Three more undefeated teams lost for the first time in week 7, as Stanford, Michigan and Oklahoma see an end to their perfect run this season, leaving Louisville & Houston from the AAC, Clemson, Florida State and Miami in the ACC, Texas Tech & Baylor in the Big 12, Ohio State from the Big Ten, Northern Illinois in the MAC, Fresno State in the MWC, Oregon & UCLA in the Pac-12 and Missouri & Alabama in the SEC as the only teams in the 2013 yet to suffer defeat.
The first BCS standings of the season come out after week 8 is played, but we’re getting a clearer picture of who isn’t going to look like national title contenders due to their opening losses of the season, with quite a few upsets happening nationwide to reshape the top 25 and even the top 10.
Stanford lost for the first time this season, dropping a conference game at Utah, losing 27-21 in Salt Lake City. This means Oregon are the only undefeated Pac-12 North team left, and make the upcoming game between the most recent conference champions as a chance for Stanford to ruin Oregon’s national title aspirations, nothing more.
Michigan were headed for that first loss a long time ago, and a bye week and rest couldn’t help them overcome the problems with the team, as the lost 43-40 to Penn State after four overtimes. Michigan, now 5-1, were only 18th heading into the game, which means there’s more than a good chance they’ll be out of the top 25, as voters haven’t been impressed with the wins they’ve gotten this season thus far.
Oklahoma looked like a team ready to re-claim the Big 12, but after a couple of very dominant years in the Red River rivalry, their hopes of having a perfect season are over, losing 36-20 to Texas, which means the Longhorns might not be that bad, still with a chance to play in a BCS game, but goes to show why the Big 12 isn’t that highly rated on a national level.
There was also Georgia losing to Missouri. No one is taking the Tigers seriously, but they’re 6-0, and have now beaten a top 10 team, even though Georgia’s injury problem are probably too big even for a borderline elite program to overcome. Aaron Murray wasn’t left with too much talent around him, succumbing to a 26-43 loss that means South Carolina are now in charge of the SEC East.
Oregon took a huge step to make some computers impressed by beating Washington 45-24. It wasn’t the easiest of wins despite the three touchdown victory, but it should help them look a lot better when the BCS standings come out, and not just get voters love in the polls. LSU beating Florida might also knock the Gators out of the Top 25 with their second loss of the season, while the Tigers could see a move up of at least two or three spots, setting up another huge SEC West clash with Alabama.