Week 12: Big changes as both #1 AND #2 are DEFEATED

Baylor defeats the #1 team in the nation

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#1 Kansas State (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) loses to Baylor (5-5, 2-5 Big 12): 52-24 in WACO, Texas — “Collin Klein and Kansas State (No. 1 BCS, No. 2 AP) can still get to a BCS game. Getting to the BCS Championship Game is all but lost.” (AP)

Baylor came into this game un-ranked, with a losing record (4-5), the worst defense in the nation (120th) and having never beaten a #1 ranked team (0-11-1).

Kansas State entered the game ranked 1st in the BCS standings (10-0), with the 8th best scoring offense in the nation, the 9th best rushing defense and the #1 team in turnover margin.

Despite what the statistics told us to believe, Kansas State didn’t hold a lead over Baylor for a single minute of this game.  Baylor dominated from the very start.  They came up with 3 interceptions against a team that had just 3 interceptions in their first 10 games.  Their top rushing defense gave up 342 yards on the ground to the Bears (with 300 of those yards by Lache Seastrunk and Glasco Martin).  And Baylor’s last ranked defense (they were giving up 520 yards per game) somehow held Kansas State to just 362 total yards of offense.

But maybe there was more in the stats that we weren’t reading.  Baylor entered the game with the #2 total offense in the nation (averaging 564 yards per game) and fittingly gained 580 total yards against Kansas State.  They were ranked 7th in the nation in scoring (42.7 points per game) and scored 52 against the Wildcats. And after forcing zero turnovers in their first 3 Big 12 games this year, Baylor forced 6 turnovers in the last 3 Big 12 games–making their 3 turnovers against the Wildcats about right.

It’s Baylor’s biggest win in school history.  And it’s Kansas State’s biggest loss.  And more importantly, it was a win for Notre Dame, who moved up to 2nd and into control of their own destiny to play for the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

But the night wasn’t over…

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#13 Stanford (9-2, 7-1 Pac-12) beats #2 Oregon (10-7, 7-1 Pac-12): 17-14 in OT in EUGENE, Ore. — “Jordan Williamson hit a 37-yard field goal in overtime and Stanford (No. 13 BCS, No. 14 AP) upset Oregon (No. 2 BCS, No. 1 AP) 17-14, denying the Ducks a chance to clinch the Pac-12 North and derailing their straight shot at the BCS title game.” (AP)

At the same time Kansas State won, Stanford vs Oregon was heading into overtime.  Stanford scored with 1:35 to go in the 4th quarter to tie the game at 14-all.  The play was originally ruled incomplete on the field but was reviewed and determined to be a touchdown. Statistically these teams were almost identical, despite the fact that Stanford’s offense had the ball for about 15 minutes more than Oregon’s.

But what was stunning about this game was the lack of scoring by Oregon.  They were ranked 1st in the nation, averaging 54.8 points per game and had scored 76 touchdowns in just 10 games, but Stanford limited them to just 2 touchdowns this night.

The loss for Oregon kicks them out of their #2 spot in the BCS and just like that Notre Dame is the only undefeated team in BCS consideration (Ohio State is undefeated, but ineligible) and will take on the #1 spot when the new rankings are released.  Interestingly enough, there are actually 7 teams in the top 6 automatic-qualifying conferences that have 10-1 records now.  According to ESPN’s Brad Edwards, Alabama will get that #2 spot (and once again a chance for redemption after falling to Texas A&M in Week 11), but I’m sure the other 6 teams (Clemson, Florida State, Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Kansas State) are going to argue that they deserve consideration as well.

As for the SEC, 7 SEC teams played FCS schools on Saturday and as would be expected, beat them by a combined score of 273-59.