Sucks to be #3

Week 4 Extra

For all who follow college football, the last 3 weeks of the college football schedule has been a wild and torturous ride if you have happened to be the team ranked #3 in the nation in Division 1A football. It also is strange that as of the writing of this blog it has only been 13 days since the first game was played.

The wild ride started just a little over 13 days ago on October 28th, when the then undefeated and #3 ranked USC Trojans came into a packed Reser Stadium in Corvallis to faced the unranked Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers took a huge lead in the 3rd quarter, 33-10 and then held on as USC made an amazing comeback only to lose a chance to tie the game on the final play of the game, when the try for the 2 point conversion was knocked down preserving Oregon States upset of the #3 Trojans 33-31.

Now move ahead 5 days to Thursday November 2nd for a nationally televised game between two undefeated teams. The new #3 ranked team in the country West Virginia Mountaineers and then #5 ranked Louisville Cardinals. Once again the underdog, Louisville Cardinals, gave a solid performance through 3 quarters and hung on through a wild shoot out in the fourth quarter to get the upset win over then #3 ranked West Virginia Mountaineers 44-34.

Now move ahead 7 more days to another nationally televised Thursday night game on November 9th, once again between two undefeated teams. The new #3 ranked Louisville Cardinals facing the #15 ranked and undefeated Rutgers Scarlet Knights. This time the story was reversed and perhaps even more amazing then the OSU – USC game in the fact that the #3 ranked Louisville Cardinals ran out to a 25-7 lead in the second quarter, only to be shut down by the Rutgers defense and find themselves in a 25-25 tie with just minutes to go. Louisville had the opportunities to stop Rutgers. Rutgers had third and long on their own 35 with fewer than 2 minutes in the game only to have the next play go for 26 yards and put Rutgers into field goal position. Then with 21 seconds left, it appeared that Louisville would survive to fight on as Rutgers field goal try sailed wide left. But wait! The Louisville DB on the left side of the line was offside! Rutgers reloads from 5 yards closer and seals Louisville’s fate as the ball splits the uprights. Rutgers 28 - Louisville 25.

So now after the remaining games of this weekends college football schedule are played, which lucky team will have the dubious honor of becoming the next #3 ranked team and, dare we say, the next victim to some under rated opponent. We will have to wait and see.