Welcome to the first installment of Border Eight, where I take a look at how the college football teams did over the past weekend in the eight states that border Missouri.
Starting off in Big 10 country, the Nebraska Cornhuskers toppled the Indiana Hoosiers to get their first conference win in 364 days. Nebraska now sits at 2-3 and 1-1 in conference play in a six-way tie for the top spot in the Big Ten West.
Moving over to Illinois, Northwestern lost a grudge match on the road to no. 11 Penn State. The Wildcats fall to 1-4 and are still looking for their first win on American soil with their sole win coming against Nebraska in Ireland.
Their in-state rival on the other hand is having a much better season. The Illinois Fighting Illini went on the road and upset Wisconsin in blowout fashion with a score of 34-10 to advance to 4-1. Wisconsin’s loss caused the Badgers to fire head coach Paul Chryst.
Over in Iowa, the Hawkeyes played solid defense once again holding no. 4 Michigan to just 27 points, but their offense sputtered again only putting up 14, knocking Iowa to 3-2.
On the Big 12 side of things the Iowa State Cyclones had another low scoring match against the undefeated Kansas Jayhawks. A missed field goal at the end of the game caused Iowa State to come up just short 14-11 as Iowa State falls to 3-2 and Kansas moves to 5-0.
The Kansas State Wildcats continued to play well as they took down a 3-1 Texas Tech team in a 38-27 score to move up to 4-1 in the season and stay undefeated in conference play.
Down in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Cowboys got a statement win over no. 16 Baylor on the road 36-25 to remain unbeaten and move to number 7 in the AP rankings.
Their in-state rivals on the other hand were not as lucky. The no. 18 Oklahoma Sooners went on the road to play an unranked TCU and got stomped 55-24 to drop to 3-2 and are still seeking their first conference win.
Down in the Southeastern Conference, Arkansas lost a second straight game to no. 2 Alabama, despite scoring 23 unanswered points, where the hogs lost to the reigning conference champions 49-26.
Both SEC teams in Tennessee had bye weeks to preserve their winning records with Vanderbilt at 3-2 and Tennessee at 4-0.
Kentucky lost their first game of the season in an epic slug fest against no. 14 Ole Miss 22-19 after multiple turnovers near the end.
In the ACC, Louisville got hit with an upset, losing to Boston College 34-33 despite being a 13.5 favorite. The Cardinals are sitting at 2-3 on the year.
Down at the Group of Five level, Northern Illinois lost an all-time classic to Ball State 44-38 in overtime. The reigning Mid-American Conference champions are 1-4 on the year.
The Arkansas State Red Wolves gain their first FBS win of the year over ULM 45-28 to advance to 2-3.
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers got hit with a minor upset at home to the Troy Trojans of Alabama 34-27 as both teams hit 3-2.
The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders had their three game winning streak snapped against UTSA in a 45-30 loss on a Friday night shootout at home.
Finally, the Memphis Tigers blew out Temple 24-3 to move to 4-1 on the season.
The nineteen FBS teams that border Missouri had a combined record of 7-10 with two teams having bye weeks.