ESPN More Sports

Despite two of its top five teams losing on Saturday, the Pac-12 has passed the Big 12 in the Stats & Info Conference Power Rankings.

The biggest difference between the Pac-12’s losses and Kansas State’s loss to Baylor is that Kansas State lost to an unranked opponent. As a result, Baylor did not pick up any of the 387 AP votes that Kansas State lost. In comparison, Stanford and UCLA gained a combined 308 AP votes and rose five spots in the AP poll with their victories. Those numbers cancel out Oregon’s fall from 1st to 5th in the AP Poll.

The Big 12 continues to be ranked first by the computers, but its lack of top-level teams has hurt the conference in the AP Poll. Both the Big 12 and Pac-12 have four teams ranked in the AP Poll, but the Pac-12’s teams are ranked comparatively higher.

Whether it is a matter of parity or a lack of top-level talent is unknown, but many of the Big-12’s top teams have been wildly inconsistent throughout the season.

West Virginia began the season 5-0 and ranked in the AP Top 5 before losing its next five games. Texas Tech began the season 6-1 before losing three of its next four games. Finally, Texas struggled at the start of conference play and has now won four straight games. This lack of consistency has led to fluctuations in the polls and the conference rankings.

Elsewhere in the conference power rankings, the SEC remains in first place after wins over seven FCS teams this week. The SEC now has five teams ranked in the AP Top 10 and six teams with two or fewer losses. No other conference has more than one team ranked in the AP Top 10 or four teams with two or fewer losses.

The WAC lost 5.9 points in the rankings after its top team, Louisiana Tech, lost on Saturday. Louisiana Tech was 9-1 entering the game and had a chance to represent the conference in a BCS Bowl game. The MAC, led by 10-1 Kent State and 10-1 Northern Illinois, has pulled within 1.9 points of the WAC for the top non AQ conference in the country.

Rivalry week begins on Thursday as nonconference foes face off with bragging rights on the line. Florida takes on Florida State, Notre Dame heads to USC, South Carolina faces Clemson and Georgia takes on Georgia Tech in notable nonconference matchups with BCS Bowl implications.

History shows that the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide, who are coming off a home win against a Top-20 opponent Mississippi State, have a tough test Saturday against another highly-ranked opponent in the fifth-ranked LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium.

The AP No. 1 team has faced a Top-20 opponent on the road the week after a home win against another Top-20 opponent nine previous times. The AP No. 1 team is just 2-7 in those games, including the Crimson Tide, who lost in that situation at South Carolina two years ago.

Some of these games are defining moments in the history of at least one of the schools involved.

Here’s a summary of each game since 2000 that fits the same description as Alabama’s game at LSU this Saturday.

2010: 19 South Carolina def. 1 Alabama, 35-21
The Gamecocks came out firing, opening up a 21-3 lead that couldn’t be overcome en route to a 35-21 victory behind three touchdown passes from Stephen Garcia and three scores from freshman running back Marcus Lattimore.

The defense limited future NFL first-rounders Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson to just 64 yards on the ground, allowing South Carolina to earn the school’s first victory vs a No. 1-ranked opponent.

2008: 6 Texas Tech def. 1 Texas, 39-33
Texas was a play away from winning before Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell found Michael Crabtree on the sideline for the dramatic game-winning touchdown with one second left.

That loss would be the Longhorns’ only defeat of the season, but was enough to leave them (controversially) out of the BCS national title game that year.

2007: 17 Kentucky def. 1 LSU, 43-37 (3 OT)
The Wildcats, who hadn’t beaten a top-ranked opponent since taking down Ole Miss in 1964, rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to force overtime.

In the third extra period, Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson found Steve Johnson for a 7-yard touchdown pass, and LSU was unable to pick up a first down on its possession, setting off a wild celebration at Commonwealth Stadium.

Though it seemed like the loss dashed the Tigers’ national title hopes, they actually went on to lose another triple-overtime game later that season (50-48 to Arkansas), but still would end up playing for and winning the national title that season.

2001: 1 Miami (FL) def. 14 Virginia Tech, 26-24
The Hurricanes appeared to have the game under control after taking a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Virginia Tech rallied for two touchdowns, including one off a blocked punt.

A failed two-point conversion by the Hokies and a late interception by Ed Reed (his second of the day) helped the Hurricanes ward off the comeback, giving them a two-point win that was their only single-digit margin of the season. Miami went on to crush Nebraska in the Rose Bowl and win the national title.

The Northwestern Wildcats are looking to go 6-0 this season, something they haven't done since 1962. But 50 years isn't even close to the longest such drought among BCS-AQ schools.

That distinction belongs to the Oregon State Beavers, who haven’t started a season with six consecutive wins since 1907. In fact, there are seven AQ schools with longer droughts than Northwestern.

In addition to Oregon State, Vanderbilt (1928), Iowa State (1938), Purdue (1943), Wake Forest (1944), California 1950) and Kentucky (1950) have all gone over 50 years without a 6-0 start.

Opponents Running Hog Wild
The Arkansas Razorbacks have allowed 52 and 58 points in their two SEC games this season. If the Hogs allow at least 50 to the Auburn Tigers this week, they will set a dubious record for the conference.

No SEC team has ever allowed 50 or more points in three consecutive conference games. In major college history, it's happened 17 times including Akron's current streak of three games in the MAC.

The all-time record is four straight games, done by four different schools.

The most recent school to "accomplish" that was Washington State in 2008.

Oklahoma Bounces Back from Losses
Why should the 4-0 Texas Tech Red Raiders be extremely worried hosting the Oklahoma Sooners this week? It's been 13 years since the Sooners lost consecutive regular-season games.

That's right, it goes all the way back Bob Stoops' first season in Norman in 1999 when they lost consecutive games to Notre Dame and Texas.

To provide some context on this, 97 of the 120 FBS teams lost consecutive regular-season games last season alone. And though we're only in Week 6 this season, 52 FBS teams have already lost back-to-back games.

Plenty of Pushups for Puddles
The Oregon Ducks are in the top five of FBS in points per game for the third straight season. The Ducks have the most offensive touchdown drives that have lasted one minute or less (11) and two minutes or less (20) this season.

A high-powered offense is nothing new for Oregon. Since Chip Kelly took over in 2009, the Ducks lead the nation in points per game (44.2), one-minute touchdown drives (63), three-play touchdown drives (57) and touchdown plays of 20 yards or more (88).

Oregon’s offense could be challenged this week against a Washington defense that forced seven “3 and out” drives against Stanford last week.

Four Is Unlucky for Gators’ Opponents
The No. 4 LSU Tigers travel to Gainesville this week. Usually a top-five ranking would be a good thing, but perhaps not so if you’re ranked fourth against the Florida Gators.

Florida has won nine straight against teams ranked fourth in AP Poll. It’s last such loss came in 1986 against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Player of the Night – Hank Thorns
TCU stormed back from an 18-point deficit to beat UNLV 102-97 in overtime. Thorns posted a career-high 32 points, including eight in overtime. He also knocked down eight 3-pointers, matching the second most in school history and most since 1998. The Horned Frogs snapped a 15-game losing streak against ranked opponents.

Stat Sheet Stuffer – Jake Odum
Odum scored a career-high 34 points as Indiana State beat Illinois State 83-77 in overtime. It’s the most points in a game by a Sycamore since Marcus Stinson in 2006. He added seven assists and seven rebounds, becoming the first player to go 34-7-7 this season. Odum did most of his damage at the line, hitting 17 free throws. He’s the first player with 17 free throws and seven assists since Ben Woodside’s epic 60-point game in 2008.

Making History – Creighton Bluejays
Creighton broke a 28-year-old Missouri Valley record by shooting 77.5 percent from the field in an 88-69 win over Southern Illinois. Bradley previously held the record with a 74.5 percent performance against West Texas State in 1984. It matched the 20th best shooting performance in NCAA history and the best since Utah shot 80 percent in 2005.

Freshman of the Night – Myles Taylor
Taylor scored a career-high 31 points as Tennessee-Martin beat Kennesaw State 76-75 in overtime. The win snapped a 15-game losing streak for the Skyhawks, and a 19-game losing streak against Division I opponents. Meanwhile, Kennesaw State has dropped 15 in a row.

Ugly Stat Line of the Night – Texas Tech Red Raiders
Texas Tech had a historically bad offensive performance in a 47-38 loss to Texas A&M. It was the fewest points by the Red Raiders in the shot clock era. In fact, Texas Tech last scored under 40 in 1981 against Arkansas. Texas Tech actually led by nine at halftime, but scored only 12 in the second half. This is just the third time since the formation of the conference that a Big 12 team has failed to hit a free throw.

A scan of the college basketball box scores each night guarantees all kinds of statistical oddities and standout performances. Here are some we found from Tuesday:

Kansas State 65, Texas Tech 46
The two teams combined for 26 made field goals, matching the fewest in a Division I game this season (Cal Poly and USC combined for 26 in a 42-36 Cal Poly win Nov. 19). Texas Tech and Kansas State also combined for 53 fouls Tuesday. It’s the first time this year two teams combined for at least twice as many fouls as field goals. The differential of 27 more fouls than field goals is three more than in any other game this season.

Ohio State 87, Purdue 84
Purdue committed only four turnovers, none of which led to an Ohio State steal, but still lost Tuesday night in Columbus. Ohio State became the sixth team overall to win a game this season without recording a steal, and Purdue became the first Big 6 team to lose when not having the ball stolen. It’s the third time this season (and second in a row) that Purdue has lost a game in which it turned the ball over four times or fewer. No other team has lost more than one such game this year.

Kentucky 78, Florida 58
Florida’s Erving Walker was held without a point in the loss, his first scoreless game since Dec. 30, 2008. He had scored at least one point in each of his prior 118 games.

Wisconsin 52, Penn State 46
Penn State’s Matt Glover fouled out without taking a shot in 30 minutes. It’s the second time this year he’s fouled out in a game in which he hasn’t taken a shot, making him the second player this year to do that (Justin Newton, St. Francis NY).

Oklahoma State 80, Texas Tech 63
The Cowboys made 33 of 35 free-throw attempts (94.3 percent), matching the highest percentage by any team this season (min. 30 attempts).

North Carolina 68, Wake Forest 53
All five of North Carolina’s starters attempted at least 10 shots from the field, the first time a major conference team has done that this season. It’s the sixth time any team has done it this year.

UVA 65, Clemson 61
Clemson’s Rod Hall played seven minutes without accumulating a stat, and UVA’s Paul Jesperson did the same in five minutes. It’s the first game involving two major-conference teams this season in which a player on each team put up at least a five trillion.

The Big 12 is again atop the ESPN Stats & Info Conference Power Rankings after a brief stint at No. 2 last week.

While the SEC has the top two teams in the nation in LSU and Alabama, the Conference Rankings are designed to measure a conference’s relative strength from top to bottom. Seven of the Big 12’s 10 teams have two or fewer losses, and all seven of those schools received at least 25 points in the AP Poll.

In comparison, five of the SEC’s 12 teams have two or fewer losses and only six SEC teams received AP votes.

The computers favor the Big 12 over the SEC as the Big 12’s average computer ranking is 8.5 points higher than the average SEC ranking. Oklahoma State is the top-ranked team in the nation according to the BCS computers.

Texas Tech's victory against Oklahoma demonstrated the depth of the Big 12. The Red Raiders were previously 1-2 in Big 12 play, but were able to go on the road and shock one of the top teams in the country. Texas Tech jumped into the AP Top 25 for the first time this season after the victory.

Other upsets this weekend did not help certain conferences in the rankings. The Big East lost 13.5 points after two of the top teams in the conference, West Virginia and Rutgers, lost on Friday. West Virginia fell from 11th to 25th place in the AP Poll after the loss, and the Big East is in jeopardy of falling out of seventh place.

Losses by Wisconsin and Illinois also hurt the Big Ten’s ranking. Just two weeks ago the Big Ten had three undefeated teams (Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois), which was tied for the most of any conference after six weeks. Today, no team in the Big Ten is undefeated or ranked in the top eight of the AP Poll.

For a brief recap on how we rank the conferences, click here.

Looking ahead to this week in college football, the main storyline was how many top-ranked teams were playing road games against quality opponents.

Historically, however, we might remember this week for the record-breaking and near record-breaking offensive performances.

Headlining the day’s accomplishments were the unranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who set an Football Bowl Subdivision record with 12.1 yards per rush (minimum 50 rushes), finishing the day with 604 yards rushing on 50 carries in their 66-24 win over the Kansas Jayhawks.

The previous record belonged to the Alabama Crimson Tide, which averaged 11.9 yards per rush in a win over the Virginia Tech Hokies in 1973.

The 604 yards marked the school single-game record for rush yards, and the Yellow Jackets were the first team since Rice in November 2003 to run for at least 600 yards in a game. Georgia Tech finished the game with 768 total net yards, also a school record. The previous record was 706 vs the Citadel in 1948.

A good chunk of those yards came on Orwin Smith’s 95-yard touchdown run which opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game. That was the longest touchdown run in school history.

Making all of those schools records more impressive is the fact that Georgia Tech began playing football in 1892. You know, when there were only 44 states in the union.

Meanwhile, across the country, the 12th-ranked Oregon Ducks cruised to a 56-7 victory over the Missouri State Bears behind their Heisman candidate, LaMichael James.

James ran for 204 yards on just 12 carries, giving him a 17-yard average on the day. It was his fourth career 200-yard rushing game for the Ducks.

In the second quarter, James ran for a 90-yard touchdown, the second-longest in Oregon school history, trailing only the 92-yard run by Bob Smith back in 1938 against Idaho.

Earlier this season, James broke Derel Loville's record for career rushing yards at Oregon, and with three rushing touchdowns Saturday now has 40 for his career, trailing Loville by just one for the school record.

Over in the Big 12, Seth Doege, the quarterback for the Texas Tech Red Raiders completed 40 of 44 pass attempts in a 59-13 win over the New Mexico Lobos, breaking the FBS record for completion percentage in a game (minimum 40 pass attempts).

He did manage to keep the record in-house, however. The previous record holder was Texas Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury, who completed 49 of 59 passes (83.3 percent) against Texas A&M in October 2002.

By virtue of being ranked the highest in this week’s BCS Standings, a system designed to determine the number one and number two teams in the country, the Oklahoma Sooners will play in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship Game by winning a three-way tie in the Big 12 South over Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. But should they?

The Sooners lost to both Missouri and Texas A&M, and yet are ranked well ahead of each of them. The Tigers and Sooners have identical 10-2 records, while the Aggies’ other loss came in a non-conference neutral site game in Arlington against Arkansas by a touchdown, a team likely headed to the Sugar Bowl.

We shouldn’t be surprised Oklahoma emerged as the highest ranked team because, well, we’ve seen the Sooners get the benefit of the doubt in controversial situations in the past.

In 2008, despite a head-to-head loss to Texas, Oklahoma went to the Big 12 Championship Game -- and eventually the BCS Championship Game -- after winning a three-way tie in the Big 12 South between themselves, Texas and Texas Tech. Tech beat the Longhorns in the final seconds in Lubbock on Michael Crabtree’s memorable catch, then were blown out in Norman. Texas’ 45-35 win over then-No.1 Oklahoma didn’t seem to matter anymore.

In 2004, Oklahoma also won a battle for No. 2 in the BCS Standings over an undefeated SEC Champion Auburn. The Sooners began that year No. 2 and the Tigers 17th. Despite only one other Big 12 team being ranked in the top 20 (Texas) -- the SEC had four others besides Auburn in the final regular season poll -- Auburn never went by Oklahoma and the Tigers went to the Sugar Bowl where they beat Virginia Tech. Oklahoma would go the BCS Title Game and lose 55-19 to USC. The Sooners going over an SEC Champion was odd given that…

…One year earlier, Oklahoma was given the biggest gift of all. Despite being blown out 35-7 by Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game and being ranked No. 3 in the polls, the Sooners went to the BCS title game over Pac-10 Champion USC, which was No. 1 in the AP Poll. The Big 12 runner-up Sooners lost to SEC Champion LSU in the Sugar Bowl and we finished the season with split national champions.