BCS Contenders take the afternoon off while the SEC West is decided

After three consecutive weeks of huge impact games in college football, the teams fighting for the ‘elite eight’ spots in the BCS get a breather before heading for the home stretch. Florida gets 2-7 Vandy in the swamp, Texas host 5-3 UCF, Iowa host mighty Nortwestern (5-3), and Cincinnati has a very emotionally unstable 4-4 UCONN team coming to town for a visit. So don’t expect any shakeups in those matchups even though all bets are off in any game Iowa plays, but for the most part this will be good week for the schools to fine tune, rest up, or get those pesky suspensions out of the way before the curtail holiday and rivalry games. Amidst all of our presumptions is one of the biggest games on the year in the SEC which will decide the SEC West representative in the SEC Championship game and continues the series of BCS elimination games as #9 LSU travels to #3 Alabama. The loser is surely out of the NGC race and possibly a BCS game in general. Conversely, the winner solidifies their BCS merits and is almost assured of a spot in the final eight. Even with that as a given, it means even more for the Tide, as win puts them one game away from the big prize, a birth in the National Championship Game, and will also give them an opportunity to return the favor to Texas, who “leaped frogged” them on a Saturday where both teams won. On the national scale it almost assures that the winner of the SEC will not have a loss and close the door on the chance of a non-BCS team sneaking in the back door, and thus leaving all of the pressure on Texas to walk their own path to Pasadena. The Big-10 clash between Ohio St. and Penn St. that was on everyone’s calendar has lost its luster for those outside the conference as both former BCS place holders now come in at #16 and #11 respectively, with the automatic bid the only keeping them in the mix. Who do you think will slip out of the final 8 by the end of the year? Chat live with fans from both Alabama and LSU in the live game chatroom, or in any of the quick links:

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Elimination Saturdays begin this weekend (polls as they come)

BCS Rankings As of November 1st, 2009

RK TEAM RECORD
1 Florida 8-0
2 Texas 8-0
3 Alabama 8-0
4 Iowa 9-0
5 Cincinnati 8-0
6 TCU 8-0
7 Boise State 8-0
8 Oregon 7-1
9 LSU 7-1
10 Georgia Tech 8-1
11 Penn State 8-1
12 USC 6-2
13 Pittsburgh 7-1
14 Utah 7-1
15 Houston 7-1
16 Ohio State 7-2
17 Miami (FL) 6-2
18 Arizona 5-2
19 Oklahoma State 6-2
20 California 6-2
21 Wisconsin 6-2
22 Notre Dame 6-2
23 Virginia Tech 5-3
24 Oklahoma 5-3
25 South Florida 6-2
We stated last week that things were getting interesting in college football, well now they go from interesting to critical as every week beginning this week there will be games where the loser is out of BCS contention. For those who are in favor of the BCS system argue that there is a “playoff” system and it begins this week. Opening round:

#5 USC at #10 Oregon – The Trojans travel north to Eugene to take on the Ducks who have a plethora of injuries in the secondary but will USC have the aerial attack to exploit it? Oregon ranks third in the Pac-10 and 10th in the nation in sacks (3.14 per game) and is 25th in the nation in tackles for a loss (7.0 per game). This game comes down to the Ducks ability to stop the SC running game if they can do that, and force Barkley to beat them they can pull off the upset. On the other side Jeremiah Masoli who sat out against UCLA but looked great last week and 100% healthy, will be the X factor. If he can compliment the O running game then we could see the fans in Eugene pulling down the goal post.

#3 Texas at #14 Oklahoma State – Texas has bitter taste in their mouths from last year as it was this same week when a trip to Texas Tech and a last second TD by Michael Crabtree ended their NCG run. They’ve had a year to think about what if and it seems to be fueling their fire as this has been the best the Horns’ have looked all year, even though they’re running game has been non existent. On the other side of the ball the Cowboys are 3-0 in the B-12 and 6-1 overall, a win puts them on top of the B-12 South, with only the Championship game standing between them and a BCS birth. They won’t be able to climb the ladder to get to the NCG, but it would be the biggest bowl game in the school’s history.

Who will survive the first round of eliminations? Let us know here, chat live with fans from both the Cowboys and the Horns’ in the live game chatroom, or any of the quick links.
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Now things REALLY get interesting as sky begins to clear

Now we reached the point of the year where the pollsters (both human and computer) actually pay attention to how the games are being played not just the final score the next day, as we see movement in the bottle neck that are the final eight spots even if both teams come away with a W. This week it appears Pete Carol’s lobbying has made an impact as although all 3 teams won, USC jumped over TCU and Boise St. to move up to 5 in the BCS. That’s huge because it’s impossible for both Bama and Florida to finish winless so that leaves Texas, Iowa and SC to fight for the a spot in final. Texas only has Ok. State and the B-12 championship game where they’ll probably see 3-loss K-Sate so one spot belongs to Texas. You have to figure the SEC winner will take the other unless Florida gets upset in the World’s Biggest Cocktail Party then wins the SEC Championship. Bama’ still has LSU to deal with and an NCG so it is possible that both SEC teams could find themselves with one loss and in the mix with everyone else. Lastly, Iowa still has to go to Horseshoe but beyond that there is no one between them and the goal line. Who do you think will be the last two standing? Let us know here and in the NCAA chat rooms,team rooms, and any of the quick links:

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BCS picks up where it left off last year, with controversy

The BCS Pool is finally out and although most are content with their position and the possibilities, but like every year, some are unhappy as they can do the math and calculate their chances of climbing are slim. It seems like this year most of the top schools have ad to deal with either losing or playing with an injured QB, the top of the polls also represent who has dealt with the adversity the best, here’s our assessment of the BCS first poll;

Florida – Can’t really argue with this pick have dominated since the season ended last year and although Tebow has been banged up, perhaps not as bad as Bradford or Barkely, but they still have managed to remain unbeaten, doing what they had to do to survive and advance. The knock on Florida is that they are not even in the top 40 for passing yards and are 19th in total offense.

Alabama – The top team in the AP Poll that many believe is the best in the country, rank 7th in offense but surprisingly don’t have a defense ranked in the top 40. Fortunately, they have their toughest games prior to the SEC championship at home as they take on a much improved Tennessee, then LSU.

So, as we’ve stated on previous post, the loser of the SEC title game will get the version of a double play as in all probability the late season loss coupled with lack of interest in a “let’s run it back” immediate rematch, means the SEC Championship game loser will be playing for 3rd place and the winner goes to the NCG as the favorite.

Texas – Didn’t have to go through any QB issues thus far and won the Red River Shootout and now just Ok State stands in the way of a trip to the Big-12 Championship Game. Where they will probably play Kansas for the 2nd time only the Jayhawks won’t be ranked and that will cause Texas to lose ground in the BCS Polls but not enough to drop out of the NCG so the table is set for the Horns’, winout and your in.

Boise St. – What can you say besides they have one game left on their schedule against a team with a winning record, at home 11/14 vs. Idaho. Although they’re looking good right now, that will come back to haunt them as they slide down the BCS slope as slowly their strength of schedule gets more watered down. The only question is as it appears there will be some 2-loss teams in the BCS do they drop below them? We don’t think so, expect to see the smurfs playing in 2010.

Cincinnati – The lone representative of Big East in the BCS Mix and soon to be the only Big East team in the top 25, still has to hold their mud against Pitt and WV then we’ll see how high they can climb as one of the only unbeaten teams left in the BCS. An impressive victory over then unbeaten USF brought the nationwide attention they needed but is it too little too late? Who will be left out of this year's BCS? Should USC be down as far as #7? Would you want to see a Championship game rematch if the SEC team has only 1 loss? Let us know here and in the NCAA chat rooms and quick links:

BCS Standings
RK TEAM RECORD
1 Florida 6-0
2 Alabama 7-0
3 Texas 6-0
4 Boise State 6-0
5 Cincinnati 6-0
6 Iowa 7-0
7 USC 5-1
8 TCU 6-0
9 LSU 5-1
10 Miami (FL) 5-1
11 Oregon 5-1
12 Georgia Tech 6-1
13 Penn State 6-1
14 Virginia Tech 5-2
15 Oklahoma State 5-1
16 Brigham Young 6-1
17 Houston 5-1
18 Utah 5-1
19 Ohio State 5-2
20 Pittsburgh 6-1
21 Wisconsin 5-2
22 Arizona 4-2
23 West Virginia 5-1
24 South Carolina 5-2
25 Kansas 5-1