Posted on 11/21/2005 12:45:25 PM PST by indcons
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Southern California and Texas remain the top two teams in the BCS standings and only an upset in one of the final two weeks will prevent the two storied programs from meeting in the Rose Bowl on January 4 for the national championship.
The Trojans (11-0) had a close call this past weekend with a 50-42 victory over a tough Fresno State squad, but they'll have this week off before facing city rival UCLA on December 3.
The Longhorns (10-0), meanwhile, had their final bye this past Saturday and will play each of the next two weeks. First up will be the annual showdown with Texas A&M on Friday and then a trip to the Big 12 title game on December 3.
The final BCS standings will be released on December 4.
As of Monday, Southern California is still atop those standings with a BCS average of .9807, down from last week's .9829. Texas, meanwhile, gained some ground and has an average of .9791, up from last week's .9771.
Should one of those teams falter, Penn State, LSU or Virginia Tech would be ready to take a Rose Bowl spot.
Penn State is third in this week's BCS standings with an average of .8900. The Nittany Lions earned a share of the Big Ten title with Ohio State, but will represent the conference in the BCS thanks to a victory over the Buckeyes earlier this season.
LSU is fourth in the BCS and Virginia Tech is fifth. LSU controls its destiny for a berth in the SEC Championship game, while Virginia Tech can do the same in the ACC thanks to Miami-Florida's stunning loss to Georgia Tech this past Saturday.
Miami dropped from third in last week's BCS standings to ninth this week.
If Virginia Tech beats North Carolina this Saturday, the Hokies would play Florida State for the ACC title. An LSU victory over Arkansas this week would put the Tigers into the SEC title game against Georgia.
The champions from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10 and Southeastern Conference make up six of the eight teams in the four BCS games -- the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta Bowls. The other two spots go to at-large teams.
One of those at-large berths will likely be Notre Dame, which needs only to beat Stanford this coming Saturday to lock up a BCS berth. The Irish, who stand eighth this week in the BCS, would then have the requisite nine wins to qualify for one of the BCS bowl games.
The BCS system uses a pair of human polls -- the Harris Interactive and the USA Today -- as well as six computer rankings. Each poll counts one-third toward the overall score, while the average of the computers completes the formula.
College football ping
Shouldn't Fresno State be number 3 after this weekend?
That was a great game.....I developed a lot of respect for Fresno State aftr that game.
BTHOtu
Uhhhhhhhh....how many bowls did the SEC win last year, just as a "measure" of how great that conference is? Methinks...not that many.
Waiting to see how the BCS will screw this up again.
Does anyone play defense in the SEC?
I don't see the SEC as any better than the ACC or the Big Ten (11 actually).
Yes, right behind Oregon who beat them already this season.
bowl season for the sec = getting beat up by the big10 again.
I agree. I have no idea why USC put Arkansas on their schedule :o).
The SEC, ACC, PAC-10 are in the same "league".
The best conferences are the Big Ten and Big Twelve. Defense. It's all about Defense.
Cup Cake Schedule?
USC has beaten the #5, #8, and #16 teams and will play the #11 team in two weeks.
my tagline still holds true
Yeah, I hear you. Playing a rough group like Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State would keep any coach up at night. /sarc.
ACC has seven "bowl eligable" teams while the SEC may lose two bowl slots to it. And I'm a big fan of Charlie Weis, but ND is way over-rated. Brady Quinn is glad he doesn't have to hear the name Mathias Kiwanuka this year. Or will he?
Ah yes... one of those SEC teams who plays the vaunted SEC-style defense... I think USC put 70 points on the scoreboard in three quarters... and had 4 touchdowns in their first 8 plays in the first quarter.
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