NCAA Football

What Happened Last Night: BCS Chaos As No. 1 Kansas State And No. 2 Oregon Lose

by Joe Levine | 10:29 am, November 18th, 2012

Did everyone have a good Saturday night? Did you catch Saturday Night Live? Jeremy Renner hosted. Yeah, I don’t really know who that is either, but alright.

Well, enough small talk, because there will be some major changes at the top of the BCS standings after this weekend as both no. 1 Kansas State and no. 2 Oregon both lost last night, while the rest of the top 10 (actually, the top 17) all won, and an unlikely new no. 1 team emerges…

K-State absolutely destroyed by unranked Baylor, 52-24

How does something like this happen? Baylor entered this game at under .500 at 4-5, including 2-5 in the Big 12, and completely dominated Kansas State, outgaining them 580 yards to 362, including 342 rushing yards, for the huge victory. Kansas State only had one more turnover than Baylor (3 to 2) and the time of possession was pretty much split 50-50, so it’s hard to say that Baylor outright dominated them, even though the score and total yardage for both teams says otherwise. Either way, shocking defeat for the Wildcats, who will undoubtedly slide down the BCS standings now.

Oregon upset by Stanford in OT in Pac-12 showdown

In another evenly matched game, with both teams gaining over 400 yards and scoring 14 points apiece in regulation, no. 13 Stanford upset no. 2 Oregon in overtime for a 17-14 victory. Oregon actually had an opportunity to strike first in the extra session, but kicker Alejandro Maldonado missed a 41-yard field goal before Stanford took over, setting the stage for Jordan Williamson’s 37-yard game-winner. Stanford actually scored the last ten points of the game; they tied the game at 14 with receiver Zach Ertz’s ten-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Kevin Hogan with just 1:35 left in the game to force overtime. The kickers decided it from there.

Meet your new no. 1 team in the country: Notre Dame

No. 3 Notre Dame throttled Wake Forest 38-0 to stay undefeated at 11-0. And since no. 1 and no. 2 both lost, that means the Fighting Irish are now the top team in the nation for the first time since 1988. Wow. This seems like as good an excuse as any to play this clip, even if it’s not entirely related.