The BCS is a mess. Officially.
November 20th 2011 09:05
For all the talk about conference realignment and super conferences that center around college football, the major upsets going on in the college football world right now are great theatre. It started on Friday with Iowa State taking Oklahoma State to overtime and beating them. This coming from a team that was 0-18 all time against teams ranked #2 or higher in the country.
Saturday has come to a close and there are even more questions. I'd love to have Elias Sports Bureau look up for me the last time so many top ranked teams fell on the same weekend. Not just top ranked teams losing to rivals or other top ranked teams but outright upsets. Out of all of the shockers the Iowa State game without question is the biggest surprise. No one and I mean no football fan saw that coming. So let me say that game goes down in my book as the biggest shock of all.
Oklahoma was a 17 point favorite visiting Baylor in Waco, Texas. Baylor has an amazing talent in Robert Griffin III, but this was another case of Oklahoma having a lead they could not keep. Baylor is ranked #22 in the country and they have talent, but OKlahoma was a team right up there with Alabama and LSU to contend for the BCS Title. Now saddled with their second loss, the Sooners will have to settle for the Big 12 Championship game and a BCS bowl.
Look at Oregon being favored by 15.5 over Southern California. I thought that line was a bit high considering the way USC is playing right now. Starting slow, the Ducks fell in a hole early and clawed their way back exploding in the fourth quarter while USC gave the Ducks chances to get back in the game with stalled drives, an interception, and fumble. In the end though, another college kicker felt the nerves and choked when it counted. Now the Civil War rivalry game between Oregon and Oregon State is suddenly very important for Oregon to win.
North Carolina State blew out Clemson 37-13 in a game that was never close. Still, despite all of their talent Clemson has not been the most disciplined and consistent of teams. That may chance over time with Dabo Swinney as head coach and they sure got off to a great start but now sit at 9-2. Mike Glennon made Wolfpack fans forget about Russell Wilson for a day. It was Tom O'Brien's first win against a top 10 team in his five seasons running the program.
Stanford took care of business in its rivalry game with California 31-28. Alabama beat Georgia Southern 45-21 but the score was actually closer until Nick Saban decided to run the score up some. Alabama was 42 point favorites but did not come close to covering that spread. Stanford was 17.5 point favorites but California gave them a run. At this point, top teams are literally worrying only about the wins and not about win margins or impressing the voters. So now Stanford and Alabama are looking much better with regards to the other top ranked schools who sustained upsets.
And don't forget LSU, looking as dominant as ever over a floundering Mississippi program watching Houston Nutt make his final rounds. The 52-3 trouncing covered the 31 point spread and LSU has certainly asserted themselves this season. Should LSU finish undefeated and beat whatever team they are scheduled to play in the Championship game, there is no question as to who the best team in college football would be this season.
It's just a matter of getting the best opponent to face the Tigers pending they win outright. And with a bunch of flawed teams in the debate, it will be anybody's guess what the BCS system decides to do.
Saturday has come to a close and there are even more questions. I'd love to have Elias Sports Bureau look up for me the last time so many top ranked teams fell on the same weekend. Not just top ranked teams losing to rivals or other top ranked teams but outright upsets. Out of all of the shockers the Iowa State game without question is the biggest surprise. No one and I mean no football fan saw that coming. So let me say that game goes down in my book as the biggest shock of all.
Oklahoma was a 17 point favorite visiting Baylor in Waco, Texas. Baylor has an amazing talent in Robert Griffin III, but this was another case of Oklahoma having a lead they could not keep. Baylor is ranked #22 in the country and they have talent, but OKlahoma was a team right up there with Alabama and LSU to contend for the BCS Title. Now saddled with their second loss, the Sooners will have to settle for the Big 12 Championship game and a BCS bowl.
Look at Oregon being favored by 15.5 over Southern California. I thought that line was a bit high considering the way USC is playing right now. Starting slow, the Ducks fell in a hole early and clawed their way back exploding in the fourth quarter while USC gave the Ducks chances to get back in the game with stalled drives, an interception, and fumble. In the end though, another college kicker felt the nerves and choked when it counted. Now the Civil War rivalry game between Oregon and Oregon State is suddenly very important for Oregon to win.
North Carolina State blew out Clemson 37-13 in a game that was never close. Still, despite all of their talent Clemson has not been the most disciplined and consistent of teams. That may chance over time with Dabo Swinney as head coach and they sure got off to a great start but now sit at 9-2. Mike Glennon made Wolfpack fans forget about Russell Wilson for a day. It was Tom O'Brien's first win against a top 10 team in his five seasons running the program.
Stanford took care of business in its rivalry game with California 31-28. Alabama beat Georgia Southern 45-21 but the score was actually closer until Nick Saban decided to run the score up some. Alabama was 42 point favorites but did not come close to covering that spread. Stanford was 17.5 point favorites but California gave them a run. At this point, top teams are literally worrying only about the wins and not about win margins or impressing the voters. So now Stanford and Alabama are looking much better with regards to the other top ranked schools who sustained upsets.
And don't forget LSU, looking as dominant as ever over a floundering Mississippi program watching Houston Nutt make his final rounds. The 52-3 trouncing covered the 31 point spread and LSU has certainly asserted themselves this season. Should LSU finish undefeated and beat whatever team they are scheduled to play in the Championship game, there is no question as to who the best team in college football would be this season.
It's just a matter of getting the best opponent to face the Tigers pending they win outright. And with a bunch of flawed teams in the debate, it will be anybody's guess what the BCS system decides to do.
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