Rating the Hangovers

They say that November is the month where championships are won.  I disagree- I think November is the month where championships are lost.  Lots of BCS and conference championship implications in week 11.  Lots of dreams foiled here, and I'll be counting them all down right here.


7. South Carolina- Sure, they won (barely) over a Florida program that is akin to the kids throwing the party while their parents are out, and haven't realized how trashed their house has gotten.  The 5 point home win has to feel good... I guess.  But now that South Carolina has completed their SEC schedule 1/2 a game behind Georgia, they are left hoping that Georgia loses their SEC finale next weekend so that they can represent the SEC East in the championship game.  The final punchline?  Even if South Carolina gets back to the championship game, they really have no chance at all against LSU, especially without Garcia and Lattimore.

6. Stanford- Probable #1 draft pick Andrew Luck saw the Cardinal's long winning streak get doused by Oregon... again.  Stanford sat at #4 and was in line to get to the national championship in the event that Oklahoma State lost, but this loss all but eliminates them from that conversation.  As if getting booted from title contention wasn't enough, they lost to the Ducks, that same team that has owned them the last three games.

5. Texas A&M- Oh how they mighty have fallen.  The Aggies were my preseason sleeper pick to win the Big 12, and... well, I just flat out wrong.  A&M certainly has the talent, but they just don't execute OR hold leads.  After two early losses where they embarassingly releashed two gigantic leads to Oklahoma State and Arkansas.  Recently, Texas A&M lost in overtime to Missouri AND got blown out by the Sooners.  In this latest contest of whats-a-new-way-we-can-embarass-ourselves, A&M lost to overrated kansas state in four overtimes.  They certainly be blamed for a lot of shortcomings, but on some level you've got to feel bad for this team that just keeps finding ways to lose.

4. Texas-The longhorns scored five points.  That could be a punchline.

3. Penn State- Hell?  No, that's just been happy valley, pennsylvania the last few weeks.  State college has been absolutely put through the ringer through a combination of the firing of a legend, the scandal of a generation, and a media blitz that could rival an apocalypse.  After the dust settled and penn state actually needed to, you know, play a football game... things didn't go so hot.  PSU got behind early and made a valiant comeback... but it wasn't enough.  You just have to feel bad for the Nits, even if they were hugely overrated, you just kind of hoped they pull out a win after such a nightmare of a week.

2. Boise State- Raise your hand if you've heard this one before.  Kellen Moore and Boise State cruise through the first couple months of their season, only to lose in November to a conference rival on a missed field goal at the end of the game that keeps them out of fringe National title contention.  Wow, that was oddly specific wasn't it?  Yet it's now happened twice in a row.  Big picture, the Broncos week 11 home loss to TCU is just freakishly similar to last season's loss at Nevada.  Sure, there are some key differences like the kicker's pedigree, but the bottom line is we won't have to hear about how Boise State belongs in the national title game anymore... and frankly, I am really, REALLY happy about that.  Still, awful hangover for the boys in blue.

1. Cincinatti- It's true, I have Cincinatti here as the worst hangover despite the fact that they are actually in first place in the Big East.  I'm not saying grabbing your first loss at home on a blocked field goal as time expires is all rose petals or anything.  That's gotta leave you smarting a bit.  But the real pain comes here with the additional loss of senior bearcat quarterback Zach Collaros.  Backup quarterback Munchie Legaux seemed to share the raw running power that Collaros also had, but he's far from a polished signal caller when it comes to passing.  Questionable decision making and footwork may not be enough to will Cincinatti through their final three games, but the team won't have much of a choice- Collaros is out for the season with a broken ankle.  UC still holds a half game lead in the Big East, but a whopping five teams are within that very short striking distance.  I would not be surprised at all if a team that is not Cincinatti wins the Big East.