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.
Did USC have a final timeout to set up the tying field goal? If they didn't, then the Notre Dame clock runs after the penalty and the game is probably over...
and they have also played great defenses like:
Baylor
Choklahoma
Missouri
Colorado
Oklahoma State
LA Lafayette
Kansas
Rice
Want to rethink those stats and bringing those out like they mean something?
nah....the SEC isn't better than the ACC and the Big Ten.
All N.D. had to do was stop a 4th and 9 yards to go.
Mike, I admit Texas Tech has had some victories against some tougher opponents. They've had a good year. ampu
Wouldn't have mattered.
USC would have gotten the ball with :03 left. Leinart had fumbled out of bounds so the clock would have stayed stopped, until the next play.
OT would have been interesting.
Notre Dame was out of gas by the 4th QTR.
Heck they even have a winning record against the much vaunted Notre Dame. Not many teams can make that claim.
if ND took the penalty, USC would have been moved back and would have kicked the field goal.
Texas may be slow starters in the games vs. Oklahoma St and others, but I can see why 15 or so coaches have their votes for Texas this week.
there you go.
Hey if Texas loses to A&M or whoever they play in the Big XII championship game, then I agree.
But until Texas loses, it isn't a contest really.
It would have gone OT.
LOL, feels like that was due.
It's football, so it's a big can of we'll never know!
Sorry, but you're out of your Vulcan mind if you don't think Bush can block. That or you live east of the Rockies and don't see him play. Hell, his "block" got Leinhart into the end zone to beat ND.
ND's QB basically threw it away IMO.
I think that's the one thing that SC grads can agree with Longhorn fans about. Assuming it plays out as expected the Rose Bowl should be a very exciting game, and a low-scoring defensive struggle is the least likely outcome.
Vince Young can be an erratic passer, but he can also run for a touchdown on any play. Leinart is a better passer but not a breakaway runner.
Bush can score on any play when he has the ball, too, though, so it's likely to be a game where plays of 50 yds or more determine the outcome.
Texas can win the game, but they're going to come in as underdogs (not a bad thing from a psychological angle), and they'll have to overcome the fact that while the quarterbacks may offset, Texas doesn't have the equivalent of Reggie Bush.
Excuse me...take out Rice, LA Lafayette, and those teams were playing pretty tough against other teams.
Strength of schedule is no different that any other team, since at one time TT was ranked and doing well, Oklahoma was ramked and doing well, Colorado was ranked and doing well...and then they slammed into TX.
C'mon...are you even watching the horns play ball? It's pretty clear they're at a different level then the rest of Division 1 football.
I think you need to rethink your analysis...and put the games in historical context, which you seem to be overlooking in order to make your point.
Still one of the greatest college football games I can remember recently.
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