With Michigan (6) blowing their win in dramatic fashion to Michigan State (10) we have a new number 1 team according to the TUCFC power rating, Utah. Utah travels to USC (44) this weekend and so far being the number one rated TUCFC team has not done teams any favors, so could we see an upset?
But week 8 in the 2015 college football season is all about one game. At 7pm on Saturday, October 24th Western Kentucky (27) goes to Baton Rouge to take on LSU (4). The SEC has struggled this year out of conference so we have to hope for the best for Western. GO TOPS!!
Games to Watch This Week
Temple (6-0) at East Carolina (4-3)
So the AAC has 3 undefeated teams: Houston (24), Memphis (12), and Temple (20). Memphis this past weekend pounded Mississippi (14), so the AAC at this point has to be considered for putting a team in the playoff. Assuming one of them comes out undefeated and other teams all have multiple losses. At this point the AAC just needs these undefeated teams to keep winning. This will be a fun one to watch on a Thursday night.
Georgia Southern (5-1) at Appalachian State (5-1)
We have these two teams also on Thursday night fighting it out for the top on the Sun Belt conference. Appalachian State (23) has adjusted well to the FBS.
Western Kentucky (6-1) at LSU (6-0)
I don't know a lot about Western Kentucky football history. They have only played for the TUCFC once in 2007. Outside of that I don't know what their big football moments are, they have been more of a basketball power. But if they could pull off the upset in LSU on Saturday, well that would probably become their biggest moment.
TUCFC Power Rating
| Rank | Team | Record | WP | WDiffP | LP | LDiffP | Power |
| 1 | Utah | 6-0 | 159.344 | 261.150 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 420.494 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 7-0 | 121.969 | 265.725 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 387.694 |
| 3 | Iowa | 7-0 | 116.938 | 244.063 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 361.000 |
| 4 | Louisiana State | 6-0 | 134.000 | 218.513 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 352.513 |
| 5 | Alabama | 6-1 | 113.875 | 266.463 | 4.250 | 28.250 | 347.838 |
| 6 | Michigan | 5-2 | 106.000 | 250.200 | 2.500 | 11.000 | 342.700 |
| 7 | Florida | 6-1 | 111.469 | 229.038 | 1.000 | 7.000 | 332.506 |
| 8 | Baylor | 6-0 | 44.531 | 284.550 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 329.081 |
| 9 | Texas Christian | 7-0 | 83.344 | 242.250 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 325.594 |
| 10 | Michigan State | 7-0 | 128.000 | 194.825 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 322.825 |
Top KY Team
| 27 | Western Kentucky | 6-1 | 42.875 | 196.100 | 10.563 | 42.000 | 186.413 |
In 2002, Western did win the I-AA football championship. Here were their playoff victories:
ReplyDelete11/30/02: W. Kentucky 59, Murray St. 20
12/07/02: W. Kentucky 31, W. Illinois 28
12/14/02: W. Kentucky 31, Georgia Southern 28
12/20/02: W. Kentucky 34, McNeese St. 14
The wins over Western Illinois and Georgia Southern were both on the road, which is very hard to do in the I-AA playoffs.
I don't know how winning the I-AA playoffs would compare to beating LSU on the road.
The giant seasons for WKU football before 2002 were 1932, 1952, 1963, 1973 and 1975.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to post comments about each of those seasons, but, in case I die before I get to type those, I just want to say that I'm thrilled to learn that, per Wikipedia, the WKU-MTSU rivalry is known as "100 Miles of Hate."
ReplyDeleteI've been a Miami Dolphins fan since I was 5, and I didn't know until a few weeks ago of the nickname, "The Night Courage Wore Orange." And I went to WKU, covered WKU football and have attended WKU-MTSU football games in both Bowling Green and Murfreesboro, and I somehow missed the memo until tonight that this rivalry is known as "100 Miles of Hate."
ReplyDeleteIn 1932, the Tops went 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Now, by this point, UK and the other big schools that would end up being part of the SEC and ACC were already gone from the SIAA. Even still, it was Western’s first conference championship, and I imagine it was still pretty cool to say that your team had won the SIAA. Louisville and Miami (Florida) finished at the bottom of the league that year.
ReplyDeletePer a WKU press release: "The '52 Toppers finished that season 9-1, complete with both an Ohio Valley Conference championship and a victory in the school's first-ever postseason appearance - 34-19 over Arkansas State in the Refrigerator Bowl in Evansville."
ReplyDeleteDad used to talk about the Refrigerator Bowl like it really was almost the Rose Bowl. He really did.
ReplyDeleteAll-time Refrigerator Bowl results:
1948 – Evansville 13, Missouri Valley 7
1949 – Evansville 22, Hillsdale 7
1950 – Abilene Christian 13, Gustavus Adolphus 7
1951 – Arkansas State 46, Camp Breckinridge 12
1952 – WKU 34, Arkansas State 19
1953 – Sam Houston State 14, College of Idaho 12
1954 – Delaware 19, Kent State 7
1955 – Jacksonville State 12, Rhode Island 10
1956 – Sam Houston State 27, Middle Tennessee 13
More WKU: "So-called because Evansville businesses engaged in manufacturing refrigerators sponsored the game, this was the first bowl game played by WKU. The game was held at the Reitz High School stadium on December 8, 1952 against the Arkansas State Indians. It was originally announced that WKU would meet Southeast Missouri in the Refrigerator Bowl. Three other teams were invited to play the Hilltoppers. Peru Teachers College of Peru, NE turned down the invitation because they believed the Hilltoppers were too tough. East Texas State had a previous engagement against Tennessee Tech in the Tangerine Bowl that year. ASU accepted the challenge.
ReplyDeleteI will say this. Evansville's "Reitz Bowl" stadium is as good of a football stadium as I've ever seen. It's on a hill overlooking downtown and the Ohio River. You're sitting there watching a game with the whole city as a backdrop; you're watching barge traffic on the river; you're hearing trains connecting with one another right below the field, in Howell Park. For my money, the five great football fields in the whole world are Rhea Stadium in Russellville, Kentucky; Soldier Field in Chicago; Murray (Kentucky) Middle School (which used to be the high school); Heath in West Paducah, and Reitz Bowl. There used to be six, but the Orange Bowl in Miami is no more.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what was going on in this picture. Maybe they had the most-valuable player or someone run through a refrigerator door (that would be really excellent), or maybe that guy was just posing for program-cover art. In any event, this picture, which I had never seen before, ought to be on the city flag for Evansville. And, if I ever get to see a football player running through a refrigerator door in real life, I imagine it will mean that I've died and gone to heaven. Hear, hear to mansions of rest! And hooray for football!
ReplyDeleteThe quarterback of the 1952 Hilltoppers was No. 66 in your football-player-running-through-a-refrigerator-door Refrigerator Bowl programs, Henderson senior Jimmy Feix, and he's the most important individual in the history of WKU football. More on Coach Feix is to come.
ReplyDeleteFrom WKU: "The 1963 Hilltoppers have forever etched their names in the WKU record books, completing an undefeated season at 10-0-1, winning the 1963 Tangerine Bowl under head coach Nick Denes. Denes’ Hilltoppers stifled opponents’ offenses – especially the run game. WKU held the opposition to just 48 yards per game on the ground, the fifth-best mark in the nation in 1963, setting a WKU school record that still stands today."
ReplyDeleteWestern beat the Coast Guard, 27-0, in the Dec. 28, 1963, Tangerine Bowl, and thank you so much, YouTube user CGAAlumniAssociation, for posting this 25-minute video of the game!
ReplyDeleteThat's a silent movie, so I'm listening to this 1-minute video over and over again 25 times while I watch it.
ReplyDeleteI've really got to get one of these WKU helmets with the giant "W" on the front of the helmet. I'd forgotten all about those things.
ReplyDeleteThe Tops' defense really is great in this game.
ReplyDeleteEvery time the Coast Guard quarterback drops back to pass, there's two or three Hilltoppers bearing down on him by the time he gets set to throw.
ReplyDeleteHey, CGAAlumniAssociation was nice enough to even include the WKU marching-band performance at the end of its video! Thank you again, CGAAlumniAssociation! You just made me a bigger fan of the U.S. Coast Guard than ever before. Semper Paratus!
ReplyDelete