Because of the holidays, we arent putting together a full predictions/analysis this week, but we’ll return hopefully on Sunday night to wrap up the games of the weekend, and by then, we should have a pretty good idea what’s going down in the BCS, or at least, we’ll be able to make some educated guesses.
All this year we’ve been putting our own rankings together, but as the bowl games approach, we’ll be gradually shifting to the order of the BCS, mainly because that’s what will govern the placement of most of the games, along with the corresponding team records.
Through Friday:
Texas routed Texas A&M to keep their Big-12 Championship and possibly National Title claims alive. but alot has to happen. It’s pretty simple tho:
If Texas Tech loses to Baylor on Saturday, the Longhorns get the KC date with Missouri, no matter how OU-Oklahoma State turns out.
If OU loses to Oklahoma State on Saturday, Texas Tech gets the Missouri showdown for the Championship.
If OU and Texas Tech BOTH win, then Missouri’s opponent will be left to the pollsters and the BCS computers. Whichever of Texas or OU is higher in the BCS, gets the chance against Missouri.
West Virginia lost to Pittsburgh 19-15, and as such handed the Big East to Cincinnati (9-2), so the Bearcats join Penn State as a lock for a BCS bowl. Cincy can lose to Syracuse on Saturday and still get the bowl bid, because they beat West Virginia, Pitt and Rutgers earlier in the season.
Other major games to watch:
#4 Florida (10-1) at #20 Florida State. Obviously the game means more to the Gators, to stay in the hunt for a national title. Texas has already won, so they are likely to stay ahead of the Gators no matter what. OU is still to play. Gators must blow out FSU impressively to keep the pollsters interested enough. However, the ultimate game for Florida (if they beat FSU) is the SEC Championship against Alabama. Look for a tug of war early in the game, but for the Gators to gain control and win comfortably.
A Boston College victory over Maryland on Saturday claims the ACC Atlantic title over FSU by virtue of their win two weeks ago over FSU.
#3 Oklahoma at #12 Oklahoma State. We already discussed the ramifications here. The big question is what the pollsters will do if OU wins. The BCS computers have Texas ranked over Oklahoma, but both the Harris and USA Today polls have OU over Texas. So its anyone’s guess how this ends up. OU needs a slaughter the likes of the Texas Tech scale to put it all to rest. This probably won’t happen because OSU won’t want to be embarassed again (as they were by TTU), plus they are playing in Stillwater. Look for an OU victory, but perhaps by 2 TDs or less, forcing the pollsters to make the decision.
#23 Oregon vs. #17 Oregon State. Plain and simple, if Oregon State wins, they lock up the Rose Bowl against Penn State, probably sending USC to the Fiesta (if they win out). If Oregon wins, USC gets the bid (if they beat UCLA next week).
Notre Dame at #5 USC – USC has to beat Notre Dame, especially if Oregon State wins. If Oregon State loses, all USC has to do is beat UCLA the following week to get the Rose Bowl.
Enjoy the Games!
