Parity reached another level in college football on Saturday, with four games involving at least one ranked team going to overtime and four others being decided by three or fewer points.
It matched the most overtime games in one day since Sportradar began keeping track in 2000 - the only previous date showing four overtime games was Sept. 27, 2003. It was just the 10th time Sportradar’s records showed at least three overtime games on the same day.
The overtime games were No. 4 Penn State’s 33-30 win over Southern California, No. 8 Tennessee’s 23-17 victory over Florida, No 13 LSU’s 29-26 win against No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 23 Illinois’ 50-49 win over Purdue.
In the other close calls on Saturday, No. 3 Oregon defeated No. 2 Ohio State 32-31, No. 7 Alabama knocked off South Carolina 27-25, No. 18 Kansas State held off Colorado 31-28 and No. 22 Pitt topped California 17-15.
Coaches say the transfer portal and teams switching conferences have leveled the playing field. Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, whose Sooners left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference this season, had one of those close calls a few weeks ago when the Sooners rallied for a 27-21 win over Auburn.
“I think you would be naive if you don’t believe that the portal hasn’t had a dramatic effect on some of the parity that you’re seeing,” Venables said. “The margins are closer than they’ve ever been in the game of college football, and you’re seeing that week in, week out and, so you got to always be prepared, ready to play.”
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said he expects tough games on a regular basis. His Crimson Tide went from beating then-No. 1 Georgia to losing to Vanderbilt to edging South Carolina in three weeks.
“We talked a lot about different things that South Carolina would do that would be tougher matchups for us,” DeBoer said. “Areas and the strengths of their team that were maybe different than (what Vanderbilt offered) a week ago. That’s the way it’s going to be every single week.”
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said the lack of familiarity with opponents is a factor. California is a new team in the Atlantic Coast Conference, so the whole game was like a feeling-out process.
“That’s the problem when you play these teams just once - you don’t know how they’re going to play, what they’re going to do,” he said. “That’s why I always liked that Coastal Division, because you get used to playing people and find out. But obviously the next time we get to play them, we’ll know a little bit more about how they’re going to try to defend you, and that’s part of the chess match out there.”
USC moved from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, and face dogfights on a regular basis. All three of the Trojans’ conference losses were by seven points or fewer, making Saturday’s loss tougher to handle.
“Came down to the last play, and it hurts to not be able to get this done,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “We’ve had a few games like this, where we’ve had chances to win right there at the end — and to not make the plays, to not have some of the breaks bounce your way, it’s a gut punch. There’s no doubt about it. We’re very disappointed with not finishing it off.”
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