Bye week observations
A few observations from today's college football games ...
* It will be interesting to see where Penn State lands in the polls after Texas Tech's terrific win against Texas. Three weeks ago, then-No. 5 Texas beat then-No. 1 Oklahoma and leapt to the top spot in the polls. Texas Tech was No. 7 when it beat top-ranked Texas, so it would be realistic to think the Red Raiders could be the top-ranked team in the country.
* The best guess here is the Associated Press and coaches polls will have Alabama first, Penn State second and Texas Tech slightly behind. However, Texas Tech will receive a huge boost in the BCS rankings in strength of schedule and the other computer rankings, so the Red Raiders could be in the top two of the BCS, the only poll that matters.
* That being said, Texas Tech winning was the best scenario the Nittany Lions could have hoped for, even if the Red Raiders end up jumping Penn State in the polls on Sunday. Texas Tech plays Oklahoma State next weekend and then has a bye before playing at Oklahoma, so their path to an undefeated regular season will be infinitely more difficult than Texas, which doesn't play a ranked team in its final three regular season games.
* Will Penn State end up being the only BCS team to go undefeated? It's sure looking that way. Alabama beat Arkansas State (the same team PSU dropped in favor of Oregon State) and along with PSU and Texas Tech are the three BCS unbeatens. Alabama still plays at LSU and possibly in the SEC championship game against Florida, which might be the best team in the country right now.
* Within the conference, what in the world were Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema and Minnesota coach Tim Brewster thinking? Bielema foolishly called a timeout when Michigan State was scrambling to get the field goal unit onto the field. The Spartans had 12 seconds on the clock when timeout was called and still weren't completely set. The extra time allowed Brett Swenson to kick a 44-yard field goal for a 25-24 win.
* As for Brewster, his team was tied 17-17 with Northwestern with 26 seconds remaining, and the Gophers were home. Instead of taking the ball into overtime, Brewster let quarterback Adam Weber try to move the ball into field goal range, which was at least 40 yards away. Weber ended up throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown with 12 seconds remaining, and Minnesota lost, 24-17. In that situation, with No. 17 Minnesota playing at home, it would have made more sense to take your chances in overtime. The Gophers are a superior team to Northwestern and should be able to beat the Wildcats at home. If not, better to lose in overtime than to try to force something at the end of regulation.