NEW YORK (AP) -No. 1 went down and No. 2 couldn’t capitalize, and the latest crazy day in a wild college football season marked the first time in 11 years the top two teams in the AP poll lost on the same day.
First it was No. 1 LSU getting picked off 43-37 at No. 17 Kentucky in triple overtime. That result brought huge cheers from the Golden Bears fans in Berkeley, where Cal was facing Oregon State.
A few hours later, they must have been cheering in Columbus, Ohio, when the Bears lost 31-28 to the Beavers.
Ohio State was No. 3 this week and after a 48-3 victory over Kent State seems to be next in line to grab the top spot in the polls and, more importantly, in the first Bowl Championship Series standings which come out Sunday.
The last time the top two teams lost on the same day was Sept. 21, 1996, when No. 1 Nebraska was beaten 19-0 by Arizona State and No. 2 Tennessee fell 35-29 to Florida.
No. 4 Boston College and No. 5 South Florida will also be vying for those top two places in the BCS standings, and don’t count out Oklahoma. The Sooners were No. 6 in the AP rankings last week, but put together an impressive 41-31 victory over previously unbeaten Missouri.
“If things work out, then they work out,” Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford said. “But really, we can’t worry about other teams and what happens to them.”
Last week, four top 10 teams lost, including No. 2 USC, which fell at home 24-23 to Stanford.
The week before, five top 10 teams lost, four to unranked opponents.
Now this.
LSU, which played so well in starting the season 6-0, became a unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 last week, couldn’t contain Kentucky’s Andre Woodson and couldn’t get a first down in the third OT.
“We are shocked,” LSU linebacker Darry Beckwith said.
Cal had to play with its second-string quarterback because Nate Longshore was hobbled by a sprained right ankle. Backup Kevin Riley had an up-and-down game for the Bears and his inexperience showed at the worst possible time.
With the ball at the 12 and 14 seconds left, Riley inexplicably tried to scramble for the score. He was tackled after a 2-yard gain and the clock ran out on Cal. The Bears haven’t been No. 1 since 1951, and they won’t be this week either.
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