While many college football fans -- including yours truly -- continue to clamor for a post-season playoff, proponents of the current system like to point out that such a playoff would render regular season games meaningless since one loss would not mean as much as it does now. For them, the college football season is more like a four-month single elimination playoff.
Although I do not believe this point is enough to substantiate their view as the best, I must admit there is something special to the uniqueness of the college football season. One mental lapse leads to a loss and you find yourself out of the running. With the increasing amount of parity (see the MAC), teams are having fewer and fewer games where all that's needed to secure victory is showing up. Now, if you aren't prepared you could find yourself the victim of an embarrassing upset. Just ask Southern California, who lost to California in double overtime Saturday.
Even though the season is only five-weeks young, this lack of mental preparation has taken reoccurring shape in one prominent form: The trap of the hangover loss. This occurs when a team is still "hungover" from a big win the week before and fails to dedicate the appropriate preparation for the next week's game. Whether it is too much celebrating or overconfidence, teams have been Jekyl one week and Hyde the next.
The number of teams afflicted with this phenomenon litters the college football-upset landscape. This past Saturday, Iowa followed its big victory over Arizona State, and breakthrough into the top-10, with an uninspired 20-10 loss to Michigan State who lost to Louisiana Tech earlier this month.
Oregon also was suffering from a big-win hangover when it faced Washington State last weekend. Coming off one of the biggest wins in the school's history -- a 31-27 upset of then No. 3 Michigan -- the un-mighty Ducks found themselves trailing 38-2 at halftime. The final score was 55-16 as Oregon committed nine turnovers, none of which were directly caused by their highlighter yellow uniforms, but lack of preparation might have had something to do with it.
Of course the Duck's big win over Michigan came while the Wolverines were suffering a hangover from their 38-0 drumming of Notre Dame (who, not completely coincidentally, was coming off its big win over Washington State a week earlier -- see the cycle?).
This same dilemma for coaches occurs at all levels. After its big win at Kansas State, Marshall followed its upset victory with a loss to Troy State Saturday. Fellow MAC-upstart Toledo was blown out by Syracuse only a week after defeating Big East titan Pittsburgh. And after the aforementioned upset of Michigan State, can you guess what Louisiana Tech did? Yep, they lost the next week to Fresno State.
A little closer to home, some ACC members have fallen prey to the hangover virus. After dominating Maryland in an early ACC showdown, Florida State played sloppy and lackadaisically against Georgia Tech and barely eked out a 14-13 win thanks to a last minute touchdown. And how did Georgia Tech respond from its impressive performance against the Seminoles: They were blown out by 30 points the next week against lowly Clemson. Wake Forest made a splash early this season with a dominant upset victory over NC State. How did they respond the next week? With a loss to Purdue.
Why so many upsets of the hangover variety? Well, any answer would be mostly speculation, but it is fair to assume that for mere kids (especially those 18 and 19-year-olds) the ecstasy of a big victory clouds the preparation for the following week. As one Oregon player admitted after its devastating loss to Washington State, the players were still engrossed with their win over Michigan and failed to adequately prepare for the Cougars.
So what does this all mean? That our Cavaliers should leave the hangovers for the fans and not overlook an under-matched North Carolina team on the road this Saturday or they could find themselves with nothing to celebrate next weekend.
Read More
Virginia, seeded seventh, will face Louisville in first round of ACC Championship
By Ben McNiff | 5 hours agoA matchup against the Cardinals could prove to be an advantageous one for the Cavaliers.
Ben Wayer and Griffin Schutz selected in the 2025 PLL Draft
By Xander Tilock | 17 hours agoEvery year in the PLL's history, at least one Cavalier has been drafted.
Cavaliers then, Cavaliers now — but this time with greater aspirations
By Mofeoluwa Akande | YesterdaySix years after their national title, Ty Jerome and De'Andre Hunter are gunning for another ring.
