2010 College Football Bowl Fever - 11/28/10
With the college football season coming close to an end, it's the time of year where arguments are made and debates heat up about who deserves their spot in the BCS Championship or another BCS bowl. Through this weekend, we've seen 2 teams pretty much eliminate themselves from any possibility of a BCS bowl berth; Boise St. and LSU. Boise St. is more interesting though to me in a couple of ways. Boise is a better team then they get credit for by alot of CFB fans, but unfortunately for Boise, it dosen't matter anymore. They litterally "kicked" themselves out of any possibility of a BCS bowl due to their strength of schedule, even with an 11-1 record. Just like TCU, they are simply a non-AQ team that is either in the top with an undefeated record, or below every single 11-1 team in CFB due to the fact that their in the WAC and Mountain West, not the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, etc. Boise St. finally resolved the issue, and left just 1 non-AQ undefeated team at the top, TCU. They will always have their doubters, but any team that goes undefeated simply has earned a spot in some BCS bowl, no matter how "weak" their schedule is. As it stands, there's no debate on who is going to be in the BCS Championship, with two AQ's in Oregon and Auburn who happen to both be undefeated.. no arguements, no debates neccesary. But when you look foward to next week, there's a possibility of a shakeup. Some forget that with the SEC title game, Auburn has 1 more challenge then most of CFB. They face Steve Spurrier's South Carolina with their hopes of a BCS championship on the line. Despite being just 9-3, South Carolina has already pulled an upset over Alabama, and only lost to Auburn on the road by 7 points. Being that the SEC title game is played in a neutral location (Georgia Dome), Auburn may face a problem. On the other side, Oregon faces a much easier challenge with Oregon State. Oregon is on the road for this one, and being the Ducks know the pressure and importance of this game, they too could face a problem. Oregon St. is a very inconsistent team which makes them dangerous, because you never know what they're going to do when they hit the field. They've lost badly in games, and played extremely well in some, pulling off wins against Arizona (#9 at the time) and USC (#20 at the time), both at home
After this weekend, this is most likely what the top of the BCS standings is going to look like and who's going to be playing in the BCS Championship and who's going to be playing in the Rose Bowl:
1) Oregon
2) Auburn
3) TCU
4) Stanford
5) Wisconsin
6) Ohio St.
With these standings, Oregon would face Auburn in the BCS Championship, and TCU would face Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. It would normally be Stanford and Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, but because of the Rose Bowl rules, every 4 years they must take a non-AQ school, which is TCU, as long as 1 of the representing conferences (Pac-10 or Big-10) is in the BCS championship, which is Oregon (Pac-10 champs). On normal rules, it would be Stanford vs. Winsconsin, because Stanford is the next elgible automatic-qualifying team because they are in the Pac-10. Wisconsin's Rose Bowl berth is depedent on the BCS Standings, because there is a 3 way tie in the Big 10 (Wisconsin, Michigan St., Ohio St.).
1) Oregon
2) Auburn
3) TCU
4) Stanford
5) Wisconsin
6) Ohio St.
With these standings, Oregon would face Auburn in the BCS Championship, and TCU would face Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. It would normally be Stanford and Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, but because of the Rose Bowl rules, every 4 years they must take a non-AQ school, which is TCU, as long as 1 of the representing conferences (Pac-10 or Big-10) is in the BCS championship, which is Oregon (Pac-10 champs). On normal rules, it would be Stanford vs. Winsconsin, because Stanford is the next elgible automatic-qualifying team because they are in the Pac-10. Wisconsin's Rose Bowl berth is depedent on the BCS Standings, because there is a 3 way tie in the Big 10 (Wisconsin, Michigan St., Ohio St.).
Now that I've gone into who I think will be playing the BCS Championship and Rose Bowl as the BCS stands, I want to talk about the scenario of either Oregon or Auburn being upset next week in their respective games. If Oregon were to lose, this is probaly how the BCS would look and who would be playing in the BCS Championship and Rose Bowl:
1) Auburn
2) TCU
3) Wisconsin
4) Stanford
Auburn vs. TCU in the BCS Championship and Winsconsin vs. Stanford in the Rose Bowl. This scenario would be highly debatable becuase of 11-1 Oregon. Oregon would most likely still hold the #1 offense in the country, and have beaten Stanford. Most likely though, because of who Stanford lost to (Oregon, #4 at the time) while Oregon was upset by an unraked Oregon St, this would most likely give voters an incentive to put Stanford ahead of Oregon, even with Stanford losing to Oregon during the season. If Oregon was to be ranked #4, they would then play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. On the other hand, if Auburn were to lose, here's how the BCS standings would probaly look:
1) Oregon
2) TCU
3) Stanford
4) Wisconsin
5) Auburn
Oregon would face TCU in the BCS Championship, while Stanford would face Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Because TCU is now in the BCS championship, that Rose Bowl rule I discussed above no longer applies this year because there is no other non-AQ school not in the BCS Championship ranked above an elgible AQ school. This scenario could also be debated, because even if Auburn goes 12-1, they lose to a tough team (#18 South Carolina) in an SEC title game, but most likely would not be ranked above Stanford because their loss came to a #4 team. They could be put at #4 in front of Wisconsin, but that's not significant, because Wisconsin is the Big-10 representative in the Rose Bowl no matter what.
I would personally love to see Auburn lose to give TCU a shot at a BCS Championship game and put my team, Stanford, in the well-deserved Rose Bowl. It was clearly proven this weekend that Boise St. is undeserving of a BCS bowl, but nothing has been proven about TCU, except for the fact that they're a pretty good team with the schedule they have. The Rose Bowl against Wisconsin or Stanford would be a nice challenge for TCU, but to finally settle this once and for all, I pray Oregon or Auburn lose next weekend, to give TCU it's shot, and finally settle this debate once and for all. Boise St.'s door has been shut for the future, so it's either time for TCU to show up and get recognition for non-AQ teams in the future, or finally settle the debate, and have the door shut completely on any non-AQ team in the future. First Utah, now Boise, and if TCU gets blown out in a BCS bowl, this debate about whether any non-AQ team deserves a shot we'll be settled in the voters minds for a LONG time.
Best of luck to all teams in BCS bowls.
1) Auburn
2) TCU
3) Wisconsin
4) Stanford
Auburn vs. TCU in the BCS Championship and Winsconsin vs. Stanford in the Rose Bowl. This scenario would be highly debatable becuase of 11-1 Oregon. Oregon would most likely still hold the #1 offense in the country, and have beaten Stanford. Most likely though, because of who Stanford lost to (Oregon, #4 at the time) while Oregon was upset by an unraked Oregon St, this would most likely give voters an incentive to put Stanford ahead of Oregon, even with Stanford losing to Oregon during the season. If Oregon was to be ranked #4, they would then play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. On the other hand, if Auburn were to lose, here's how the BCS standings would probaly look:
1) Oregon
2) TCU
3) Stanford
4) Wisconsin
5) Auburn
Oregon would face TCU in the BCS Championship, while Stanford would face Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Because TCU is now in the BCS championship, that Rose Bowl rule I discussed above no longer applies this year because there is no other non-AQ school not in the BCS Championship ranked above an elgible AQ school. This scenario could also be debated, because even if Auburn goes 12-1, they lose to a tough team (#18 South Carolina) in an SEC title game, but most likely would not be ranked above Stanford because their loss came to a #4 team. They could be put at #4 in front of Wisconsin, but that's not significant, because Wisconsin is the Big-10 representative in the Rose Bowl no matter what.
I would personally love to see Auburn lose to give TCU a shot at a BCS Championship game and put my team, Stanford, in the well-deserved Rose Bowl. It was clearly proven this weekend that Boise St. is undeserving of a BCS bowl, but nothing has been proven about TCU, except for the fact that they're a pretty good team with the schedule they have. The Rose Bowl against Wisconsin or Stanford would be a nice challenge for TCU, but to finally settle this once and for all, I pray Oregon or Auburn lose next weekend, to give TCU it's shot, and finally settle this debate once and for all. Boise St.'s door has been shut for the future, so it's either time for TCU to show up and get recognition for non-AQ teams in the future, or finally settle the debate, and have the door shut completely on any non-AQ team in the future. First Utah, now Boise, and if TCU gets blown out in a BCS bowl, this debate about whether any non-AQ team deserves a shot we'll be settled in the voters minds for a LONG time.
Best of luck to all teams in BCS bowls.