Week 12 College Football Awards November 23, 2015

With undefeated Oklahoma State dropping the game at home to Baylor, the Big XII outlook is officially in chaos.  Photo by Tom Pennington of Getty Images.

(Note:  All rankings are current CFP [week 12] unless otherwise noted.)

COACHES

Wish I were him: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State

Glad I’m not him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State

Lucky guy: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State

Poor guy:  Bret Bielema, Arkansas

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Willie Taggart, South Florida

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati

Desperately seeking … anything:  Les Miles, LSU

TEAMS

Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Alabama (defeated Charleston Southern 56-6)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Florida (defeated Florida Atlantic 20-14, OT)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kansas (lost to West Virginia 49-0)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Florida Atlantic (lost to No. 8 Florida 20-14, OT)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  South Florida (defeated Cincinnati 65-27)

Dang, they’re good: Oregon

Dang, they’re bad:  Fresno State

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Houston

Did the season start? Utah

Can the season end?  LSU

Can the season never end?  Oklahoma

GAMES

Play this again:  Michigan State 17, Ohio State 14

Play this again, too:  Mississippi State 51, Arkansas 50

Never play this again: USF 65, Cincinnati 27

What? UCLA 17, No. 13 Utah 9

Huh?  UConn 20, No. 19 Houston 17

Double-Huh?  No. 22 Ole Miss 38, No. 15 LSU 17

Are you kidding me?  The Citadel 23, South Carolina 22

Oh – my – God:  No. 9 Michigan State 17, No. 3 Ohio State 14

Told you so:  Georgia 23, Georgia Southern 17

NEXT WEEK

Ticket to die for: Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State

Also: Ohio State @ Michigan

Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Georgia Southern @ Georgia

Best non-Power Five matchup: Navy @ Houston (Friday, Nov. 27)

Upset alert: Notre Dame @ Stanford

Must win: Baylor @ TCU (Friday, Nov. 27)

Offensive explosion: Washington State @ Washington (Friday, Nov. 27)

Defensive struggle: Missouri @ Arkansas (Friday, Nov. 27)

Great game no one is talking about: Marshall @ Western Kentucky (Friday, Nov. 27)

Intriguing coaching matchup: David Shaw of Stanford vs. Brian Kelly of Notre Dame

Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 1 Clemson @ South Carolina

Why are they playing? SMU @ Memphis

Plenty of good seats remaining: Louisiana Monroe @ Hawaii

They shoot horses, don’t they?  Charlotte @ Rice

Week 12 Random Thoughts:

No, this was not quite the “Night of the Living Upsets,” not like last week. But as predicted earlier, more separation has taken place. In addition to all the upsets listed above (some consequential in the context of the CFP, others not so much), Baylor arose from the wreckage of last week to upset undefeated Oklahoma State (more on that later). Also, currently-unranked UCLA did defeat No. 13 Utah as well. To be sure, UCLA is far more formidable than the vast majority of unranked teams. Hence, it will be a tough game between the Bruins and crosstown rival USC this next weekend.

Notre Dame had a very close call against Boston College in Fenway Park. The Irish did triumph in the end, 19-16, but with such a low-scoring, close game, how well might they fare at Stanford? The Cardinal is far more formidable than the Eagles, and the Fighting Irish must venture all the way out to the west coast to play them. Hence, the matchup is ripe for an upset.

Way did you have to win, Baylor? After coughing it up to Oklahoma the other week, that already muddled the playoff outlook for the Big XII Conference. Only with Oklahoma State remaining undefeated and the Sooners coming on very strongly as of late, could clarity for the conference’s playoff hopes remain intact. All that ended with Baylor returning to form to upset the heretofore undefeated Cowboys, who, for the record, did NOT play like a playoff team against the visiting Bears.

So, will next week’s game between Baylor and TCU (fresh off two consecutive losses) still be consequential? It certainly could: the Horned Frogs will be playing to salvage something of their season, while the Bears will be playing to maintain as a high a ranking as possible, which itself ought to be well within the top ten after upsetting Oklahoma State last night.

Meanwhile, the latest installment of the Bedlam Series should still be memorable. The Sooners will be gunning for a Top Four CFP berth, and the Cowboys will be looking to play spoiler and to salvage their season in so doing.

As an aside, Art Briles might have become college football’s new Mark Richt. His team seems like a contender every year, but they always trip up somewhere, unexpectedly, derailing their championship hopes in the process.