NCAA College Football Scores, week 13

NCAA College Football Scores, week 13

Big shockers - #4 Baylor and #5 Oregon lost. They didn't just lose; they were slaughtered.

* Baylor lost 49-17 to a powerful Oklahoma State team.

* Oregon's defeat was even more humiliating, and its consequences farther-reaching. They lost 42-16 to Arizona, which came into the game with a 3-4 conference record. Oregon's previous loss had stripped them of any reasonable shot at the national championship game, and this loss also knocked them out of the Rose Bowl, which will feature either Stanford or Arizona State as the Pac-12 representative.

Farther down the list:

#12 Texas A&M was shut down by #22 LSU 34-10. Louisiana State's D was impressively intimidating. Johnny Football was almost totally ineffective. He was 16 for 41 with two picks.

#14 UCLA dropped a squeaker to #17 Arizona State. Arizona State has now clinched a spot in the Pac 12 title game against Stanford.

The minor-conference teams, Northern Illinois and Fresno State, won and remained undefeated. One of them may get an automatic BCS bid by (1) finishing 16th or better and (2) ranking above the winner of the AAC, presumably UCF. But only one of the two can get in that way, even if they both meet the criteria. If both of those teams are undefeated when the final smoke clears, the non-automatic one may or may not get an at-large bid.

Speaking of UCF, they would also get a BCS Bowl bid if they run the table, because the American Athletic Conference gets an automatic bid. (It's their legacy from the former Big East, although God only knows how the Big East ever got an autobid in the first place.)

With Baylor and Oregon out of the picture, Ohio State is the undisputed #1 lurker. If either 'Bama or FSU falls, Ohio State would end up playing for the national championship if they can keep winning. FSU seems to have a fairly easy path ahead, but Alabama will have to win two very difficult games, first against Auburn, which will rise to #4 next week, and if they win that one, they'll probably have to face the new #4 in Missouri, in the SEC title game. (That final game might also be against South Carolina if Missouri loses next week to A&M, which is definitely possible.) By the way, Auburn could still end up in the national championship game, but it would require them to beat Alabama, then cross their fingers and hope for a loss from Ohio State or FSU. All that is easier said than done, of course, but it does remain a possible dream for Auburn fans.

By the way, Florida State put 80 on the board against hapless Idaho Saturday - and they turned it over twice, so their tally might have been close to 100 with some luck. The Idaho punter was kinda busy - he got 8 chances for 389 yards! One odd thing about that 80-14 game: the losing team had far more time of possession.