Several college football teams honored America's military on Saturday, wearing unique uniforms and raising money to support the Wounded Warrior Project. And while the commercialism of these types of outpourings of patriotism may be new, the relationship between college football and the military is deeply engrained within the sport's DNA. The original Morrill Land-Grant Act was passed in 1862, during the Civil War, and included a provision that all land-grant universities provide training for the reserve officer corps.
Florida State University was founded before the Civil War, and was used to train Confederate soldiers during the war. Cadets from the university participated in the South's victory in the Battle of Natural Bridge in 1865, which kept Tallahassee out of Union hands. To this day, the Florida State ROTC displays a banner memorializing this victory over the United States of America and in defense of slavery. SoS: -19
4) Stanford (8-2, 6-2, +15) - I had the uncomfortable and unfamiliar experience of rooting for the hated Trojans against Stanford, but they obliged, getting their first win against Stanford since 2008, breaking the Cardinal's longest winning streak in the 108 year long rivalry. There's a lot of terrible things about the Stanford Cardinal, née Indians, but by far the worst is that they currently employ war criminal, cultural imperialist, and college football super fan Condoleeza Rice. She is my Exhibit A that the love of college football and the love of subjugation of autonomous peoples through violent means are inherently and inextricably connected. SoS: -6.9. Still ridiculously hard. If Stanford's schedule is approximately four times harder than Ohio State's, does that mean they're allowed to lose 2 games and stay ahead of the Buckeyes? Does it mean anything that Stanford is 4-0 against the Top 25, but Ohio State is 1-0? I don't know.
5) Ohio State (10-0, 6-0, +13) - Is it weird that Illinois loses to Ohio State 60-35, and I'm kind of like, "Good for the Illini, née Fighting Illini, a.k.a. Pawnee Drunken Savages"?
14) Michigan State (9-1, 6-0, +6) SoS: -27.2
17) Louisville (9-1, 5-1, +4) SoS: -30
18) Oklahoma State (9-1, 6-1, +4) SoS: -26.6
20) Duke (8-2, 4-2, +2) SoS: -24.5
22) Wisconsin (8-2, 5-1, +1) SoS: -23
2) Oregon (9-1, 6-1, +16) - The Ducks got back to business on Saturday, wearing Army Brown in their 44-21 win over Utah, behind a 19/26, 288 yard, 3 TD, 0 INT day from Marcus Mariota. With Stanford's loss, Oregon controls their own destiny to the Rose Bowl, with remaining games at Arizona, the Civil War, and, if they win out, the Pac-12 Championship. They should be 5th in the BCS.
Whereas violence, militarism, racism, and misogyny are not new college football, one thing is: the way in which private companies are profiting off of these ostensibly amateur football teams. No team represents this more purely than the Ducks. Only 13% of the University of Oregon's funding comes from the state. The rest comes from private sources, most notably Nike CEO Phil Knight and Business Wire founder Lorry Lokey. SoS: -18.8
3) Alabama (10-0, 7-0, +16) - Alabama didn't seem quite right against Mississippi State, turning the ball over four times and punting four times, but they still managed to win 20-7. I don't see how anyone could rank them ahead of Florida State right now. Nevertheless, if they can get an Iron Bowl win, and a SEC Championship, they will be playing for the National Championship.
Like Florida State, the University of Alabama predates the Civil War, having been established in 1831. Also like Florida State, Alabama sits on land granted by the federal government, but taken from Native American tribes, in this case, the Muscogee Indians, who lost the land to Andrew Jackson in the Creek Indian Wars of 1813-1814. SoS: -19
4) Stanford (8-2, 6-2, +15) - I had the uncomfortable and unfamiliar experience of rooting for the hated Trojans against Stanford, but they obliged, getting their first win against Stanford since 2008, breaking the Cardinal's longest winning streak in the 108 year long rivalry. There's a lot of terrible things about the Stanford Cardinal, née Indians, but by far the worst is that they currently employ war criminal, cultural imperialist, and college football super fan Condoleeza Rice. She is my Exhibit A that the love of college football and the love of subjugation of autonomous peoples through violent means are inherently and inextricably connected. SoS: -6.9. Still ridiculously hard. If Stanford's schedule is approximately four times harder than Ohio State's, does that mean they're allowed to lose 2 games and stay ahead of the Buckeyes? Does it mean anything that Stanford is 4-0 against the Top 25, but Ohio State is 1-0? I don't know.
5) Ohio State (10-0, 6-0, +13) - Is it weird that Illinois loses to Ohio State 60-35, and I'm kind of like, "Good for the Illini, née Fighting Illini, a.k.a. Pawnee Drunken Savages"?
Go Carlisle. Beat Army.
SoS: -24.1
6) Baylor (9-0, 6-0, +12) - I am fast becoming a Baylor fan, who spotted Texas Tech a 14-point lead before storming back to win, 63-34. And besides, they have a pretty benign history, being an early supporter of coeducation and the liberal arts and their current president is ... Oh, fucking hell. Never mind.
SoS: -23.556. The AP jumped Baylor over Ohio State, which I am fine with. With their win over Texas Tech, the Bears now have a resume that includes wins against No. 16 Oklahoma, No. 40 Buffalo, No. 55 Texas Tech, and No. 67 Kansas State. But Ohio State has wins against No. 22 Wisconsin, No. 40 Buffalo, No. 45 Penn State, and No. 47 Iowa. Really, I don't think there is any meaningful way to differentiate between the two right now.
7) Northern Illinois (10-0, 6-0, +12). - SoS: -36
8) Clemson (9-1, 7-1, +11) - Let me tell you the little story of Benjamin Tillman, he didn't like Black folks, he only liked to kill 'em. Couldn't fight for the South cause he only had one eye! But after the War, he made sure "those people" died!
Anyway, fuck Benjamin Tillman. In 1876, he led a massacre of 7 Black national guardsmen in Hamburg, South Carolina. 14 years later, he was elected governor of South Carolina, running on a "lynch pledge." He also "served" as South Carolina's Senator, during which he said things like, “The action of President Roosevelt in entertaining that n----- ( B.T. Washington) will necessitate our killing a thousand n-----s in the South before they learn their place again." What's that you say? What's the point? Oh, right. He helped found Clemson University and was on its Board of Trustees. Today, Clemson's Education department is housed in Tillman Hall, dedicated in 1946.
Clemson beat Georgia Tech, 55-31. SoS: -17.4
9) Auburn (10-1, 6-1, +10) - Auburn beat Georgia 43-38 on a miraculous Hail Mary in the last minute of play. Auburn now gets to play Alabama at home in a winner take all Iron Bowl for the SEC West title. The Tide should be favorites, but they should also be challenged by Auburn's running game. Georgia, meanwhile, has been finally eliminated from contention in the SEC East. They are currently 6-4 overall, including 2-3 against Top 25 teams and 1-3 against teams named "Tigers". SoS: -17.818
10) Fresno State (9-0, 6-0, +9) - SoS: -31.667
11) UCLA (8-2, 5-2, +9) - 70 years ago, a series of riots in Los Angeles erupted when groups of White, World War II servicemen began attacking groups of young, Latino (mostly Mexican) and African American men. The press dubbed these attacks the "Zoot Suit Riots," after the style of dress favored by young Mexican-Americans at the time. (Like Black kids in hoodies today, the press of 1943 blamed the victims for wearing the outfit of "hoodlums" that caused them to be attacked.) The police refused to arrest servicemen, and, after several days of riots, more than150 people (mostly Latinos) had been injured and more than 500 people (almost entirely Latinos) had been arrested. From the L.A. Daily News: "The military staging area dumped thousands of out-of-town, white, testosterone-filled young sailors among thousands of young Latinos who had recently got work in the wartime economy and were more than willing to flaunt their newfound wealth." So, yes, let's honor the military. Everyday should be Saturday, another day of state-sanctioned violence against brown bodies.
Anyway. UCLA beat Washington 41-31. If they win out against Arizona State and USC, they win the Pac-12 South. SoS: -15.4
12) Missouri (9-1, 5-1, +8) The Missouri Tigers had a bye week, and still control their own destiny with the ability to win the SEC East with wins over Mississippi and Texas A&M.
The father of the University of Missouri was James S. Rollins. While not the flaming asshole that Benjamin Tillman was, Rollins is, um, problematic. He drafted the legislation that got Mizzou chartered in Columbia and, as a U.S. Representative, helped write the Morril Act in 1862. Rollins was a Unionist dring the Civil War, but he was also a slaveholder, and generally opposed Civil/ Human Rights. Eventually, after the personal intervention of Abraham Lincoln, Rollins agreed to support the Thirteenth Amendment that called for emancipation, and was instrumental in getting it passed through the war era Congress. SoS:-19.1
13) UCF (8-1, 5-0, +8) Lol. UCF barely beat the one-win Temple 39-36, thereby continuing to piss everybody off, en route to a Sugar Bowl date with Missouri that approximately 6 people will watch. Also, sugar bowl dates. Yum. SoS: -22.667
14) Michigan State (9-1, 6-0, +6) SoS: -27.2
15) South Carolina (8-2, 6-2, +5) SoS: -13.7
16) Oklahoma (8-2, 5-2, +4) SoS: -20.6
17) Louisville (9-1, 5-1, +4) SoS: -30
18) Oklahoma State (9-1, 6-1, +4) SoS: -26.6
19) Arizona State (8-2, 6-1, +4) SoS: -11.4
20) Duke (8-2, 4-2, +2) SoS: -24.5
21) Ball State (9-2, 6-1, +1) SoS: -30.636
22) Wisconsin (8-2, 5-1, +1) SoS: -23
23) Minnesota (8-2, 4-2, +1) SoS: -23.3
24) Washington (6-4, 3-4, 0) - Uh, yeah. I don't think Washington should be here, either. But I know why they are. They are 0-4 against the Top 25 but 6-0 outside it, with losses to No. 2 Oregon (9-1), No. 3 Stanford (8-2), No. 11 UCLA (8-2), and No. 19 Arizona State (8-2). So that overrules the fact that their best win is against No. 46 Arizona. SoS: -13.5. Still easier then Stanford, on account of those wins against Illinois, Cal, and FCS Idaho State.
25) LSU (7-3, 3-3, 0) SoS: -19
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