The Bowl Championship Series has done it again. The BCS continued its magic of making us think harder than we really want to figure out which teams we will see during the Holidays.
Digesting the possible match-ups is tougher than the fruitcake that somehow found its way to the table.
First let’s start with the Rose Bowl, which usually is a place where the PAC-10 and the Big Ten champions collide. But this year the PAC-10 champion (Southern California) will be, barring upsets from Notre Dame or UCLA, in the national championship game.
So PAC-10 runner-up California will take the short trip to the Rose Bowl and play eventual Big Ten champion Michigan (assuming the Wolverines prevent a huge upset by Ohio State Saturday in the Horseshoe.
And if Ohio State does beat Michigan…well let’s not even go there. Let’s just say it would be BCS pandemonium. Right now, plan on a very interesting match-up between the Wolverines and the Bears, which should be a close victory for Cal.
Now, let’s investigate the Fiesta Bowl where the Big 12 champion usually squares off against an at-large pick. The way I see it happening may catch some people off guard, but stay with me.
Oklahoma finishes the regular season at 3-7 Baylor and then will go on to play the Big 12 Championship game where they will meet one of these three teams from the Big 12 North: Nebraska (5-5), Iowa State (5-4) or Colorado (6-4).
Even if the Sooners win their last two games, which they will, their strength of schedule in the BCS computer polls will go down significantly, dropping them to the No. 3 spot in the BCS behind the Auburn Tigers, who will play a worthy opponent in Alabama to cap off the regular season and then will play in the SEC championship game versus, most likely, Top 25 Tennessee.
With all that said, my point is Oklahoma will play in the Fiesta Bowl, not the national championship game, but versus who?
Try No. 6 Utah. The Utes have vaulted themselves back into the top six of the BCS, meaning they have an automatic BCS birth, despite being from a non-BCS conference. They will in all sensible purposes clash with Bob Stoop’s Sooners in what could be the most anticipated BCS bowl to date.
The question is, can the Utes even hang with the Sooners? I’ll let you answer that for yourself. I’ll need some time to ponder the issue.
If you think the Fiesta Bowl scenario was a bewildering mess, wait until you read my upcoming hypothesis on who will play in the Sugar Bowl, which usually plays host to the SEC champion and an at-large pick.
Since the SEC champion, which will be Auburn unless Carnell “Cadillac” Williams and Ronnie “Hummer” Brown totally break down, will play in the national championship game, the Sugar Bowl will have to choose another team to fill the void and since the two at-large picks have been picked already in Cal and Utah, that leaves the ACC champion and the Big East champion.
The Big East Conference, which stinks to high heaven and should not get a BCS bid at all, is led by 7-2 Boston College, who pulled a huge 36-17 upset over West Virginia Saturday.
If West Virginia had won that game the Mountaineers would have clinched the BCS bid and won the Big East.
Instead a mediocre Boston College club, who has cupcakes Syracuse and Temple remaining on the schedule, thrashed the Mountaineers at their home.
If B.C. wins out they will be playing in the Sugar Bowl versus the ACC champion. So, who is going to be the ACC champion? Right now, Virginia Tech is leading the charge with only one ACC loss.
The Hokies have three games left on their schedule including games versus Virginia and at Miami, who both trail VT in the ACC with two losses. But since Virginia lost to Miami this past weekend the Cavaliers can almost be counted out. The only other team that has a chance to capture the ACC crown is two-loss Florida State, but the Seminoles also lost to the Hurricanes in the first game of the season, so essentially FSU is out.
If Miami beats Wake Forest this weekend and Virginia Tech takes care of both Maryland and Virginia, then the Dec. 4 Virginia Tech-Miami winner will be crowned the ACC champion and will go to the Sugar Bowl to face a Boston College.
It’s funny how Miami and Virginia Tech, who moved from the Big East to the ACC this year, will ultimately decide who wins the ACC, something they have done the last decade in the Big East. Whoever wins the game, Miami or VT, will whip Boston College in the Sugar Bowl.
Now, we are down to our last and most important bowl, which, this year, is the Orange Bowl because it is home to the national championship game.
Unless you are drunk, stoned or both, you have probably realized that I think Auburn and USC should and will play in the Orange Bowl.
The Tigers will beat Alabama and will tackle Tennessee in the SEC Championship game to finish with a stellar 12-0 record and will receive an invitation to the Orange Bowl to play USC.
The Trojans, barring upsets from Notre Dame or UCLA, will meet the Tigers in what could turn into a second straight national crown for the Southeastern Conference.
But wait-I nearly forgot about Texas. The Longhorns are No.5 in the BCS, but a BCS bylaw says the highest-ranked team that is not a conference champion will be given an at-large spot if it is ranked No. 3 or No. 4-in this case that is Cal.
So once again Mack Brown’s Longhorns will miss the BCS festivities, unless Stanford or Southern Miss upsets Cal or Utah losses to BYU-both scenarios are extremely unlikely.
Last year Texas was on track to receive an at-large bid to a BCS bowl, but due to Kansas State’s upset over Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship, UT was bumped to the Holiday Bowl where they were beaten by Washington State.
In 2001 the Longhorns, who have not gone to a BCS bowl under Mack Brown, lost to Colorado by two points in the Big 12 Championship game, bumping them out of a BCS automatic bid and into the Holiday Bowl.
At least one team’s holiday plans seem reliable.
Ross Dellenger can be reached at [email protected].