A funny thing happened on the way to the national college football championship playoffs to both Michigan and Notre Dame over the weekend. First, the defending champion Wolverines were completely outclassed in the Big House by the visiting Texas Longhorns by a 31-12 count that isn’t indicative of how badly Texas thrashed the home team. There have to be a lot of happy fans not only in the Buckeye State but also around the Big Ten!!
Next, the Fighting Irish, coming off of a big win on the road at Texas A&M the prior week, got the shillelagh kicked out of them by the 28-point underdog Huskies of Northern Illinois by a 16-14 score, courtesy of a late NIU field goal. Over 80,000 ND fans were left in a state of disbelief making for some dispirited post-game tailgating in South Bend.
Meanwhile, three other Top 25 teams barely escaped the upset scenario, with Oregon (for the second consecutive week) edging Boise State 37-34; Penn State coming from behind to down the Falcons of Bowling Green 34-27; and Oklahoma nosing out Houston 16-12.
Normalcy prevailed as Georgia, THE, Alabama, Miami (FL), and Tennessee all rolled over lesser opponents. THE continues a string of “payoff” games, hosting Marshall this weekend at the ‘Shoe before going on the road to East Lansing and taking on Michigan State in the Big Ten opener. Beware of Marshall; however, the Thundering Herd has pulled off its share of upsets over the years!
Here’s today’s trivia question—name the oldest college football rivalry west of the Allegheny Mountains. Answer to follow!
Congratulations to all involved in having Greenville’s Harmon Field ready to host the Wave’s first home game over the weekend. Following the devastation of the May 7th tornado to the stadium and the resulting delay in insurance settlements, it took a tremendous effort to have new turf, new lighting, and a temporary press box all installed in time for the Tipp game.
Speaking of high school football, there’s a big game in the WOAC this Friday as Arcanum travels to Ansonia with both teams standing at 2-0 in conference action. In the MAC, it’s undefeated Versailles heading to likewise unbeaten New Bremen while key MVL matchups will see Stebbins at Xenia, Sidney at Fairborn, and Piqua at Tipp with the Butler Aviators (rolling along at 3-0 under the guidance of Zac Gueth, grandson of former Wave head basketball coach Clarence Gueth) coming to Greenville to take on the youthful and injury-riddled Green Wave.
High school volleyball continues to be dominated by the schools up north as the usual MAC powers slam away again this fall. Coldwater, Marion Local, St. Henry, Parkway, and New Bremen all enter the heart of the league schedule undefeated as they start to face each other across the net. In the MVL, Tipp and Butler are 7-0, with Sidney at 7-1 and Greenville at 5-2 in league play. Arcanum, Mississinawa Valley, and Franklin-Monroe lead the WOAC with Newton, Tri-Village, and Ansonia all a game behind in the standings.
What in the world was going on on Sunday in Cincinnati and Cleveland? Good grief, both the Bengals and Browns looked like they were playing the first game of the preseason rather than the regular schedule! The only positive that came out of the first round of games was that the Ravens also lost so only the “Stillers” won in the AFC North. The Stripes have to get their act together as they travel to Kansas City and face the two-time defending champion Chiefs this coming Sunday while the Brownies travel to Jacksonville.
The two American hopefuls both fell in the finals of the US Tennis Open championships over the weekend, Jessica Pergula finishing second to Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka and Taylor Fritz falling to Italian Jannik Skinner in the men’s bracket. Fritz was attempting to become the first American male to claim a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick in 2003 (somehow Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic kept getting in the way of US players!).
The oldest college football rivalry west of the Alleghenies is also the oldest non-conference rivalry in the country. Saturday will see the University of Cincinnati Bearcats traveling up US 27 to Oxford to tangle with the Miami RedHawks for the 128th time with the ‘Cats leading the series 67-60 with 7 ties. First played in 1888, the two teams also have the distinction of having competed in the first college football game held in the state of Ohio.
Finally, it was a tough weekend for two Miami graduates as John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens fell to the Chiefs on the last play of the game while Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams lost in overtime to the Lions. As a Miami alum, I can only say “Go ‘Hawks!!”. Hopefully, the Victory Bell will remain in Oxford!! Have a great week!!
