But the big story for me was the drubbing of Northwestern by Michigan 38-0. I thought Northwestern would lose, but I thought it would be a close game. Now my interest in Michigan is really peaked. According to the TUCFC Power Rating they are the top team in the country, but this time of year it's tough because they've played 6 games and teams like Utah have played only 5, so that gives Michigan a boost over such teams. Still if they keep playing like this it could get very interesting, and of course this weekend, the game of the week, is Michigan hosting Michigan State (26). If Michigan pounds Michigan State watch them move into the top 5 AP.
The other big story of this week was Texas (73) beating Oklahoma (32) 24-17. Oklahoma seems to gag it up every year and this year they happened to do it against their biggest rival. I'm not sure anything can save Charlie Strong's job, but this certainly helped. Texas looked like the better team and this after looking so lost against Texas Christian.
My favorite win of the week had to be Western Kentucky (21) beating Middle Tennessee State (83) 58-23. Western was up 52-14 at the half. Middle Tennessee lost to Alabama (9) 37-10. This is a great win for Western.
Games to Watch This Week
UCLA (4-1) at Stanford (4-1)
This Thursday night game pits UCLA (28) at Stanford (25). It's unusual to get such a match up on a Thursday and should be a good game. Problem for people on the East Coast is that it starts at 10:30 PM ET.
Western Kentucky (5-1) at North Texas (0-5)
Another Thursday night game and this one has a good start time. So everyone in KY needs to tune in and root on the Toppers (21).
Penn State (5-1) at Ohio State (6-0)
The coach at Penn State (24) is one of the top ten paid coaches in the country if I remember correctly. He's definitely got Penn State winning and with Ohio State (6) struggling a bit lately it will be interesting to see how this one goes. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ohio State blow Penn State out, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see Ohio State finally fall. I like how I covered myself there.
Arizona State (4-2) at Utah (5-0)
Utah (4) gets another tough game this week at least on record. But Arizona State is ranked 44th by the TUCFC Power Rating so it's hard to get a feel for how good they are. They upset UCLA but were killed by USC (30). Utah will hope the bad Arizona State team shows up.
Florida (6-0) at LSU (5-0)
If Michigan weren't playing Michigan State, this would be the game of the week. Florida (2) has come back from dead to become a top contender once again and now they get to face one of the best players in the country at LSU (18). There is a reason this has a prime time start on Saturday.
Michigan State (6-0) at Michigan (5-1)
The game of the week easily, as Michigan (1) tries to continue their one loss run to the championship game similar to Ohio State last year. If they beat Michigan State (26) handily they will jump into the top five AP.
Alabama (5-1) at Texas A&M (5-0)
Funny how irrelevant this game seems, but a lot is on the line for these two teams. Another loss for Alabama (9) and they are done trying to get back to the championship game. A win for Texas A&M (8) and suddenly people will realize they are 6-0 with a win over Alabama.
Mississippi (5-1) at Memphis (5-0)
Remember when Ole Miss (7) beat Alabama and they were all the rage. Well this is a chance for Memphis (20) to become all the rage. Their coach is already being discussed as one of the hot prospects. A win in this game would assure he's leaving to a better job.
Iowa (6-0) at Northwestern (5-1)
Well it may be all over for Northwestern (17) but not for Iowa (11). At this point Iowa just needs to keep quietly winning games.
TUCFC Power Rating
Rank | Team | Record | WP | WDiffP | LP | LDiffP | Power |
1 | Michigan | 5-1 | 81.250 | 234.738 | 1.000 | 7.000 | 307.988 |
2 | Florida | 6-0 | 82.125 | 203.700 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 285.825 |
3 | Texas Christian | 6-0 | 67.594 | 205.050 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 272.644 |
4 | Utah | 5-0 | 87.313 | 182.875 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 270.188 |
5 | Baylor | 5-0 | 25.313 | 236.038 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 261.350 |
6 | Ohio State | 6-0 | 66.000 | 189.263 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 255.263 |
7 | Mississippi | 5-1 | 38.031 | 242.100 | 1.000 | 28.000 | 251.131 |
8 | Texas A&M | 5-0 | 61.625 | 162.613 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 224.238 |
9 | Alabama | 5-1 | 49.813 | 193.975 | 2.500 | 20.000 | 221.288 |
10 | Oklahoma State | 6-0 | 54.844 | 159.413 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 214.256 |
Top KY Team
21 | Western Kentucky | 5-1 | 33.625 | 163.875 | 4.000 | 21.750 | 171.750 |
Excellent about WKU being 21 in the TUCFC Power Rating! Go, Tops! And go, TCU!
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