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Top-10 teams can't stop losing, and we can't get enough of it

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Gundy riles up crowd by taking off shirt (0:38)

At a pep rally for Saturday's homecoming game against Baylor, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy and quarterback Mason Rudolph get the crowd fired up by taking their shirts off at center court. (0:38)

If only every upset-filled week spawned a sequel like the one we watched in Week 7.

Let's call it: "2 Upset 2 Furious."

Or maybe: "Upset Weekend ... Part Deux."

This one has the best ring to it: "Upset Harder."

No matter the name, the upsets kept coming Saturday, a day after No. 2 Clemson and No. 8 Washington State lost to begin what was supposed to be a ho-hum, no good, boring college football slate without one game featuring two ranked teams.

By the time Saturday turned into Sunday morning on the East Coast, No. 5 Washington and No. 10 Auburn brought the final tally to four AP top-10 teams with losses to unranked opponents, topping last weekend, when Michigan and Oklahoma lost as heavy home favorites. In all, seven top-25 teams lost to unranked opponents.

This is what college football does: Just when you start to think nothing can be as good as the previous weekend of upsets, Part II throws all the shocking plot twists into one -- just to see if you are paying attention.

Indeed, Part II drew attention with its twilight-zone feel. But this weekend also marks an unofficial second act of sorts. We're in the second half of the season and the teams we think we knew become less and less predictable as pressure rises, margin for error shrinks, injuries mount and motivation wavers.

So what makes Week 7 so unique, when every season has its share of upsets? For starters, three of the season's six biggest upset losses involving ranked teams, according to the point spread, happened this weekend. Now for a little history. The last time there were zero ranked matchups this late in the season came in Week 12 of 2009 and four ranked teams lost (and only one in the top 10).

Even Clemson, the team that convinced us it had separated itself with three top-15 wins in its first five games, showed it is not immune. Its loss to Syracuse not only had us rethinking how we view Clemson, it had us rethinking how we view who could get into the College Football Playoff. From here on out, the Tigers have no margin for error. Neither does Washington, whose shocking loss hurts much worse because its nonconference schedule is, in a word, dreadful. Washington came into the game as an 18-point favorite over Arizona State. But against a team that gave up an average of 36 points per game, the Huskies managed seven total points in a 13-7 defeat.

No. 12 Oklahoma has no more margin for error, either, an idea that got reinforced after blowing a 20-0 lead on rival Texas. At around the same time Saturday afternoon, two other unranked teams made their own upset bids against top-15 opponents: Georgia Tech led No. 11 Miami, and LSU improbably began erasing its own 20-0 deficit to No. 10 Auburn.

LSU's comeback started shortly after the 2007 Tigers national championship team was honored at halftime. Les Miles returned to star in "Les Eats (More) Grass," and as soon as he took a bite of that famous Tiger Stadium turf, something started to change. Auburn had zero points and 64 total yards in the second half, a stark contrast to its 23 points and 290 total yards in the first half.

When Connor Culp hit a 36-yard field goal with 38 seconds left to pull the Tigers ahead 27-23, Ed Orgeron smiled the smile of a man taking his own starring turn in "The Resurrection of Coach O and Matt Canada: A Love Story."

LSU completed its comeback, just as Texas looked as if it could also do the same. Texas took a 24-23 lead midway through the fourth quarter behind an inspired second-half performance led by freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger. But Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield, banged up and bruised, ultimately made the plays Sooners fans come to expect and led Oklahoma on a go-ahead touchdown drive on the ensuing series and held on for a 29-24 win.

Meanwhile in Miami, the Hurricanes have become a team that finds ways to win games. This time it was receiver Darrell Langham, whose bobbled catch on fourth down put Miami in position to hit the winning field goal -- a catch described by coach Mark Richt as "a minor miracle."

So Oklahoma and Miami avoided the same fate that befell Clemson, Washington State and Auburn. But those close wins only serve to underscore that unpredictability is the lifeblood of college football. And the surprising results we have seen to date could only be a prelude for what is to come.

Perhaps "The Upset Strikes Back" comes next weekend or the week after next. If we have learned anything over the past two weeks, it's that we can predict that sequel in the series will get green lit. And even more havoc will ensue.

You get the sense that everyone is on notice from here on out. Well, everyone except Alabama.


A shirtless Mike Gundy and a couple of Friday night upsets started the weekend off right. Here's the best of Saturday.

Don't get pupset

It has been a tough couple of weeks for Florida. The Gators lost 17-16 last week to LSU. Then, Saturday, the Gators lost to Texas A&M on a late field goal.

But Albert the Alligator is here to get the Gators fans through the tough times.

Nice little Saturday for Oklahoma State

How might Mike Gundy celebrate such a day?

Milk and penalties by Jim Harbaugh

Michigan committed a school-record 16 penalties against Indiana. And, of course, Harbaugh had something to say about it.

"I tell my 6-year-old not to spill the milk. And, gosh darn, the next thing that happens is spilled milk," Harbaugh said after the game. "[I say] 'No penalties, no penalties.' Try to coach them how to not get the penalties, and we're getting penalties.

In the first half, Michigan had three penalties called during and after one play.

Friendly advice

How the turnover chain was born

The "King of Bling" Jeweler AJ Machado brings the Swag back to the U with the Miami Turnover Chain.

Quint Kessenich, ESPN Reporter7y ago

The resemblance is uncanny