The Sports Informant

Brigham Young University lost tonight (Oct. 16) to TCU in college football. It was another example of an unbeaten team going down this season. Apparently no one can finish a season undefeated anymore.

Remember the days when the only controversy was picking two teams out of the top three or four in the nation who went undefeated all year long? That is no more.

I wrote a few weeks ago about how the University of Southern California’s loss to Oregon State was good for the game of college football because it created an open-door to the BCS title. That door is now a revolving one.

Apparently no one wants the top spot. Those who could have had it fell flat on their faces, and those in line after then ran away screaming. Last week alone saw undefeated LSU drop all the way out of the top 10 after a loss to Florida. Before Florida could pull of the impressive win, though, it lost its undefeated status two weeks prior to Mississippi. Oklahoma inherited the No. 1 spot and then lost to Texas, who then leapfrogged all the way from the No. 5 to the top spot.

It all gets confusing, trust me. I soak all of this in like it’s nutrients my body needs to survive and I’m befuddled.

After the dust settled after two weeks of carnage, what was left? Three undefeated teams at the top of the list: Texas at No. 1, Alabama at No. 2 and Penn State at No. 3. The beauty of it all? They won’t be there either after this weekend. Texas will probably lose to Missouri (who was No. 3 before a letdown to Oklahoma State last weekend) on Saturday, while giant-killer Alabama won’t know what to do as the favorite and will get beat by Mississippi and Penn State will fall to a sneakily good Michigan team. Even if Penn State survives, they have to travel to Ohio State the following weekend.

So odds are, just weeks after I wrote it’s good for football that USC isn’t No. 1 anymore, they’ll probably be No. 1 again. After rightfully losing their place in the pecking order, the Trojans need to merely beat out their very weak Pac-10 competition the rest of the way and watch the teams above them (USC is No. 4 currently) drop like flies. They’ll cruise into the top spot, where they’ll stay until the BCS title game. Go figure.

Regardless, it’s been another fun season. We are witnessing parity I’ve never experienced in my near 30 years on the planet. Dynasties still exist, as USC, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Florida continue to vie for titles each year, but any given Saturday any one of them could go down. That unpredictable nature makes the game more exciting than it’s been in a long time.