Written by In The Bleachers
| 26 November 2006
Thanksgiving weekend saw more Alka-Seltzer given out after the meal than during. The collapse of Texas and West Virginia will be talked about for at least the next ten years around he dinner table and the emergence of LSU will go down like a Cajun spiced deep fried Turkey with sweet potato pie down South.
The BCS Picture:
Going to the Championship: Ohio State
Can do no worse than the Rose Bowl: Michigan, USC
Winner goes to the Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma/Nebraska
Winner goes to the Sugar Bowl: Arkansas/Florida
Winner goes to the Orange Bowl: Wake Forest/Georgia Tech
Big East bid: Rutgers with a win, Louisville if West Virginia wins.
In: Notre Dame, Boise State
10th Spot (9 wins, top 16): LSU, Florida (if they lose), West Virginia.
After yesterday, no new teams clinched berths. Notre Dame's loss and Boise State's win assured them of spots that had been penciled in for a while.
Big 12- This may have been the strangest finish of the year.
35 years ago yesterday, Oklahoma and Nebraska played "The Game of the Century". Nebraska's 35-31 win gave them the National Championship bid and a date in the Orange Bowl. (No, I don't remember that game.)
Yesterday, Oklahoma defeated Oklahoma State, 27-21. Since losing Adrian Peterson to a crushed collarbone six weeks ago, the Sooners not only did not collapse, they ran the table. They made up the two games they were behind Texas after getting beat in the Red River Shoot-out. And, most importantly, they won the Big 12 South. Sooner fans may send my plate of crow to....
Think about this for a second. You lose your starting quarterback before the season starts because he took cash. You lose your offensive pillar celebrating a touchdown, and you win the title. Some serious guts this season in Norman. Congrats. Others would have packed it in earlier.
Missouri wins #8 over Kansas, 42-17.
ACC- The improbable journey that has been Wake Forest came to a happy ending last night as the Demon Deacons defeated Maryland, 38-24.
After watching Georgia Tech stumble at Athens to Georgia, 15-12, could Wake be favored to win in Jacksonville Saturday.
Imagine Calvin Johnson on USC or Notre Dame, then think just how much he has been the best player in Atlanta this year.
Clemson lays a big egg to South Carolina. If it was Spurrier's swan song in Columbia, it was a sweet one, 31-28.
North Carolina and Virginia Tech win as well.
SEC- Has Arkansas looked that bad all year?
They were one of the least confident offenses I've seen this season in their not surprisingly close loss to LSU Friday, 31-26. They can run like the wind, but after watching Casey Dick for four quarters, you can't be serious that he was their best quarterback. 3 of 17 is not acceptable on that level. LSU made them look awful.
JaMarcus Russell may not have a future on Sunday's, but I'd take him on any given Saturday. A warrior in any era.
Florida did themselves no favors by playing FSU close. They won 21-14, but even with a win over Arkansas, it will be very hard to jump over Southern Cal for #2. The Gators are the biggest Bruin fans on the planet.
If they beat Arkansas, they will have beat Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Arkansas, and Florida State in one season. You can't tell me that one bad half against Auburn was worse than losing to Oregon State.
Big East- Rutgers put themselves back in the driver's seat by pounding Syracuse, 38-7.
West Virginia goes down to South Florida, at home no less, 24-19.
Louisville kills Pittsburgh, 48-24.
My honeymoon with this conference lasted a week. They aren't that good as WVU's loss this week, and Rutgers loss last week tells us that this conference is not ready for prime time yet. Cincy and South Florida are not grade A programs, yet they have huge wins.
Other- It's about time that Notre Dame was exposed.
Unless they lose to UCLA Saturday, USC will play in their fourth straight BCS title game. A dynasty that is incredible in this day and age as they rolled through the Irish, 44-24.
Southern Cal looked extremely focused last night. John David Booty needs to shake mistakes off, we all make them. One had the sense watching the game that USC looked the hungrier team. Don't let the Southern California indifference fool you, this is a hungry team that found it's way after their loss. They may look like a bored team at times, but they responded to their wake up call.
Notre Dame should be a four loss team. If Georgia Tech could pass, they would have won the opener. If UCLA bothered to play the last two minutes in South Bend, they would have won, and Michigan and Southern Cal beat them 20+.
Explain why Brady Quinn is so highly thought off? He can't handle pocket pressure. He can sling it, that's for sure, but he's not a guy I would start if I needed to win a game.
Iowa's Tate and Michigan State's Stanton look to be the more polished to turn pro. Quinn's biggest asset is staying in South Bed, Charlie Weis.
Boise State ran the table, beating Nevada, 38-7.
Next week, the picture clears up.
