The Craziness Continues

People said that Week 12 was supposed to be a snooze-fest and that it lacked any exciting match-ups. Boy were they wrong. Oklahoma State was upset by Iowa State last night. Clemson went down earlier today getting decimated by NC State. Oregon just lost to USC 38-35. And Baylor is going to hold on to win 45-38. Beyond the upsets, there have been some other great games with Michigan beating Nebraska, Tennessee beating Vanderbilt in overtime, and Virginia beating FSU with a missed last second field goal. It has been a hell of a day.

First lets get to the upsets and the BCS implications.

• In one weekend, the #2, #4, #5, and #7 teams all lose. The Oregon-USC game was great one. It looked like USC was going to demolish Oregon when they were up 38-14, but after a kick return for a touchdown and a couple USC turnovers it was 38-35. They had a chance to tie it at the end, but the field goal went sailing. This all but eliminates them from a chance at the national championship game. I had felt that Oregon wasn't as good as everyone said, and it seems that is true.

• Oklahoma lost in a shootout to Baylor. Baylor was up 38-24, but Oklahoma comes back to tie it with less than a minute left. Baylor seemed content taking it to overtime with no timeouts left, but Bob Stoops calls a timeout to ruin that plan. That definitely backfires and Robert Griffin III leads his team down the field and scores with 8 seconds left. The rivalry game against OK State has definitely lost some of its intrigue now. IF the Big 12 wants any chance to have a school in the national championship game, they better root for Oklahoma State because the Sooners have no chance now. 

• What will be interesting to see in the BCS rankings when they come out tomorrow is to see if LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas are ranked 1,2, and 3. It would be the first time one conference sweeps the top 3 of the BCS rankings. It would almost guarantee and All-SEC national championship game unless something crazy happens. After today, I wouldn't be surprised if there was more craziness. 

Some other news from the college football world.

• Penn State and Wisconsin both won today to set up a winner-take-all game next week with the winner going to the first Big 12 championship game to represent the Leaders division. 
• The winner will take on Michigan State who clinched the Legends division with a win over Indiana and Michigan beating Nebraska. As a fan of the game, I would love to see and Badgers-Spartans rematch after they played an instant classic back in October.
• Virginia won a nailbiter against FSU to give them a chance to win the Coastal division next week against the Hokies. Just to win the game the had to survive a five minute review of an FSU catch, a defensive penalty, and a field goal attempt by one of the best kickers in the ACC. FSU's Hopkins missed the kick and it set up a great game next week as the Cavs and Hokies battle for a chance to play Clemson in the ACC title game.

Murray will have his chance to celebrate in Atlanta.

• Georgia looked awful in their game against Kentucky but did enough to beat the Cats 19-10. They clinched the SEC East and will be playing in the SEC title game in Atlanta. GO DAWGS!!!

Let The Mayhem Begin

Mayhem is going to be paying a visit to the BCS.

The BCS is in turmoil... once again.

With Oklahoma State losing to Iowa State 37-31 in double overtime, there is no clear #2 team in the country. First, I feel awful for Oklahoma State, having to suffer through the tragedy involving Kurt Budke. I'm sure they were looking for anything to make themselves feel better and a win tonight might have helped.  Second, I have to give props to the Cyclones.They looked like they were going to end the season with a losing record, but now have a huge win and are bowl eligible. Third, congratulations to Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma and all the other one-loss teams who now have a chance at making the national championship.

There a nine legitimate 1-loss teams and an undefeated Houston who all feel they have a right to play in the championship game. In actuality, there are five teams that have a shot of making it to the big game. Virginia Tech, Clemson, Houston, Stanford, and Boise State have just not done enough to warrant them getting an opportunity to win it all. That leaves us with Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Oregon fight for the number two spot behind LSU. Let's take a look at these teams chances and why they might deserves the spot.

Arkansas
This is the team that nobody is talking about right now, but are 9-1 and if they win out should be a huge player in the championship game possibilities.  The issue with that scenario is they would have to beat LSU, which looks unstoppable. It wouldn't be the first time Arkansas beat a #1 LSU team in the final week of the regular season. I'm sure you guys remember the triple overtime game back in 2007. If that happens though, it would further increase the mayhem, with LSU joining all these teams with one loss. They seem to be a lock to go to the title game with their superior schedule, but it would be hard to deny Arkansas a chance. Even in this situation, I think they would have to win the SEC, which would require Arkansas jumping Alabama in the rankings and LSU staying ahead of Bama. Chances are they lose to LSU and they would be eliminated from this conversation.

Oklahoma/Oklahoma State
These two teams will play each other on December 3rd eliminating one of the teams from contention. Oklahoma probably has a better chance of making it to the championship game because of a better non-conference schedule and because of the Oklahoma tradition. If Oklahoma State wins, I don't see them factoring into the conversation even though they should. They will have wins over Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas, Baylor, and the rest of the Big 12. It just will be hard to come back from the tough loss they suffered tonight. The loss hurt Oklahoma as well. A win over OK State won't look as good as it would have if Oklahoma State came in undefeated. A win on December 3rd may not help Oklahoma enough to jump over Alabama and Oregon even though Oklahoma has more high-quality wins over good teams than Oregon does.

Oregon
In all likelihood, if all of the top teams win out and no more upsets occur, it will come down to Oregon and Alabama. Personally, I don't think Oregon deserve it more than Alabama does. There are only three team even worth mentioning when talking about football in the Pac-12. Those teams are Oregon, Stanford and USC. Outside of playing each other and Oregon playing LSU, none of them have played a legitimate team. Neither Stanford nor USC have a quality win other than Stanford's triple overtime win over USC. Unless Oregon can destroy USC, they shouldn't be considered over Alabama. Oregon's one loss was to #1 LSU. It doesn't sound bad, but they were manhandled by them. The score was 40-20 before they scored a garbage time touchdown.

Alabama
Alabama has taken care of every one of their opponents except one, #1 LSU.  Sound familiar? The difference is Alabama loss was an overtime loss with a score of 9-6. Alabama stayed competitive the entire game and even looked like the better team. They have also played a tougher SEC-schedule and played a Penn State team that was undefeated outside of the Alabama game before Paterno was fired.  It is also most likely unless voters change their votes to avoid an all-SEC national championship. Alabama holds a sizable lead over Oregon in both human polls and the computers.

Of course none of this could matter because half of these teams could lose before the season ends. Iowa State has shown us anything can happen. Either way we are in for an exciting ending to the season and a controversial one. It looks like the BCS is going to take another beating in the media for not having a playoff system. There is no way this season ends without a few schools complaining about the system. All we can do is sit back and enjoy. LEt me know what you think about this mess. Feel free to leave a comment on who you think should make it to the national title game.

College Football Update - October 1st

Here's just few of my thoughts from today's games.

• It's been a great day of college football for Georgia fan. Georgia pulled off a 24-10 win over Mississippi State in a game where the defense showed its skills. Even better news is that South Carolina was upset by Auburn and now has a SEC loss of their own. To add on the good news, Florida just lost 38-10 to Alabama with Brantley limping off the field right before halftime. With a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way, we just need one more team to beat South Carolina and we could see the Dawgs playing in the SEC Championship Game. 
• Both Texas and Oklahoma breezed through Iowa State and Ball State, respectively, and head into the Red River Rivalry game undefeated. Texas is going to be looking to ruin Oklahoma national title run and reassert themselves in the college football landscape after a rough year. 
• Texas A&M got a taste of what the can expect on a weekly basis next year as they lost Arkansas 42-38. The blew another huge lead ans they went into the half leading 35-17 only to watch Arkansas outscore them 25-3 in the second half. They wanted to leave the Big 12 to escape from Texas's shadow, but they will soon realize they will have to play four to five Texas-talented teams every year now. 
• Boise State continued their bid for yet another undefeated season beating Nevada 30-10. I'm sure it was nice for them to get revenge after Nevada ruined their season last year. It will be interesting to see what bowl they end up in this year. 
• Did anyone see Clemson being 5-0 at this point of the season? They started the year unranked and have now beaten Auburn, Florida State, and Virginia Tech in three straight weeks. With the toughest part of their schedule past them, you have to wonder where this Clemson team ends up. Also it looked like Virginia Tech was going to be able to escape their early season upset this year, but it hit them again. 
• Oh, how the mighty have fallen? Ohio State loses again, this time to Michigan State. With a trip to Nebraska next week and Wisconsin coming up in few weeks, the season could get ugly fast. Ohio State fans must be crying for Tressel right now.
• Wisconsin just introduced Nebraska to the Big Ten and they did it in a humiliating fashion. Montee Ball had a huge 4-TD game and led the Badgers to a 48-17 win.  With their toughest game past them, Wisconsin has some a chance to make some noise in the national championship picture.

My Conference Alignment

The layout of conferences in college has been hectic these days. Every day news comes out about some school switching from one conference to another. Here is a quick recap of the changes that have occurred.

• Colorado has moved from the Big 12 to the new Pac-12
• Utah has moved from the Mountain West to the new Pac-12
• Nebraska has left the Big 12 for the Big Ten
• BYU has left the Mountain West and has gone independent
• Boise State has moved from the WAC to the Mountain West
• Fresno State, Hawaii, and Nevada will be joining Boise State next year and join the Mountain West
• TCU is leaving the Mountain West and is planning on joining the Big East
• Texas A&M will officially be leaving the Big 12 for the SEC
• Syracuse and Pitt will move from the Big East to the ACC

Personally I am not a fan of the realignment and expansion occurring at this moment, but I can't do anything about it.  However, I can give you my view on what the conferences should look like. I am a fan of the 12-team conferences, so in my world I have every conference end up with 12 members. Also, I do not like the concept of independent schools, so you will see I give every independent a conference to call home. Check out what my conferences would like.

ACC

Boston College
Clemson
Duke
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Maryland
Miami (FL)
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest

I have the ACC staying the same as it is now. In my world, Pitt and Syracuse stay in the Big East.

Big 12

Baylor
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Texas
Texas A&M**
Texas Tech
Southern Methodist*
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Missouri
Nebraska**

*New Member
**Rejoins or Stays

For the Big 12, Nebraska transfers back and SMU joins as the 12th member of the conference. This just makes sense. Nebraska already has the history with conference and SMU can join some of its old Southwest Conference rivals, like Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor.

Big East

Cincinnati
Connecticut
Louisville
Pittsburgh**
Rutgers
South Florida
Syracuse**
West Virginia
Army*
Navy*
Central Florida*
East Carolina*

*New Member
**Rejoins or Stays

So there are some big changes in the Big East.  Pitt and Syracuse stay in the conference that they have been with the past 30 years; TCU decides not to join the Big East: and Army, Navy, Central Florida, and East Carolina join and new members. It made no sense to me geographically how TCU could move from the Mountain WEST to the the Big EAST. All of the new schools geographically make sense. Central Florida would give South Florida a more local conference rival. East Carolina would help the Big East spread more into the South and help USF and UCF not seem so far away from every other school in the conference. Army and Navy can join together which will keep the rivalry alive and no longer have to be independents.

Big Ten

Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Northwestern
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Wisconsin
Notre Dame*

*New Member

As you read earlier I had Nebraska rejoin the Big 12 and in its place I have Notre Dame join. Once again it makes sense geographically and they play Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue every year already.

Pac-12

Arizona
Arizona State
California
Colorado
Oregon
Oregon State
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Utah
Washington
Washington State

I kept the Pac-12 the same as it is now. 

SEC

Alabama
Arakansas
Auburn
LSU
Mississippi
Mississippi State
Ole Miss
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vanderbilt

I kept the SEC the way it now as well and don't have Texas A&M join. Why mess with a good thing?

Mountain West

Air Force
Boise State
Colorado State
New Mexico
San Diego State
TCU**
UNLV
Wyoming
Fresno State*
Hawaii*
Nevada*
BYU**

I have the Mountain West add the new member that are joining in real life (Fresno State, Hawaii, and Nevada) and I have TCU and BYU come back. This ends up being a pretty good conference that could compete with many of the other conferences, such as the Big East and ACC. In my world, the Mountain West would become a BCS conference.

I just feel these conferences would work out well and make sense. This was my first post in quite a long time, but keep a look out for my next one where I will talk about what the college football postseason would look like in my world.

Chick-fil-A Bowl
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Florida State Seminoles
Both teams made it to their conference championship and lost. They each look to redeem themselves tonight and get to ten wins for the season. Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder will end his long college career today and he must go through Marcus Lattimore and the Gamecocks. I like Florida State to pull out a win tonight. I see Ponder playing his heart out and leading the offense to a good game. On the other side the defense should be able to stop Garcia from playing well and causing a couple interceptions. Florida State wins this one 28-24.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Georgia Bulldogs vs. Central Florida Knights
It’s probably no surprise who I think will win this game. I like the Bulldogs to win one lead by quarter back Aaron Murray and wide receiver A.J. Green, who may be playing his last collegiate game before going to the draft. The Knights have a strong defense, but the Bulldogs should overcome it, with a big pass plays and solid runs by Washaun Ealey. Mark Richt always seems to get his team ready for bowl games as the Bulldogs have won seven of their past eight bowl games. I see Georgia winning 30-21.

Hyundai Sun Bowl
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Miami Hurricanes
Miami is playing with interim coach Jeff Stoutland leading them after Randy Shannon was fired earlier this year. I feel the team may not be completely prepared for this game and will suffer another disappointing loss. Jacory Harris hopefully should be able to start after his injury which will give his team an emotional boost, but I'm not sure that will be enough. Notre Dame freshman quarterback has lead the Irish to three straight wins, all against teams with at least seven wins. If Miami can get their running game going early, they could win this, but I see Notre Dame winning 31-24.