A great time to take five
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It's midterm exam time in college football, and we know you all are aware of the power of teams such as Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Alabama, and Louisiana State.
But let's see how you do on five other topics regarding various Bowl Championship Series conferences.
1. Who has the best record in the SEC East?
a. Georgia; b. Florida; c. Vanderbilt
2. Who might wind up as the best team in the Big East?
a. Pittsburgh; b. UConn; c. Cincinnati; d. South Florida
3. Who is a dark horse team to win the ACC?
a. Florida State; b. Maryland; c. Georgia Tech; d. North Carolina
4. The best team in the Big Ten will be?
a. Penn State; b. Michigan State; c.
5. The leader of the Pac-10 is?
a. Southern California; b. Southern California; c. Southern California; d. Arizona; e. California
The answers:
1. Vanderbilt, c. Yes, that would be the lovable Vanderbilt Commodores, who are 5-0 after a surprising but not stunning 14-13 win over Auburn Saturday night.
Maybe it was stunning. After falling behind, 13-0, in the first quarter and looking like, well, Vanderbilt, coach Bobby Johnson's team not only got the lead, but it held Auburn off in the final seconds, coming up with its first win against a ranked team since 1956 and improving to 5-0 for the first time since 1943.
"People can think what they want to think," said Vanderbilt linebacker Chris Marve. "We just want to show the country we're a different Vanderbilt."
Indeed they are, with a ranking of No. 13 in the Associated Press poll.
2. Cincinnati, c. Yes, South Florida still looks like the class of a reduced Big East. But South Florida lost to Pittsburgh, which lost to Bowling Green, which lost to Eastern Michigan, which . . . anyway. Everyone has a flaw in the Big East, but Cincinnati has lost only once this season and that was to No. 1 Oklahoma in a wild 52-26 shootout. So why not the Bearcats.
3. Everyone, a, b, c, and d. Yes, they all seem to be dark horses this season in the ACC. But take Maryland, which stunned Clemson last week at Clemson, 20-17. So what do the Terps do? They drop a 31-0 decision to Virginia - which really would be a dark horse.
North Carolina, which rolled over UConn Saturday night, 38-12, had engineered a comeback win over Miami last weekend. But Saturday Florida State, not on anyone's ACC favorites list, came up with one of those wild victories over Miami (41-39) and is suddenly 4-1.
Then there is Georgia Tech, with first-year coach Paul Johnson, sitting at 4-1 in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. The Yellow Jackets knocked off Duke, which already has won three games this season, 27-0 Saturday.
4. Penn State, a. The Nittany Lions haven't dazzled anyone yet. Coach Joe Paterno's team is 6-0 and is the only unbeaten team besides Northwestern in the Big Ten, but we are not going to go that far out on a limb to pick a conference champion yet.
Penn State must play at Wisconsin, vs. Michigan, and at Ohio State in the next three weeks so we should know a lot more about the Nittany Lions by Halloween. Then again, maybe Northwestern could decide the conference title when it faces Ohio State in Evanston Nov. 8.
5. Arizona and California, d and e. The Wildcats and Bears are both 2-0 in the Pac 10 and each has a 4-1 record. Cal did lose to Maryland, which lost to Virginia, and Arizona did lose to New Mexico, which lost to Texas A&M, which lost to Arkansas State.
Chances are USC, which crushed Oregon Saturday, 44-10, will wind up as the Rose Bowl, or even BCS championship game team. But then again, the Trojans lost to Oregon State, which lost to Stanford.
Roarin' Tigers
Missouri hadn't beaten Nebraska in Lincoln since 1978, which is why the Tigers' 52-17 romp Saturday night had an exclamation mark next to it.
"That wasn't just about the 2008 football team," said Missouri coach Gary Pinkel. "It's about 30 years of fans from around the world and a lot of former Missouri players. It's pretty good to get a win at one of the toughest places to play in the country."
It was the most one-sided home loss in 53 years for the Huskers.
First-year Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, who was part of Les Miles's staff on last year's LSU national championship team, clearly was not happy with the results.
"I'm not used to losing," said Pelini. "I'm not used to getting beat soundly. It's my fault. I'm embarrassed. I apologized to the team. I apologize to the state of Nebraska. I apologize to everyone associated with Nebraska football."
Pelini said he would try to contact Pinkel to discuss Heisman Trophy front-runner Chase Daniel's comments about a Husker player spitting on the QB, and Nebraska players throwing footballs at the Tigers while they were warming up.
Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.
Correction: Because of a reporting error, the date of the last time Vanderbilt beat a nationally ranked opponent was incorrect in Monday's Sports section. Vanderbilt beat South Carolina on Sept. 4.
