CHRISTOPHER WALSH: We could be in for a big letdown

So last Saturday night, how many of you were absolutely stunned to hear Southern California lost to Stanford?

Maybe a better question is who wasn’t? The preseason No. 1 Trojans had won 35 straight games at home and were favored by some 40-odd points, but scores of people around the country couldn’t help but giggle and smile at the news.

“No way!”

We love underdogs, that’s nothing new, and this year in college football has already been one for the ages in terms of upsets, surprises and downright weirdness. It’s part of what makes the sport fun, and why countless people consider themselves fans for life.

However, while so many are basking in the craziness, while simultaneously shaking their heads at all the unusual results, there are possible ramifications to be considered — and not coaches trying to use USC’s loss as a way to get their players’ attention.

“Five teams in the top 10 got beat one week. USC got beat,” Nick Saban said earlier this week. “How many teams do you see get big leads … I mean, I went home Thursday night and saw Louisville and Utah. All of a sudden Louisville is lining up for an onside kick, and Louisville’s got a chance to win, and all the fans left. There was nobody there, except the mommas and the papas, I think, and they had a chance to win the game.

“What everybody needs to understand and learn from this is that we continue play hard in the game. Players don’t understand when you talk about intensity is that intensity is mental, it’s not just physical. And we make mental errors on things that we did correctly in the first half, which affects our execution in the second half on both sides of the ball.”

That’s great, but earlier this season it was Michigan getting beat by Appalachian State, or South Florida over Auburn, or even Colorado defeating Oklahoma. That’s the way college football works, every week, every month, every year, there are upsets, which have every coach in the country saying: “That’s why they play the games.”

Consequently, we’ve reached that point in the season when programs accustomed to being the hunters are now the hunted, which many won’t be able to handle.

“I think that will grow every week if you continue to win,” Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski said. “I think the bullseye on your chest gets even bigger.”

It does, which doesn’t bode well for the Golden Eagles.

But consider what happens if they, and other upstarts, don’t stumble. College football might be setting itself to take a huge hit come bowl time.

Consider this scenario:

Ohio State gets crushed again in the national championship game;

Missouri vs. West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl;

Florida vs. South Florida in the Sugar Bowl;

Illinois vs. Oregon in the Rose Bowl;

Hawaii in any Bowl Championship Series game.

Maybe college football would be enhanced by having one of those matchups (like Boise State vs. Oklahoma last season), but imagine if all of them occurred.

Granted, everything will change all over again this weekend, and the next, and so on through the conference championship games, while many of the more traditional programs will rise and fall along with the rest.

“It’s early,” South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. “It’s very early.”

But not that early, and the way things are going we could all be in for a tremendous letdown at the end.

Christopher Walsh’s column appears Saturdays. Reach him at christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.