New #1 in the SwampSwami Top 25!

No, the Hypnotoad did not cause TCU to leapfrog all of the other unbeaten teams in this week’s rankings.  At least, not yet! With a solid 45-23 win at Ohio State on Saturday, the 12-0 Michigan Wolverines kept doing what they have done to every other opponent in 2022.  Michigan ran the ball with authority, passed when needed to wide-open targets, and their stellar defense clamped down on yet another opponent coming down the stretch. It was the first win by Michigan on Ohio State’s home field since the year 2000.  Many of the players on the field on Saturday had not been born at that time! Sporting the nation’s third best scoring defense (allowing just 12.7 points/game) coming into this showdown, the Michigan defense may have cost Ohio State quarterback C. J. Stroud his chance to win the Heisman Trophy in December.  The 11-1 Buckeyes’ quarterback tossed two interceptions to go along with his two touchdowns in the Big Ten East battle. Michigan’s surprising 21-point fourth quarter scoring outburst served to silence the Ohio State home crowd.  With this win, Michigan will play in the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday against the West Division survivor, Purdue (8-4). After Iowa (now 7-5) lost at home on Friday to a rejuvenated Nebraska (4-8), the door was opened for the Boilermakers to grab the West title on Saturday.  Purdue scored 27 points after halftime to take a 30-16 win at intrastate rival Indiana (now 4-8). Purdue’s starting quarterback, Aiden O’Connell, posted a note via Twitter that his oldest brother had passed away two days before the team’s final regular season game with Indiana on Saturday.  Though O’Connell will be grieving with family this week, the team expects that the sixth-year senior will be back in time to play against Michigan for the Big Ten title this Saturday in Indianapolis. In Athens, Georgia, the 12-0 Bulldogs trailed rival Georgia Tech (5-7) by seven points in the first quarter on Saturday.  Georgia eventually grabbed a 10-7 lead at the half.  The Dawgs exploded for 27 second half points to win the game 37-14 to complete a perfect regular season. Georgia will now face SEC West champion LSU (now 9-3) in the SEC title game this Saturday (3PM on CBS). LSU laid the biggest egg of the weekend by losing by a 38-23 count to 5-7 Texas A&M.