There is always an unbelievably strong argument from some people across the country that say college football is better than the football played on Sundays. You can argue with that point, but what you can’t argue is that college football is a fantastic product by itself. It’s a whole different kind of beast than the NFL. There’s no room for players getting caught up with money concerns (Reggie Bush?), an entire community of students transform into one insanenly loud and enthusiastic section of fans, and it’s all about school pride. College football has been even more fun to watch in the past few years because of how much the BCS system has screwed with fans, coaches, and players’ hearts and minds. Teams you’d never heard of are suddenly right up there in the top 25. But, every year there’s those same few schools right in the mix for a national championship or major bowl game. I’m talking Florida, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, USC, and so forth.

Well, take everything you thought was certain in college football and throw it all away. This has been by far the most surprising and fun year of college football in as long as I can remember. There have been unbelievable games every single week. Huge letdowns, amazing upsets, and everything in between. Some highlights:

Week 1: Appalachian State 34, #5 Michigan 32. ….What??? I remember watching Louisville crush a team by 63 points, I remember seeing 2nd ranked LSU roll in their opener, but are you serious? I think after the shock of seeing the score, the first question people asked: Where the hell is Appalachian State? Well, this Division II school (yes, Div. II) came into the now not so Big House and ran wild on the 5th ranked team in the nation. Michigan lost to Appalachian State at home…the words just don’t seem to make sense. This upset has been forgetten somewhat among other crazy games this year, but we shouldn’t forget this one. It was truly remarkable, with it ending on a blocked field goal that could have won the game and saved the season for Michigan. But it was not to be for the Wolverines, and the season was off and running.

Week 2: South Carolina 16, #11 Georgia 12 // South Florida 26, #17 Auburn 23. …. Wow! The Bulldogs beaten at home by Spurrier and co.? Auburn beaten at home by…who? South Florida? And not to pick on them, but Michigan also lost to Oregon at home 39-7. Weird stuff.

Week 3: Utah 44, #11 UCLA 6 // Alabama 41, #16 Arkansas 38 // Kentucky 40, #9 Louisville 34 …. UCLA loses at home to unranked Utah, the best team in the Big East crumbles at home to an unranked, and an unbelievable SEC upset.

Week 4: Syracuse 38, #18 Louisville 35 // #24 Nebraska 41, Ball State 40 (it didn’t happen, but what a game!) // #10 Penn State 9, Michigan 14 …. Syracuse, on the road, beat Louisville. Wow, the Big East is starting to look as bad as the Big Ten…Speaking of which, isn’t that Michigan team we’ve been ripping on supposed to be pitiful? Well, they turned around and beat the 10th best team in the country, topping Penn State for the 8th straight time.

Week 5: #18 South Florida 21, #5 West Virginia 13 // Colorado 27, #3 Oklahoma 24 // Kansas State 41, #7 Texas 21 // Maryland 34, #10 Rutgers 24 // Georgia Tech 13, #13 Clemson 3 // Auburn 20, #4 Florida 17…. So I couldn’t help but notice that the entire college football world has gone absolutely into outer space. Top 10 teams losing seems to be the cool thing to do. The SEC is unpredictable as ever, and a once disgraced Colorado team beat the 3rd best team in the land. Holy tornado!

Week 6: Illinois 31, #5 Wisconsin 26 // Temple 16, Northern Illinois 15 (first win of the season baby!) // Stanford 24, #2 USC 23…. The Big Ten is getting embarassing, and it’s also safe to say that it’s dangerous to be the number 5 team in the country. But the big story… USC losing to Stanford?? Really???

Week 7: #17 Kentucky 43, #1 LSU 37 // #19 Wisconsin 7, Penn State 38 // Oregon State 31, #2 California 28 // Louisville 28, #15 Cincinnati 24 …. I think Michigan started a trend after their abysmal start. Once you’re ranked and beaten and humiliated, you have to knock off someone else who’s ranked. That’s what Penn State did. And wow, the number 1 and 2 teams in the country lose in the same weekend. It’s madness!

Week 8: Rutgers 30, #2 South Florida 27 // Vanderbilt 17, #6 South Carolina 6 // UCLA 30, #12 California 21 // Alabama 41, #21 Tennessee 17…. Well, the bad luck of being number 5 is now being number 2. That’s 2 weeks in a row that the number 2 team in the country has fallen. Oh yea, and Vandy beat Spurrier and co. on the road. The wacky season marches on.

Week 9: Mississippi State 31, #14 Kentucky 14 // #23 Connecticut 22, #10 South Florida 15 … Look out Big East…UConn is on top. Let me say that again, UConn football is on top. And Kentucky, remember them, the guys who beat the top ranked Tigers of LSU a few weeks ago? Yea they lost to Mississippi State at home. What?

Week 10: Navy 46, Notre Dame 44 // Florida State 27, #2 Boston College 17…. I just want to point out that another number 2 team lost, and USC is number 19 in the country for this week. To point the icing on the cake- Navy beats Notre Dame in South Bend for the first time in 43 years!

So here we are. Week 11 of the college football season, and we know one thing: nothing is for sure. Absolutely nobody has established themselves as a team to be reckoned with for the national championship. Notre Dame is 1-8 and has about 3 points all season. Nebraska just gave up over 70 points and is free falling. USC is in the top 25 of course…but way, way out of the championship picture. Temple won 3 games in a row. The 3 and 4 teams in the BCS? Oregon and Kansas. Yes, Oregon…and Kansas! Oh yea, and Arizona State and Connecticut are also in the top 15 in the BCS. This season has been unreal. Upset after upset, no game is a lock. Ohio State grabbed number 1 a few weeks back and although beating Penn State at home is no easy task, the Big 10 is a breeze this year, and we’ll have to see what happens versus Michigan in a couple weeks and their bowl game after that. Who’s the king of the SEC? Nobody knows. Kansas is undefeated, Connecticut football is on the map in a big way, and top 5 teams lost so many times it made Paul Maguire stop talking (for a few seconds). Whew. Now that I caught my breath, let me make a few picks for this week. But hell, don’t take my word, odds are there’s going to be upsets galore anyway. College football, how do you not love this?!

Week 11 Highlight Games

- Louisville @ #7 West Virginia … Don’t sleep on Louisville. This team has looked really bad at times, but when they come to play they can run with a lot of teams. This is a conference game and all the pressure is on West Virginia. My take… West Virginia eeks it out, 34-31.

- #12 Michigan @ Wisconsin…. Just like the previous game, this is a conference matchup. The Big Ten has been awful this year, and Wisconsin, once ranked as high as #5, has fallen out of the rankings. But they’re at home, and they’re playing spoiler. Plus, Michigan might be looking past the Badgers for their showdown versus the Buckeyes. My take… I like Michigan to stay focused just enough to keep the showdown intact, 41-24.

- #15 Florida @ South Carolina…. Coach Spurrier plays host to his former team in a big game for both these teams. If the Gators want a shot at anything meaningful in the SEC, it’s a must win. South Carolina will be fired up, but Florida has more firepower. My take… Tebow throws and runs (bad shoulder and all) for the win, 28-13.

- #17 USC @ California…. Oh how the mighty have fallen. USC, the golden boys of the college game, all the way back at 17. They’re not even the 2nd best team in the Pac-10. Cal is angry, and very, very talented. USC has seemed so iffy the past few weeks. Remember last year when UCLA upended the Trojans near the end of the year? Well, USC isn’t as highly ranked as they were then, but Cal would love to do just what UCLA did - send the Trojans home on a bad note. My take…. in an upset year, I like Cal at home revved up to win in a shootout, 48-38.