Eleven Unbeatens - who will fall this weekend?

Submitted by Amazinblu on October 17th, 2023 at 10:46 AM

The regular college season is “more than half over”.  Last weekend provided some excitement, and now - there are eleven (11) teams with an unblemished record this season.   “Spinal Tap” will follow this week’s game with particular interest.

Which team(s) will fall from the ranks of the unbeaten this weekend?   Here’s the list – and their opponent this week.  The unbeatens are bolded and rankings are in parentheses.

Once again – we’re guaranteed that at least one team falls from the list when Penn State and Ohio State meet in Columbus.

 

Georgia (1) - bye

Michigan (2) at Michigan State

Ohio State (3) hosting Penn State (7)

Florida State (4) hosting Duke (16)

Oklahoma (6) – hosting UCF

Washington (5) hosting Arizona State

North Carolina (10) hosting Virginia

Air Force (22) at Navy

James Madison (26) at Marshall (on Thursday)

Liberty (31) hosting Middle Tennessee State (on Tuesday)

 

Since inquiring minds want to know – specifically, who are the remaining teams for the unbeatens, here are their remaining opponents:

  • Georgia: Bye, Florida (neutral), Missouri, Ole Miss, at Tennessee, and at Georgia Tech.
  • Michigan: Michigan State, bye, Purdue, at Penn State, at Maryland, and Ohio State.
  • Ohio State: Penn State, at Wisconsin, at Rutgers, Michigan State, Minnesota, and at Michigan.
  • Penn State: at Ohio State, Indiana, at Maryland, Michigan, Rutgers, and at Michigan State.
  • Florida State: Duke, at Wake Forest, at Pitt, Miami, North Alabama, and at Florida.
  • Oklahoma: UCF, at Kansas, at Oklahoma State, West Virginia, at BYU, and TCU.
  • Washington: Arizona State, at Stanford, at USC, Utah, at Oregon State, and Washington State.
  • North Carolina: Virginia, at Georgia Tech, Campbell, Duke, at Clemson, and at NC State.
  • Air Force: at Navy, at Colorado State, Army, at Hawaii, UNLV, and at Boise State.
  • James Madison: at Marshall, Old Dominion, at Georgia State, UConn, Appalachian State, and at Coastal Carolina.
  • Liberty: Middle Tennessee State, at Western Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, UMass, and at UTEP.
Football

Don

October 17th, 2023 at 10:53 AM ^

The only undefeated team going down this weekend will either be OSU or PSU.

I don't think Michigan will lose, but I expect the MSU game to be much closer than people think or want.

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lilpenny1316

October 17th, 2023 at 11:07 AM ^

I agree on the closeness of the MSU game. If Sparty could hold onto the football, you wouldn't have to squint too hard to see them at 3-0 in conference play. It will still be a multi-score win for the good guys.

The funny thing is that this may be the most talented team they've faced this season and the worst coaching staff they've coached against.

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WolverineHistorian

October 17th, 2023 at 11:24 AM ^

My head tells me you’re right about it being annoyingly close for some time, unfortunately.  They’ll parade and interview Izzo on the sidelines like always (he even traveled with them to the big house for last year’s game).  This being their Super Bowl, they will play better.

Don’t expect them to make the kind of mistakes they did against Rutgers.  They won’t fumble.  And don’t let our game against Indiana fool anyone because opponents lose fumbles against Michigan a good 3% of the time.

But my dream scenario is that it’s so lopsided that Spartan Stadium is mostly just Michigan fans for the entire 2nd half.  

 

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mGrowOld

October 17th, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^

Both you and Don have been around long enough to remember I'm usually the king of pessimism as it regards our games with Sparty (yes, 1978 is still fresh in my memory).  And I've seen enough weird shit through the years when we play them in East Lansing (clockgate anyone?) to know we can absolutely lose there no matter what our records might be.

But for some reason this year I dont have that same feeling of worry.  This Michigan team is SO damn good (and candidly, that MSU team is so damn bad) I really and truly believe we are going to smoke them.  Throw in the added motivation from last year's incident and I dont think there's a chance in hell they wont get our best shot.

And our best shot is exponentially better than theirs.  Michigan 38-13

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WolverineHistorian

October 17th, 2023 at 7:36 PM ^

Sparty's sad field goal was set up because of a wide-open Braylon Edwards drop on 3rd down that forced us to punt from our own end zone and give MSU a very short field to work with.  It really should have been a shutout if you want to split hairs.  But 49-0 the rest of the way was pretty sweet....even though Pam Ward was doing the play calling.  

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JBLPSYCHED

October 17th, 2023 at 1:46 PM ^

I completely agree with you mGrowOld and was going to offer the same opinion. They are in utter disarray and despite all of the history/rivalry stuff we are simply too strong and too consistent not to beat them handily. Plus they have absolutely no resilience so once things tip our way, aka the Boa Constrictor has the mouse's foot in his mouth, it's over. The fans will immediately realize they knew the inevitable was coming sooner rather than later.

P.S. I was at the '78 game and remember being surprised and impressed by Daryl Rogers' offense and in my mind's eye can still see Kirk Gibson sprinting wide open downfield for that long TD.

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WestQuad

October 17th, 2023 at 11:13 AM ^

James Madison is over rated both as a founding father and as a football program.  Dolly did all the work and she's not hear to take snaps.

 

(I actually don't know anything about James Madison except he wrote large parts of the Virginia and US constitutions which bravo.  Good work James.   I know less about his football team.) 

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Vasav

October 18th, 2023 at 1:28 AM ^

I believe George Washington led troops to put down the Whiskey Rebellion. If memory serves, Madison was just reviewing the troops when the British ambushed and took flight (as he should have, no shade). I will throw shade tho for starting a war without a standing army...

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GeraldFord48

October 18th, 2023 at 10:32 PM ^

Did a little reviewing, it seems that Washington led troops towards the insurrectionists during the Whiskey Rebellion, but they dispersed before the army could arrive. During Bladensburg, Madison road out and was under fire, but was more trying to provide moral support. Still, pretty cool for both of them!

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Durham Blue

October 17th, 2023 at 11:41 AM ^

Unfortunately, I agree with this.  MSU wins are rarely the satisfying scoreboard beat down that we all want to see, especially the Michigan bettors (like me).  Sparty has a knack for hanging around within shouting distance of us in the fourth quarter.  No way in hell am I going crazy on Michigan -23 or whatever it is.  We are more likely to win by 10 to 20 points than 20 to 30 points.

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M-GO-Beek

October 17th, 2023 at 4:53 PM ^

I realize this is college football and weird stuff happens all the time, but if FSU gets past Duke this weekend, I really think there could be 3-4 unbeatens at the end of the year. 

I wonder how many undefeated there typically are at this time every year? Because it sure feels like the sheer number of unbeatens, especially across multiple conferences is setting up for a good number of them to make it through.

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Perkis-Size Me

October 17th, 2023 at 11:19 AM ^

I truly don't know how the PSU-OSU game will go. Neither has a very good OL, neither can run the ball very effectively, and that probably hurts PSU more. You have a QB coming into his first true road test, and not having an effective run game that he can rely on to take some pressure off means a lot will likely have to be put on his shoulders. 

That said, both have great defenses, with PSU's probably being a bit better. PSU is by far the best defense OSU will have faced up to his point, and has one of maybe two defenses in the conference that can stand toe to toe with OSU for four quarters. However, OSU will also have the best player on the field in Marvin Harrison Jr, and anything you throw in his general vicinity, he's going to catch.

So.......  "¯\_(ツ)_/¯ "

My guess is a 21-17 or 21-14 rock fight, and in close games like this, I lean to the home team. So PSU goes down, but if PSU won, I can't say I'd be shocked. The only result that would shock me is if PSU blew OSU out. 

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Only way Michigan loses on Saturday is a comical amount of turnovers or mistakes, which they are by and large not a mistake-prone team, or if McCarthy gets hurt. That is the one area where if Michigan sustains an injury for an extended period of time, its goose is probably cooked. 

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Oklahoma and Washington, I don't think, are playing the kind of opponent that they have to worry too much about having a letdown game where they can actually lose. I don't think ASU or UCF are particularly good, and both games are at home. 

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