Wow. Great weekend for college football. Texas was upset by A&M. Florida beat Florida State. LSU beat Arkansas. West Virginia drops off the charts. USC pounds Notre Lame. Let's take a look at the latest BCS standings.
1. Ohio State | 1.0000 |
2. USC | .9460 |
3. Michigan | .9216 |
4. Florida | .8897 |
5. LSU | .8106 |
6. Louisville | .7618 |
7. Wisconsin | .7096 |
8. Boise State | .6744 |
9. Arkansas | .6616 |
10. Notre Dame | .6262 |
11. Auburn | .6183 |
12. Oklahoma | .5509 |
As I suspected, USC jumped over Michigan. Overall I think this is a good thing. Michigan had their chance and came up short. Like I said, it's not right that Ohio State should have to beat Michigan twice and Michigan only have to split to win the title. I'm glad to see USC move into the #2 spot. Barring an upset by UCLA, we should have an Ohio State vs. USC championship game.
Speaking of which, how pissed off do you think the Rose Bowl committee is? It was their stubborn insistence of keeping the PAC-10 and Big Ten locked into their bowl game that brought about the controversy of Nebraska-Penn State in 1994 and the split national title between Nebraska and Michigan in 1997 that brought about the BCS system. Under the old system, the Rose Bowl would be hosting the national championship game this year. Now it will be played in Arizona. Let's take a look at where each team sits.
Ohio State
The Buckeyes are sitting pretty waiting for everything to sort itself out.
USC
Right now it looks like USC is in charge of their own destiny. Take care of business against UCLA this weekend and they're in the championship game for like the tenth year in a row.
Michigan
There are suddenly tons of Bruins fans in Ann Arbor this week. The Wolverines need help from UCLA in order to set up the rematch with the Buckeyes. If not they are probably looking at the Rose Bowl.
Florida
They have a tough game against Arkansas this weekend in the SEC championship game. Win it and they lock up at least the Sugar Bowl with an outside chance of the NC game, but they need USC to lose and they need the computers to jump them over Michigan. If they lose the game they may still be eligible for an at large bid to play the ACC champion in the Orange Bowl.
Boise State
In beating Nevada to finish their season undefeated and ranked in the top 12, the Broncos have locked up a spot in the BCS. They will most likely be the last team picked and play in the Fiesta Bowl against the Big XII champion.
LSU
The Tigers made some big waves in their win over Arkansas this weekend. I said a few weeks ago there probably isn't a better two loss team in the country right now. The Tigers should easily get one of the final two at large bids. I suspect the Rose Bowl will snatch them up rather than set up a Michigan-Notre Dame rematch.
Notre Dame
What to do with the Irish? They lack any quality wins this year unless you want to call Georgia Tech, UCLA and Penn State quality wins. The two top ten teams they played destroyed them. Yet they sit at #10 forcing the Sugar Bowl selection committee to choose between them and Louisville. The almighty dollar will win out and the Irish will get the chance to go to the Sugar Bowl and get destroyed in yet another bowl game they don't deserve to be in. Here's a prediction: After Notre Dame gets killed in their second consecutive bowl game and Charlie Weis records five losses next year sans Quinn, Smardzija, and McKnight you'll be hearing the Notre Dame faithful question whether Weis is the right man for the job.
Here's how I see the BCS picture going down.
National Championship Game: Ohio State vs. USC
Rose Bowl: Michigan vs. LSU
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Notre Dame
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Louisville
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Boise State