Posted on 11/30/2006 2:29:05 PM PST by MikefromOhio
Weekend Thirteen cleared up the BCS title picture a bit. USC won convincingly against Notre Dame while Florida failed to get the style points needed to make a run at the Trojans and Wolverines. With Arkansas losing to LSU, Florida only theoretically has a chance at the title game. The weekend was not without surprises as Texas lost for the 2nd time in a row while West Virginia eliminated itself from Big East and BCS contention by losing to South Florida. The weekend also featured some great finishes with BYU, Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee pulling games out late. This week is Championship Week. The conference championship games for the MAC, Conference USA, ACC, SEC and Big XII will be played. Each of those games, along with the Army-Navy game, is the feature this week.
vs 
The MAC champion goes to The Motor City Bowl in Detroit, MI to face either the 7th best Big Ten team or an at-large team. As the Big Ten is getting 2 into the BCS, it will be the at-large team. Central Michigan can score in bunches while Ohio is on a roll.
vs. 
The winner of this game goes to the Liberty Bowl to play against an SEC school while the loser of this game will most likely be heading to Mobile, Alabama for the GMAC bowl against a MAC team (probably Central Michigan). Houston lost a close game to USM earlier this season while it was still in the post-Miami funk after nearly defeating the Hurricanes in Miami.
at 
I can’t believe I’m actually going to pick this. Wake Forest is the better team. Georgia Tech has the weapons to win, but not the quarterback. Their defense will keep them in this game, but the pick is Wake. The winner goes to the Orange Bowl while the loser goes to the Chick-Fil-A bowl (formerly the Peach Bowl).
vs. 
The winner of this game is going to the Sugar Bowl unless Florida wins big and something absolutely screwy happens in the BCS. Arkansas must win this game to get into the BCS at all. Otherwise, LSU is going. It comes down to if Florida will be able to score consistently or if Arkansas will be able to make some plays through the air. Special teams will play a big factor in deciding this game. That favors Arkansas. With LSU not playing this weekend, the loser of this game is probably relegated to the Capital One bowl.
vs. 
The winner of this game is going to the Fiesta Bowl. A good old school match-up that will be played in the Big XII championship for the very FIRST time in the 10 year history of the conference. Since the loss to Texas back in October, Oklahoma has been on a roll. Nebraska, minus a slip up against Oklahoma State, has only lost to USC and Texas, which was a much better team at the time of the loss. I have to give the edge to Oklahoma. Bill Callahan gets too conservative in big games like this and I think the Oklahoma offense will be able to move the ball against the Nebraska defense. The loser of this game will go to the Cotton Bowl.
vs. 
Army and Navy square off again. This year Navy is the home team. Navy is the better team but Army did almost knock off Texas A&M earlier this season. This game will win Navy the Commander in Chief’s trophy for the best service team. Navy is slated to go to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina.
(2) USC (-13.5) at UCLA
USC 43 – UCLA 17
(3) Michigan BYE
Next Game: projected to be in the Rose Bowl
(5) LSU BYE
Next Game: projected to be in the Rose Bowl
Connecticut at (6) Louisville (-27)
Louisville 42 – Connecticut 21
(7) Wisconsin BYE
Next Game: Accepted bid for the Capital One Bowl
(10) Boise State BYE
Next game: projected to be in the Fiesta Bowl
(11) Auburn BYE
Next Game: projected to be in the Outback Bowl
(12) Notre Dame BYE
Next Game: projected to be in the Sugar Bowl
(13) Rutgers at (15) West Virginia (-10)
Rutgers 22 – West Virginia 20
(14) Virginia Tech BYE
Next Game: projected to be in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl (Peach)
(17) Tennessee BYE
Next Game: projected to be in the Cotton Bowl
(17) Texas BYE
Next Game: projected to be in the Gator Bowl
(20) BYU BYE
Next Game: accepted bid for the Las Vegas Bowl
Stanford at (21) Cal (-29)
Cal 43 – Stanford 7
(22) Texas A&M BYE
Next Game: accepted bid to be in the Holiday Bowl
(25) Boston College BYE
Next Game: projected to be in the Champs Sports Bowl
Texas A&M BYE
Next Game: accepted bid to be in the Holiday Bowl
Florida State BYE
Next Game: Accepted Bid to the Emerald Bowl
Oregon St. at (24) Hawaii (-7.5)
Hawaii 43 – Oregon St. 40
A 96 yard TD run by Central Michigan puts this one away...
Central Michigan 31
Ohio 10
...and the rooster won't crow unless the sun rises.
and then again on January 8th....
Pete Carroll with 4 weeks to prepare.......
yummy!
Jim Tressel with 51 days to prepare....
I like that too....
Ohio, OTOH, came up about 25 shy....
yeah....
Ohio either scores a bunch of points because they can run the ball or they don't. Central Michigan forced them to throw which is always a weakness in a run-oriented offense.
51 days is too long. I think USC gets an advantage by playing deeper into the season.
Whether or not that is enough of an advantage, I don't know. But I can't see that it helps to have a huge layoff between games.
I don't think it will hurt too much.
At least, historically under Tressel the long layoffs haven't hurt.
2002, 2003 and last year all had 40+ day layoffs. Just ask Notre Dame :-)
It allows the center, Datish, to have his hand heal up. The 2nd fumble against Michigan (the one that rolled along the ground) was because he has an injury on the hand he snaps the ball with.
I like that too....
I guarantee you that OU has done nothing for the past two weeks but sit on their ass.
Carroll will not allow a scrambling QB to take another Nat'l title away from him.
That's a month and a half.
Way tooooooo long a layoff between any full pad contact of significance.
The injury situation is a factor. Perhaps some folks will be back who might not have been otherwise.
And maybe the layoff will be long enough for both teams that playing competitively for a couple more weeks doesn't really make much difference.
I don't know.
But at some point, more time off is a negative.
believe me, this week they went at it like it was training camp and they will do the same next week as well...
It won't hurt Ohio State as much as you guys are saying.
pesky S!
there ya go :)
......precisely why SC will take home the crystal football.
We're being civil to each other now (or at least some of us are).
I'm guessing it becomes a foodfight by January 6 at the latest. ;-)
I won't get that bad :)
We will see how and what the matchup looks like coming up....
But one thing I noticed that I'm sure everyone else did as well - HOW did Brady Quinn get a 60 yard run on you all? I mean he's a pretty good QB and all, but that surprised the hell out of me.
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