College Football Rankings: 10 Most Shocking Moments from Week 10

Love it or hate it, the BCS delivers unheralded excitement to college football fans.

Week 10 of the college football season was no different, with LSU versus Alabama shaking up the latest BCS rankings.

Off-field news also permeates the college football world, with serious allegations flooding Joe Paterno and the Penn State program.

We have your 10 most shocking moments of Week 10 right here. Enjoy.

 

10. Big East Invites New Members

On November 5, sources informed the Associated Press that the Big East would invite SMU, Houston and Central Florida for all sports.

In addition, the Big East would ask Boise State, Navy and Air Force to join as football-only schools. 

No major shock here given the current state of affairs in college football. What is surprising is the teams that are reportedly being invited to join a conference based on the east coast.

More importantly, the changes would help the Big East's chances of retaining its automatic BCS bowl bid.

Realignment has shaken NCAA athletics in a fashion few experts could have predicted to this point.  

9. Michigan Suffers Setback

Despite losing to Michigan State earlier in the season, the Michigan Wolverines were in position to challenge for a trip to the inaugural Big Ten Championship game.

Until they ran into a trap game against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Kurt Ferentz had his wounded football team rearing to go on Saturday, upsetting Denard Robinson and the Wolverines. In the final moments of the game, Robinson took four shots to the end zone and came up short.

As a result, Michigan's hopes at a BCS bid are all but dashed. 

8. UCLA Salvaging Season

Don't look now, but Rick Neuheisel has his UCLA Bruins in serious contention for a Pac-12 championship.

UCLA upset ranked Arizona State 29-28 and affirmed its position atop the Pac-12 South standings.

With USC banned from the conference title game and the Bruins holding the tiebreaker over the Sun Devils, we could see a chance at BCS redemption for a coach squarely on the hot seat.

There is much football to be played, however, and UCLA must hold serve down the stretch. After a 48-12 loss to Arizona, the Bruins will take any hope they can get. 

7. West Virginia Leaving Big East with a Whimper

Big East officials must think it poetic justice that West Virginia is faltering in possibly its last year in the conference.

Dana Holgorsen's Mountaineers stumbled once again on Saturday, losing 38-35 at Louisville. The loss leaves West Virginia 2-2 in the Big East and puts its BCS hopes in serious jeopardy.

Expectations were certainly higher for a team that had LSU on the ropes for moments earlier in the season. The defense has been the primary issue, allowing 27.4 points per game.

West Virginia has a chance to redeem itself on Saturday against No. 23 Cincinnati. 

6. Nebraska Loses to Northwestern

Not just any team goes into Lincoln and comes out with a victory.

Apparently, Northwestern does. Actually, it happens quite often to the Cornhuskers these days. In five consecutive years, an unranked opponent has won in Lincoln.

On Saturday, Nebraska suffered a head-scratching loss to an sub-.500 Northwestern team.

The loss took destiny out of the hands of Nebraska for the Big Ten conference title game. The Cornhuskers now have to hope for a loss by Michigan State down the stretch.

 

5. Ryan Broyles Suffers Season-Ending Injury

Oklahoma's 16-point win over Texas A&M came at an expensive price on Saturday.

Star wide receiver Ryan Broyles tore his ACL halfway through the third quarter of play versus the Aggies.

Broyles will be sorely missed by quarterback Landry Jones. The Sooner receiver had accumulated 83 catches for 1,157 yards before going down with the injury.

His presence will be missed most when Oklahoma takes on rival Oklahoma State in the last week of the season.

"He's just a spark in everything that he does," said coach Bob Stoops.

Looks like the Sooners will have to find a new spark to finish out the year. 

4. Alabama Kickers Struggle

The Alabama kickers had not faced any pressure situations before hosting LSU in the game of the year on Saturday night.

It showed.

Cade Foster, pictured above, hit only one of four field goals on the evening. The other kicker, Jeremy Shelley, made one of his two attempts.

Foster's missed 52-yard field goal attempt opened the door for LSU to win with a score.

Had Alabama been better at kicking in regulation, the Tide may have sealed the deal before it even got to that point. 

3. Alabama Suffers Minimal BCS Drop

While the gentleman pictured above is reapplying for his man card, he can take solace in the fact that he has a hot girlfriend and his Alabama Crimson Tide only fell to No. 3 in the latest BCS standings.

Fans and experts alike were somewhat surprised that Alabama remained in front of unbeaten Stanford. While the human polls ranked the Tide at No. 4, the computers elevated Alabama's stock enough to keep it at No. 3 in the BCS.

As a result, we could see a rematch of LSU and Alabama in the title game if Oklahoma State should lose.  

2. Nick Saban out-Coached... Again

Not many coaches can stake the claim that they own Nick Saban.

Right now, Les Miles can.

For the second straight year, Miles and LSU defeated a favored Alabama team. This time, however, it was on the Tide's home turf.

In big games, the relaxed, confident heir of the "Mad Hatter" seems to provide a calming effect for his Tigers. Against Saban, the approach has led to a 3-2 record for Miles and a likely chance to play for a BCS National Championship.

 

1. Penn State Scandal

The most shocking news in college football occurred off the field, with Penn State being involved in heavy child-sex abuse allegations.

The allegations are listed against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky and two administrators who allegedly were negligent in reporting the offenses.

Outkick the Coverage's Clay Travis posted the full report in his column.

The allegations put serious questions into the minds of fans about the morality of the Penn State program. Furthermore, the clean record of legendary coach Joe Paterno is in serious hot water.

NCAA intercollegiate athletics are already filled with lies and scandals that stain the entire culture of amateur sports.

In these developments at Penn State, college athletics may have its most despicable cover-up yet.