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.
You talkin' to me?
Seriously, I'll be at the game yelling for a miracle!!
Bull *#%^
Yeah what does that say about your Conference?
I was looking forward to a rematch with FSU in the ACC championship game, and then Miami's offense choked.
Sorry if the truth hurts, but it needs to be said...
Except if the ref did not use the good no call rule on the last play ofNotre Dame vUSC,Notre Dame would have beaten the #1 team in the country.
The 7th place team in the Big Ten was 7-4. The Big Ten Conference as a whole was 27-6, with a much tougher set of games than the SEC. :p
Big Ten Losses:
Texas (10-0)
Iowa State (7-3)
Notre Dame (8-2)
Arizona State (5-5)
Notre Dame (8-2)
California (7-4)
Even I, who loves SEC football must admit, the conference is way down this year. There is a lot of talent in the SEC, but it is more evenly spread out, and therefore there really isn't one dominant team in the SEC this year.
The corp will march out singing their most sung song. "POOR AGGIES" Music to my ears.
Will Texas beat the Aggies by only 20 or more than 50 points?
Yeah....OU, OSU, etc...are real jokes.
And one of those loses is to USC.
>>>Doesn't change the fact that the SEC is still the best conference in college football though ;)...
Nah. The ACC is the best. :)
For the record, my alma mater, #25 Clemson University of the ACC, lost only 4 games this year by a total of 14 points.
They lost to:
Miami by 6 - in overtime
Boston College by 3 - in overtime
Wake Forest by 4
Georgia Tech by 1
Miami is currently #10 in the polls.
Georgia Tech is #20
Boston College is #21
In the last two game of the season Clemson beat:
#17 Florida State 35-14
#19 South Carolina 13-9
Florida State is currently #23 in the polls.
We'll git 'em next year.
The ACC and SEC?
From two or three schools for most part... Miami and Florida mainly.
"They'll score some points against Texas, but won't be able to contain Vince Young. "
I hope USC makes the mistake of playing to Vince Young. They'll realize too late that Texas is much, much more than VY. Having both the BEST offensive AND defensive lines in the country helps.
How could a team that performed as badly as they did last year be overrated this year?
Uh, USC already played Auburn and beat them twice in the past 5 years. Better question is why Auburn is ducking teams like Fresno State?
Oh dear Lord. We heard the same tripe last year before taking Oklahoma to the woodshed in historic fashion.
Every year it's the same. The rest of the nation breaks out the "USC has a powderpuff schedule", and by the time it's over, we end up with the toughest SOS because half the teams we play end up in the top 15.
Vince Young has yet to play a seasoned team like 'SC. And the Texas defense will not contain USC's offense. End of story.
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