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No, the Hypnotoad did not cause TCU to leapfrog all of the other unbeaten teams in this week’s college football rankings.
At least, not yet!
With a solid 45-23 win at Ohio State on Saturday, the 12-0 Michigan Wolverines kept doing what they have done to every other opponent in 2022. Michigan ran the ball with authority, passed when needed to wide-open targets, and their stellar defense clamped down on yet another opponent coming down the stretch.
It was the first win by Michigan on Ohio State’s home field since the year 2000. Many of the players on the field on Saturday had not been born at that time!
Sporting the nation’s third best scoring defense (allowing just 12.7 points/game) coming into this showdown, the Michigan defense may have cost Ohio State quarterback C. J. Stroud his chance to win the Heisman Trophy in December. The 11-1 Buckeyes’ quarterback tossed two interceptions to go along with his two touchdowns in the Big Ten East battle.
Michigan’s surprising 21-point fourth quarter scoring outburst served to silence the Ohio State home crowd. With this win, Michigan will play in the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday against the West Division survivor, Purdue (8-4).
After Iowa (now 7-5) lost at home on Friday to a rejuvenated Nebraska (4-8), the door was opened for the Boilermakers to grab the West title on Saturday. Purdue scored 27 points after halftime to take a 30-16 win at intrastate rival Indiana (now 4-8).
Purdue’s starting quarterback, Aiden O’Connell, posted a note via Twitter that his oldest brother had passed away two days before the team’s final regular season game with Indiana on Saturday. Though O’Connell will be grieving with family this week, the team expects that the sixth-year senior will be back in time to play against Michigan for the Big Ten title this Saturday in Indianapolis.
In Athens, Georgia, the 12-0 Bulldogs trailed rival Georgia Tech (5-7) by seven points in the first quarter on Saturday. Georgia eventually grabbed a 10-7 lead at the half. The Dawgs exploded for 27 second half points to win the game 37-14 to complete a perfect regular season.
Georgia will now face SEC West champion LSU (now 9-3) in the SEC title game this Saturday (3PM on CBS).
LSU laid the biggest egg of the weekend by losing by a 38-23 count to 5-7 Texas A&M.
Coming into the game with two losses, LSU needed to drub the Aggies and then upset unbeaten Georgia this week to have any chance of making the four-team College Football Playoffs. The Aggies (a disappointing 5-7 this season) dominated the game and deserved the win. LSU is still playing for the SEC Championship this week against Georgia, but the Tigers’ magical ride won’t end in a national championship after this loss to Texas A&M.
In Fort Worth, Texas, the 12-0 TCU Horned Frogs didn’t require last-minute inspiration from the team’s animated reptilian good luck charm, the Hypnotoad, in their season finale against Iowa State.
The Horned Frogs jumped to a 24-point first quarter lead and destroyed the Cyclones (now 4-8) by a whopping 62-14 final score. Senior leader Max Duggan completed 17 of 24 passes for three touchdowns as he leap-frogged (sorry) his way into Heisman consideration with another excellent performance.
Don’t forget about TCU’s 220-pound running back Kendre Miller. The junior from Mount Enterprise in northeast Texas scored two more touchdowns in this game. Miller has 16 rushing touchdowns in 2022 and averages more than 100 yards per game rushing for TCU.
TCU will try to lock-up its spot in the four-team playoffs with a win against Kansas State (9-3) Saturday at 11AM on ABC. Even a small loss by the Frogs in this game will likely give the East Coast biased BCS voters a chance to award this slot to 11-1 Ohio State (and their sprawling TV audience). Regardless of Ohio State’s “reputation”, TCU deserves a spot in football’s final four on the basis of beating several ranked Big 12 teams during the regular season.
Ohio State couldn’t win the Eastern Division of its conference and isn’t even playing in the league’s championship game. Yes, the same comment can be applied to your season, Alabama!
Out west, the 11-1 USC Trojans took a ten point first quarter lead and never looked back to down Notre Dame (now 8-4) 38-27 Saturday night. USC’s chance to advance to the College Football Playoffs is in their own control. With a win this Friday night (7PM on Fox), the Trojans could avenge their only loss this season and move into the Final Four with a win over the 9-3 Utah Utes in the Pac-12 Championship game.
The Tulane Green Wave (10-2) will host the American Athletic Conference championship game on Saturday against 9-3 UCF. If you’re thinking, “Didn’t UCF just beat Tulane in New Orleans a few weeks ago”, you would be correct! However, UCF dropped a game at home to Navy and handed the home field advantage right back to the Green Wave. Tulane has not appeared in a major bowl game since the 1939 Sugar Bowl. One source is now reporting that Tulane could be invited to play in the Cotton Bowl game in Dallas with a victory over UCF this Saturday (3PM – ABC).
Let’s Geaux Greenies!
Below is the latest SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 rankings for the week ending Saturday, November 26, 2022:
