Some thoughts on week 12

Week 12 last year saw #2 Oklahoma State lose in double overtime at Iowa State, knocking them out of the national title game. This year it saw the top 2 teams lose, probably knocking both of them out of the title race. It was also a week in which the biggest winners, the SEC, essentially had a week off. Some thoughts on this and more.

• Stanford's defensive front 7 were immense. They slowed down Oregon's offence by containing their running game. This is the same thing that defeated Oregon when they met the SEC over the last couple of years. Auburn and LSU's defensive lines slowed them down. This is a tactic that's clearly effective against Oregon if you are capable of doing it. Few teams are but Stanford were this week.
• Have they found a new Andrew Luck in Kevin Hogan?
• Oregon had a clear run to the national title game, but could now miss out on both the Pac-12 championship game and any BCS bowl.
• Huge win for Baylor. We knew they had a good offence but this was still a massive shock.
• One possibility as a result of this - Florida could be a couple of results from playing for the national title.
• The rankings are now a bit of a mess. Who is the best 1-loss team? The voters say Alabama, the computers say Florida, there's a strong case for Oregon, and where are Florida State in all this? A win for them against Florida and in the ACC championship game and they have a strong case too.
• At the minute it looks like it will be Notre Dame vs the SEC Champion. But if Notre Dame loses, we'll have an almighty row over who should be in. And I'm not sure a 4 team play-off would solve things given the log-jam in the rankings behind Notre Dame at the moment. More teams in the play-off would be needed.
• Where would Ohio State be in all this if they were eligible?
• What's happened to USC and Matt Barkley this year? Towards the end of last season they looked very impressive. The end of the post season ban should have helped with recruiting but they seem to have gone backwards this year. It will be interesting to see where Barkley ends up in the NFL draft as he'd have likely been a first round pick had he gone early.
• Hopefully the SEC enjoyed their week off.
• More realignment. Stop it please, unless its for genuine sporting reasons and not just for money.