10, the #9 South Carolina Gamecocks will host the Wofford Terriers. South Carolina dominates the series 18-4 and won the last 15 games against the Terriers since 1918. At least Wofford won some games in the series. The Gamecocks are undefeated at home against the Terriers, going 16-0. They first met in 1896, when Wofford won with a baseball score 6-4. The highest scoring game in the series was in 2001, when South Carolina won 38-14. The last time South Carolina shut out Wofford was 26-0 in 1957. The last time Wofford shut out South Carolina was 20-0 in 1917, which was also their last victory over the Gamecocks.
Finally, a meaningful opponent! The #10 Florida State Seminoles will invade Byrd Stadium to take on the Maryland Terrapins. Florida State owns the series 20-2 and has won the last five games against the Terrapins. Did I say meaningful? The Seminoles are 8-2 in College Park and are 2-2 in their last four meetings there. They first met in 1966, a 45-21 Seminole victory. The highest scoring game in the series was in 1992, when Florida State won 69-21. There are no shutouts in the series.
Because of all the cream puff games this week, here's a more interesting one from the AP Top 10. The AP #6 Ohio State Buckeyes go to former Drum Corps International Finals home, Camp Randall Stadium, to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. Ohio State leads the series 54-18-5 and is 4-1 against the Badgers since 2007. The Buckeyes also lead the series in Madison 25-11-2, but the series is tied 2-2 there since 2002. They first met in 1913, when the Badgers blanked the Buckeyes 12-0. The highest scoring game in the series was in 1941, when Ohio State won 46-34. The last time Wisconsin shut out Ohio State was 6-0 in 1982. The last time Ohio State shut out Wisconsin was 21-0 in 1980. Their last tie was 14-14 in 1993.
Okay, this entry was fun to write, but remember, the cream puff comments were said in jest. As they say, one team may outclass another on paper, but that's why they play the game. Good luck to all the teams this week and may the teams I called cream puffs prove me wrong and play like champions.
Here are some historical scores for Top 25 games this week, November 14:
1931 Ohio State 6 - Wisconsin 0
1931 LSU 26 - Ole Miss 3
1964 Michigan 34 - Iowa 20
1970 Michigan 55 - Iowa 0
1981 Stanford 42 - Oregon 3
2009 Clemson 43 - North Carolina State 23
2009 Oklahoma State 24 - Texas Tech 17
No comments:
Post a Comment