The college football regular season is down to its final week. This season has easily produced some of the most amazing storylines in the history of the sport. With conference championships up next week, many tickets were punched, while others submitted themselves in the Heisman race. But folks, there is still so much more to be played for, so don’t blink an eye or this season is going to get out of control.
The Wild Midwest
Entering the final weekend of Big 12 play, the conference title was still up for grabs with both Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor all having a chance to take the title.
On Friday night, Baylor played host to rival TCU, needing a win in a complete downpour that halted both teams’ high-powered offenses and caused plenty of turnovers. Double overtime was needed as TCU prevailed 28-21 over Baylor, ending any chance of the Bears making it into this year’s College Football Playoff.
In the Bedlam rivalry between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the winner would not only be given the conference title, but a huge step closer to claiming a spot in the playoff.
The Sooners ran away in this one 58-23 literally as the Sooners rushed for over 300 yards and became the first team to clinch a playoff spot as the committee simply can not overlook the Big 12 champs.
Trojans Rise above
When rivals UCLA and USC squared over, more then just rivalry pride was on the line as the winner would get a chance to face Pac-12 North division champion Stanford in the conference title game.
The Trojans ended their three game losing streak to the Bruins winning 40-21. This puts USC where it had imagined it would be at the start off the season and the team overcame so many detours and obstacles that it really does deserve high praise.
Losing a head coach is never easy and they way the Trojans lost one is even harder to get back into the swing of things. But they remained set on their goal of a conference title and next Saturday they will have a chance to fight for one. As of Monday morning, interim head coach Clay Helton lost his interim status and will take over full responsibilities of the job for years to come.
Exit the Irish
In what was one of the best games of the year, Stanford took down No. 6 Notre Dame 38-36 in a matchup of teams on the outside looking in at a playoff spot.
Both offenses went back and forth all game with Stanford winning on a field goal as time expired.
For the Irish it’s a crushing loss and no doubt eliminates them from playoff contention, while the Cardinal is also most likely out of the playoff, unless teams in front of Stanford lose next weekend.
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