NCAA Football Week 13 / NFL Week 12 Re-cap: The Game

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As I mentioned yesterday, it was a pretty epic weekend for sports. Aside from the fact that the World Cup is going on, there were a couple of really big games happening in the US this past weekend. Including "The Game", but we will get to that in a second.

I just have to mention that I did watch the end of the US/England match and in true soccer form the game failed to impress giving us yet another tie. No matter how much you love soccer, you have to be at least a little understanding as to why many people consider it boring. I'm just saying...

Okay, on to the "real" football action this past weekend :)

There were a lot of rivalry games this weekend. While Michigan and Michigan State played earlier in the season, this weekend was dedicated to an even more significant rivalry. Michigan versus Ohio State is called "The Game" and this weekend more than any other that was definitely the case.

Before I get to that, let's talk about some of the other match ups.

Unranked Mississippi State took down #20 Ole Miss 24 to 22. Arizona narrowly snagged a victory over Arizona State 38 to 35. Unranked North Carolina State took #17 North Carolina into two overtimes and came away with the victory 30 to 27. I actually watched the end of that game and it was pretty awesome.

By some miracle, Nebraska pulled off a win against Iowa basically knocking them out of the Big 10 Championship game in Indianapolis (I think). This is great news for the Cornhuskers who have had a couple of really rough seasons (or ten). You should be proud @gooddream.

Unranked South Carolina took down #8 Clemson 31 to 30, and unranked Kentucky was able to edge out #25 Louisville 26 to 13.

Purdue had a pretty easy win against Indiana to send them to the Big 10 Championship against the winner of "The Game", and sadly, Penn State laid the expected beat down on my Michigan State Spartans putting their hopes of actually making it to a bowl in limbo. They really shouldn't, but there are some circumstances which could allow them to squeak into a bowl berth. We will just have to wait and see.

#21 Oregon State took down #9 Oregon 38 to 34, and unranked Texas A&M beat #5 LSU 38 to 23. As you can see, there were a ton of shakeups in the top 25 this past weekend.

Alright, I've been teasing you long enough. The game, Michigan versus Ohio State. #3 versus #2, the battle of the undefeated teams, whatever you want to call it, it was primed to be an epic game. My oldest niece went down to the Ohio State campus at 6:00 in the morning to tailgate with her friends.

If you recall, I said last week that I had a feeling Michigan had the edge in this game. Their performance against Illinois had me a little concerned and the fact that they didn't know if Corum was going to play was a wild card. It seems like everyone except me (an uninterested party), and most Michigan fans were sure Ohio State had this one on lock.

That wasn't the case though. Corum only played like two downs before they pulled him for the rest of the game, but it turns out Michigan didn't need him. In what I just read yesterday turned out to be one of the most watched events in the past couple of decades, Michigan handed Ohio State their first loss of the season 45 to 23.

Like I said, I don't really care either way, but those U of M fans are going to be insufferable now. Just ask @caulderfreeman (he's one of them).

All kidding aside, it was a pretty great game and I can totally understand why it broke so many viewership records. There was a lot on the line and the playoff picture is going to be really interesting given the outcome of this game.

Alright, let's quickly talk about the NFL.

The Lions gave up yet another heartbreaking Thanksgiving Day loss to the Buffalo Bills 28 to 25. To be fair, they actually made it more of a game than I thought they would. Buffalo is a good team and I kind of expected them to steamroll us. I would have preferred a win, but this was better than a humiliating loss.

The only good news from the weekend is the fact that the Rams had yet another loss. They are on their way to being the worst team in the NFL. Which is pretty shocking given the fact that they won the Superbowl last year. While I am a Stafford fan, he hasn't been playing and the Rams gave the Lions a couple of draft picks in that trade.

That means the worse the Rams do, the better draft picks the Lions will get next season. That's definitely a good thing!

As much as I hate the Cowboys, they just keep winning and they are now just two games behind Philadelphia in the NFC East.

The Browns took Brady and the Bucs into overtime and came away victorious. I guess the guy driving his car onto their field and tearing up the turf in the middle of the week wasn't as big of a deal as they thought it was going to be.

Houston continues to lose. As a Lions fan, I totally feel their pain.

On the flip side, Washington has totally turned things around and all they do is win it seems. Keep an eye on them...

New Orleans was blanked by San Francisco. That has to hurt. Sorry Saints fans. Finally, Green Bay was handed a loss and an injured quarterback by Philadelphia. Could this be the end (again) for Aaron Rogers?

Let's hope so.

Minnesota is still looking really good in the NFC North, everything else besides The Eagles is a crap shoot. Meanwhile the AFC is just about as messy with Kansas City being the clear favorite at this point. Believe it or not, Buffalo is tied with Miami for first place in the AFC East.

Who would have guessed that?

That's all I've got for this week. Check back next week for more NFL action and the power conference championship results.

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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or @mrsbozz unless otherwise sourced