How I Spent My Day Yesterday...

Wow! Yesterday was quite the day for football, eh? I began the day by switching back and forth between Florida – Georgia and Notre Dame – Pitt… but settled in with the ND game after it became clear that Florida was going to bury Georgia… literally (which was sometime towards the end of the first quarter of the Florida game). The ND game was certainly exciting… going, as it did, to four overtimes. Only the outcome was disappointing, as Pitt managed to go one field goal better than ND… in South Bend, for cryin’ out loud. It was a hard loss for the Domers… Charlie Weis:

"I think the next 24 to 48 hours, you know, it's a trying time when you come off a disheartening loss," Weis said. "You got to bounce right back. Get treatment tomorrow, and Monday morning come in and watch the tape, move on to Boston College. I think more than closing the game, I'm just worried about getting their psyche right for this week."

Weis' concern is understandable. This is the second game Notre Dame has lost late after giving up a double-digit lead. The Irish led North Carolina 17-6 before the Tar Heels marched back to win 29-24 in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Well… Weis ain’t the only coach to suffer a tough loss. I’m thinking Mack Brown can empathize… but only about being on the losing end of a GREAT game… in addition to wondering what the Hell happened to Texas in the first half last evening (like the rest of football fans in these United States). I don’t mention Texas’ poor play to take anything away from Tech, because they played their hearts out and engineered one of the greatest finishes in college ball I’ve ever seen, bar none. I say “one of the greatest” only because I have seen similar comebacks in the past, but perhaps none with quite the impact of last night’s game (except for the 2006 Rose Bowl, of course). Texas almost managed to eke out a win last night, engineering a remarkable comeback in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter… only to see it all blow up in their faces with ONE second left on the clock. High drama, indeed.

I’m thinkin’ there are quite a few hangovers in Lubbock today. Austin, too, for that matter… but for entirely different reasons. The BCS standings should be very interesting when they’re released later on today. But for now, here are the AP and USA Today polls…

The AP Top 25 Poll (First place votes in parens, record, poll points):

1. Alabama (46) 9-0 1,600
2. Texas Tech (12) 9-0 1,528
3. Penn State (6) 9-0 1,525
4. Florida (1) 7-1 1,398
5. Texas 8-1 1,353
6. Oklahoma 8-1 1,324
7. USC 7-1 1,250
8. Oklahoma State 8-1 1,198
9. Boise State 8-0 1,030
10. Utah 9-0 1,028

The USA Today (Coaches’) Poll (First Place votes in parens, record, poll points):

1. Alabama (40) 9-0 1498
2. Penn State (14) 9-0 1437
3. Texas Tech (6) 9-0 1409
4. Oklahoma (1) 8-1 1290
5. Florida 7-1 1268
6. USC 7-1 1232
7. Texas 8-1 1227
8. Oklahoma State 8-1 1066
9. Utah 9-0 1018
10. Boise State 8-0 958

It will be most interesting to watch how Tech handles both Oklahoma and OK State, to say the very least!