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Week 11 is in the books after some tight games, a few routs, and a bit of controversy.
The controversy belonged to Michigan which found head coach Jim Harbuagh suspended for the second time this season. The year began with him banished by the school for 3 games to try to ward off worse penalties from the NCAA amidst its investigation of improper recruiting tactics during the Covid 'dead period'. The newest suspension, to be served over the final 3 games, was handed down by the B1G after the conference delivered its own findings that Michigan's attempts at stealing future opponents' signs went beyond the pale.
Nonetheless, Michigan went about its business and took a 24-15 win at Penn State to narrow the conference race down to the Wolverines and Ohio State.
Meanwhile, Alabama spanked Kentucky 49-21 in Lexington to claim the western half of the SEC, and Georgia clinched the eastern half when Missouri crushed Tennessee 36-7 in Columbia. Georgia then went out at night and thrashed Ole Miss 52-17, as if to deliver the message that the Bulldogs were not only poised to go for back-to-back SEC titles, but were also prepared to take on all comers who dared stand in their way of a three-peat of the national championship.
Ohio State also won in a rout, taking down Michigan State without a fight, 38-3, while Florida State subdued rival Miami 27-20 in Tallahassee in a game that was much closer than most expected.
Washington was on the ropes against Utah and trailed 28-24 in a first-half track meet, but shut down the Utes in a defensive second half for a 35-28 win.
The five undefeated teams may have gone about it in different ways, but they all survived.
Beyond that group, there was at least one serious stunner when UCF ran its record to 7-0 in its designated "Space Game" by romping to a 45-3 win over Oklahoma State.
Contrast that with Oregon rolling to a big lead over USC before giving up a couple of late scores and prevailing 36-27.
Texas almost collapsed completely, squandering a 26-6 4th quarter lead before surviving 29-26 as TCU's comeback came up a little short.
In the end, the top 8 teams in the last College Football Playoff Committee rankings will almost certainly be the same top 8 in the next iteration come Tuesday night.
One key development in the undercard, if you will, was Air Force dropping a second game in-a-row with a 27-13 upset loss at Hawaii, while Tulane eked-out a 24-22 win over Tulsa. The Green Wave are looking to repeat as the Group of Five's representative in a New Year's Six bowl.
James Madison and Liberty both remained undefeated with the Dukes spanking UConn 44-6 and the Flames lighting up Old Dominion 38-10.
As for the Heisman race, Michael Penix Jr. did nothing to hurt his odds as the Washington signal-caller threw for 332 yards and 2 TD's, and ran for another score.
Bo Nix threw for 412 and 4 TD's for Oregon, while Marvin Harrison, Jr. had 7 catches for 149 yards and 2 TD's for Ohio State.
One question to be answered might be whether or not Jalen Milroe will show up on the Heisman radar after accounting for 3 TD passes and 3 rushing touchdowns for Alabama.
Missouri's Cody Schrader,a transfer from D2 Truman State, ran for 205 yards, and added 116 receiving yards. He's the first player in SEDC history to pull off that 200/100 feat in rushing and receiving.
On the rivalry front, UNC said you can ring my bell as the Tar Heels took a 47-45 double-overtime win at home over Duke in the
Last but not least, Toledo secured the MAC's west division title, Troy claimed the western half of the Sun Belt, and New Mexico State locked up the second spot in the CUSA title game against Liberty.
(SEE: Conference title races)
This season has 117 of the 133 FBS schools facing one FCS opponent, and Army playing two such games for a total of 118 FBS-FCS matchups.
Of the 16 FBS schools that do NOT play a FCS program, 7 are in the B1G (Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Wisconsin). 6 more are evenly split between the Big 12 (Houston, Oklahoma, Texas) and Pac-12 (Colorado, USC, Washington). The other three are Liberty (CUSA) , UTSA (American), and Virginia Tech (ACC).
One FBC-FCS game took place this week, with the remaining 4 on November 18. This week's game saw Holy Cross falling 17-14 at Army.
The FBS programs are 110-4 this year against the FCS schools. Over-all, the FBS is a collective 1,796-152 (.922) since we began tracking this in 2003.
Here are the FCS wins in 2023, so far:
September 9: Idaho 33, Nevada 6
September 9: Southern Illinois 14, Northern Illinois 12
September 9: Fordham 40, Buffalo 37
September 16: Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23
GEORGIA - Won 25 straight home games, 27 straight over-all, and 13 straight true road games.
Last: 52-17 home win over Ole Miss on Saturday, November 11.
Next: Visits Tennessee on Saturday, November 18.
MICHIGAN - Won 22 straight conference games.
Last: 24-15 win at Penn State on Saturday, November 11.
Next: Visits Maryland on Saturday, November 18.
SAM HOUSTON - Ended 10-game losing streak a week ago. Eneded 8-game losing streak vs FBS schools on Saturday.
Last: 42-27 win at Louisiana Tech on Saturday, November 11.
Next: Visits Western Kentucky on Saturday, November 18.
VANDERBILT - Lost 9 straight over-all.
Last: 47-6 loss at South Carolina on Saturday, November 11.
Next: After a bye week, visits Tennessee on Saturday, November 18.
STANFORD - Lost 7 straight home games.
Last: Lost 62-17 at Oregon State on Saturday, November 11.
Next: Hosts Cal in "The Big Game" on Saturday, November 18.
NORTHWESTERN - Ended 14-game losing streak in true road games.
Last: 24-10 win at Wisconsin on Saturday, November 11.
Next: Hosts Purdue on Saturday, November 18.
TEMPLE - Lost 13 straight true road games.
Last: Lost 27-23 at USF on Saturday, November 11.
Next: Visits UAB on Saturday, November 18.
ULM - Lost 9 straight conference games.
Last: 45-14 loss at home to Troy on Saturday, November 11.
Next: Visits Ole Miss on Saturday, November 18.