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.
yeah,yeah,yeah... I know, I know... but we can hope for miracles, now...can't we?
Ok, so the Vols aren't very good this year.
But the BAND could whoop all ya'll's. :D
I think we'll find out vis a vis ND. Since Miami lost this week, it is likely Oregon will get the spot opposite ND this year. It'll be interesting, since the last time ND faced a team from Oregon (OSU) in a major bowl game, they got hammered.
You're kidding, right?
The SEC is known for its defensive speed. Charlie Weis called Tennessee's defense the best that he'd seen this year. Yes, the Tennessee team that is 4-6 right now.i
I heard Jay Cutler led the Vandy Band in playing Rocky Top after the game.
Everybody and there grandma knew OU shouldnt have een in that game. Most people who thought OU would win were never taken seriously. Its kind of a red herring.
Tennessee's D wasn't their problem. Fulmer totally screwed up their QB situation.
No, I'm not kidding.
FOUR teams in the SEC are known for their defenses and they are really good.
The rest are way below average.
All smack talk aside, here's the big reason for the SEC's scheduling "lesser" schools for their non-conference games: Money. Powerhouse schools generally require a home and home deal. The Citadels of the world are willing to come into your house and play in exchange for a paycheck far in excess of what they can make for a game on their own campus--it's how they fund their programs. Conversely, any time a "big" school goes on the road, it's a financial loss compared to what they can be making at home.
I use LSU as an example, because it's the one I'm familiar with, but it's pretty much the same all over the SEC. Our athletic budget is premised on averaging seven home games a year. We have eight conference games, half of which are on the road. That means at least two, and preferably all three of our non-conference games have to be at home. Every time we play an away game instead of a home game it costs us right around $700K.
We can get away with playing one game with a major school on a home and home basis every year, but no more. For instance, we played Arizona State this year, Arizona last year, and Virginia Tech the year before. And BTW, the "ducking" takes place in the other direction too. After playing us in Blacksburg three years ago, Virginia Tech was supposed to give us a return game this year in Tiger Stadium, but backed out at the last minute. The best we could get on short notice was Appalachian State.
If the NCAA goes to a permanent twelve game schedule, it'll do a lot to take care of some of the scheduling inequities. We can have enough home games to meet our budget, and still play several intersectional "rivalry' games every year.
"Let me give you a hint: Beat The Hell Out of texas university!"
Oh, I didn't realize you guys fielded a squad this year. How quaint!
Year in and year out, Nebraska is the most over-ranked team at the beginning of the year. Don't they hold a record for losing the most bowl games in a row against ranked opponents? Don't they hold a record for most consecutive losses when ranked in the Top 20, losing to ranked teams lower than them in the Top 20? Don't they hold the record for years in a row finishing lower in the AP poll than they started they started the season? That said, when Osborne recruited (or endured) criminals, he put together two of the best college football teams in modern history. Also, Nebraska has the SEC's number, with something like an 18-2 lifetime record against the SEC. For years, however, Nebraska fattened up against pitiful Big 8 opponents, with one game against Oklahoma, then was beaten in its bowl game.>>>
That whole paragraph is full of such incredibly wrong stats. Can you name any player besides Lawrence Phillips who was a criminal on NU teams under T.O.?
I agree, the SEC is down this year. But every conferencve is down this year.
The Big East and Big XII are a joke, with the exception of Texas.
The PAC 10 has its usual one good team and two decent teams (yes, Oregon is only decent and would have at least 3 losses if they played in the SEC, ACC or Big Ten).
The ACC started out strong, and then took a dive. With the exception of VT and Miami - no one else is consistent at all.
The Big Ten is down this year, considering that Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin and Iowa fell off the map once the real season started. Michigan was overrated as usual, and Ohio State was disappointing until now. Combine that with the fact that Penn State faced OSU during their funk, and it's hard to get a grasp on how good anyone in the conference really is.
Meanwhile the SEC turned upside down - Tennessee lost to Vanderbilt, South Carolina beat Florida, Alabama got exposed by Auburn. It appears that instead of being a truly deep conference this year, it is a rebuilding year. Too many new coaches, too many changes, and teams only playing one half. Auburn, LSU & Georgia are the only really good teams this year (in fact, LSU is only good for 30 minutes, but that seems to somehow be enough). Alabama has no offense, and everyone else has something that keeps them inconsistent.
Still, I think from top to bottom, the SEC is still the best this year. We'll still get to see how an average Florida stacks up to a disappointing (but Atlantic Champ) FSU and how Georgia plays GT (who just upset Miami).
I would put LSU, Auburn, Georgia, Florida & Alabama against the top five from any other conference.
Yeah, I think they should replace the entire team with people from the stands...like all those Blinn attendees that love following them around....methinks their record would be better.
The UT-K area (Jimmy Duncan's district) hasn't sent a Democrat to congress since before the Civil War.
The past four years have only been a minor setback in the program. Things will be right after Friday.
Will you and distinguised t.u. graduates Ben Barnes, Ron Kirk, Tommy Tune, Judith Zafarini, Jim "The Hammer" Adler, Federico Pena, Jim Wright, Bill Moyers, and the rest of the liberals from t.u. be at the game?
with more teams plus .500 than any other conference, yep a cakewalk.
Those aren't phone...they squanched up and pushed together but 100% mother nature.
Never even been to that area of the state. I'm near Charleston but have been a Clemson fan for decades.
After seeing several road kill chickens when I was younger, I couldn't see rooting for a team with one as it's mascot.
BTW, how's the Old Ball Coach doing? :)
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