College FB Plus: Kansas is ground zero--in FB
The ride will come to an end--perhaps in the next few weeks and maybe by Halloween.
And it could be a classic Midwest tornado if the NCAA ever gets off its butt and hands the current national champion Jayhawks in men's basketball the sanctions they know are coming.
But for now, everything is up to date in Kansas City, as the song goes, and in Manhattan and, amazingly in the wide, wide world of college FB.
It is OCTOBER and Kansas and Kansas State have a combined record of 9-1, with Kansas State spoiling the picture with a head scratching home loss to Tulane a few weeks ago.
Head scratching because the Wildcats won the next week AT Oklahoma.
On Saturday, however, it was all smiles, as Kansas State took care of a Texas Tech team, which had shocked Texas a week earlier.
And Kansas...well, suffice it to say, next week is the typical Big 12 highlight show with Texas and Oklahoma squaring off in Dallas.
The only problem is that it is ESPN's Game Day will be in Lawrence for a meeting between the 5-0 Jayhawks and 4-0 TCU, which stunned the college football world with a 55-24 romp over the Sooners.
And Kansas continued its climb upward with a nitty-gritty 14-11 win over Iowa State.
The Jayhawks, who had 5 victories over the past three years are acting like they belong among the Big 12 table setters, now drawing sellout crowds and national media attention for accomplishments.
Such notoriety hasn't been seen in Lawrence since 2009 when Coach Mark Magino was running the show.
But in the cyber space world which now exists, that might have been another century.
The hero of the week is Lance Leipold, who once was semi famous in his world for winning 6 national championships in Division 3 at Wisconsin White Water.
Leipold moved to FBS level and won at Buffalo-which is hard to do.
And now in one plus seasons he has made Kansas a topic of discussion during the college football season--another tough topic to sell.
There is already quiet chatter that Leipold, who spent three years working on Frank Solich's staff at Nebraska is moving higher on the candidates list for the Cornhuskers job which opened last month when Scott Frost was fired.
That story can wait for a bit.
For now, it is Kansas week in college football.
the next three weeks will provide a tale of tape for the Jayhawks, with the home game against TCU followed by road trips to Oklahoma and Baylor.
If Kanas is 8-0 on Halloween...well....
WHO'S HOT
UCLA
Bruins are 5-0 and face Utah next week in Salt Lake City, following their 40-32 win over Washington on Friday. They have now won their last eight games. but beating the defending Pac-12 champ Utes will be a milestone game.
UConn 19, Fresno State 14
Huskies first win vs FBS school since 2019.
Boston College 34, Louisville 33
Eagles first ACC win of the season. Will it be their last?
Clemson
Tigers took care of business against their second consecutive legitimate ACC challenger with a 30-20 win over NC State.
They not only won, but they covered the 7.5 point spread.
It was their 37th consecutive ACC home win and their 11th consecutive win.
Ole Miss
Rebels took care of business with a 22-19 win over a very good Kentucky team. The Rebels are very quietly moving up the ladder in the SEC West and could pose a problem for Alabama when the Tide visits on Nov. 12th.
Syracuse
The Orange are 5-0 for the first time since 1987.
Georgia Tech
Tech fires its coach and AD and then posts a 26-21 win over Pittsburgh. Go figure.
Georgia 24, Missouri 22
Bulldogs down 10 points in fourth quarter and come back and win on the road. Character game.
WHO'S NOT
Colorado Coach Karl Dorrell and Wisconsin Coach Paul Chryst
Both were fired on Sunday after losses to Arizona and Illinois. Dorrell's dismissal was expected, Chryst's was not, although the Badgers have stumbled at the start of this season, including a pair of embarrassing losses to Ohio State and Illinois.
Why now?
In Wisconsin's case, it may signify an early interest in getting in on the chase for Leipold who has become the flavor of the week. Leipold also won SIX national championships in the Wisconsin system at Division 3 Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher.
The seldom quiet A&M coach with the blue chip recruiting class and the jumbo contract and the great expectations is dealing with a harsh dose of reality.
The Aggies latest pot hole was a 42-24 loss at Mississippi State on Saturday, which left the Aggies with a 2-2 record and a date with Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.
With SEC opponents such as Ole Miss, Florida, Auburn and LSU still on the schedule another 8-4 season looks probable, which won't cut it for very long in Aggieland.
Say What
Whitworth 66, Lewis & Clark 28
Bridgewater 82, Fitchburg State 0
Alabama 49, Arkansas 26
Status of Bama QB Bryce Young (sprained right shoulder) will be an ongoing story.
Play it Forward (Games of Note for next week)
Utah at UCLA--Bruins coming out party. .
Texas A&M at Alabama--Elimination game for Aggies, payback game for Bama.
TCU at Kansas--Who would have guessed that this, not Texas-Oklahoma, would be the Big 12 Game of Week?