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Rankings
Ohio State Buckeyes are new No. 1 in Top 25 – ESPN
Oct 11th
Hit the reset button on the college football season.There\’s a new No. 1 team in Ohio State and uncertainty at the top of the rankings for the first time all season, after Alabama\’s 19-game winning streak ended at South Carolina.
The Southeastern Conference, which has won the last four national championships, has some catching up to do in the 2010 title chase. The Buckeyes and No. 2 Oregon have a couple of BCS busters in No. 3 Boise State and No. 4 TCU on their tails. And for the first time in about a decade, Nebraska is a legitimate national championship contender.
The Buckeyes moved up one spot in The Associated Press poll after preseason No. 1 Alabama lost for the first time since the 2009 Sugar Bowl. The Crimson Tide fell 35-21 on Saturday.
Ohio State received 34 first-place votes and Oregon (15), Boise State (eight), TCU (one) and No. 6 Oklahoma (two) also got first-place votes from the media panel Sunday.
Auburn is the highest ranked SEC team at No. 7. An SEC team, either Florida or Alabama, had held the top spot in the last 29 AP polls, dating to Nov. 2, 2008. The last time the highest ranked SEC team was this far away from No. 1 was Oct. 22, 2006, when Auburn was ranked seventh.
The Crimson Tide slipped to No. 8, LSU was No. 9 and South Carolina moved up nine spots to 10th after the program’s first victory against a top-ranked team.
The last time Ohio State was No. 1 was the final regular-season poll of 2007.
Alabama v. Texas
Dec 7th
Alabama and Texas get to play in a national title game. For TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State, the math doesn’t quite add up but they still get a spot in a BCS bowl.
The quirky, imperfect method of choosing a national champion succeeded Sunday in matching top-ranked Alabama against No. 2 Texas in the BCS championship — a Jan. 7 game between undefeated teams that will bring together Heisman Trophy hopefuls Colt McCoy of the Longhorns and Mark Ingram of the Crimson Tide.
And, of course, it also produced plenty for the little guys to get upset about.
TCU (No. 4 BCS, No. 3 AP), Cincinnati (No. 3 BCS, No. 4 AP) and No. 6 Boise State also finished undefeated. All three were included in the BCS, but none will play for the title — a predictable result that will renew the annual debate about college football’s way of determining the best team in the land.
“It’s a fair question,” said BCS executive director Bill Hancock. “The fact is that the charge of the BCS is to match 1 and 2 in the bowl system. It’s a limited charge. It’s what the BCS is designed to do. Based on the season’s play, we’re confident we’ve matched 1 and 2.”
First BCS Rankings
Oct 18th
Florida, Alabama and Texas hold the top three spots in the first BCS standings and control their fates in the national championship race.
The Gators (.988) are in first, just ahead of the Crimson Tide (.952). Texas (.891) is third.
Boise State (.808) is fourth, but the Broncos still seem to be a long shot to play for a national championship.
Florida is No. 1 in the two polls used by the Bowl Championship Series — the USA Today coaches’ poll and Harris poll — and rated highest by the computers. The polls make up two-thirds of a BCS grade and a compilation of six computer ratings accounts for the other third.
Alabama is second in all the components. Texas is third in the two polls and sixth in the computer ratings.
With the strength of their remaining schedules, the Gators, Tide and Longhorns just need to win out to reach the BCS title game on Jan. 7 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., according to BCS analyst Jerry Palm.
Alabama and Florida would play each other in the Southeastern Conference championship game if each remains undefeated.
Florida’s first test as the top BCS team comes on Saturday at Mississippi State (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
While the top teams in the standings are in good position, history is not on their side.
In the first 11 years of the BCS, the top two teams in the first standings have reached the title game once. Texas and Southern California did it in 2005 season. Overall, 10 of the 22 teams that were ranked first or second in the first standings made it all the way to the championship game.
That would seem to be good news for unbeaten Boise State, but the Broncos have other problems.
“The national championship is not realistic for them,” Palm said. “They’re going to get passed. Their support in the polls is eroding each week.”
Poll points, not rankings, are used in the BCS formula. Boise State lost 17 points in the coaches’ poll despite moving up a spot to No. 5 this week.
Palm said fifth-place Cincinnati, sixth-place Iowa, both unbeaten, and seventh-place Southern California, which has lost a game, are all in position to pass the Broncos if they keep winning because those three teams play tougher schedules the rest of the way.
Boise State, from the Western Athletic Conference, does not have another ranked team on its schedule.
The Broncos are trying to reach the BCS from a league without an automatic bid for the second time. To earn an automatic bid, teams from the WAC, Mountain West Conference, Sun Belt, Mid-American Conference and Conference USA need to finish in the top 12 of the final BCS standings.
But only one team from those leagues can bust the BCS and Boise State has competition.
“The only team that matters to Boise is TCU,” Palm said.
Undefeated TCU is in eighth place. If the Horned Frogs run the table in the Mountain West, Palm said they have a good chance to pass Boise State.
If I had to bet I would bet TCU eventually does,” Palm said. “Because they’re going to win a better league.”
Don’t Blame the BCS … Texas
Dec 4th
If only this were a commercial, then it would have its own tagline custom-fit like a wide receiver’s glove: “Bashing the BCS, so easy Notre Dame’s football team could do it.”
And we get it. It’s easy to rip on the BCS. It’s mocked so often that “NCAA Football brought to you by the BCS sucks” should just be stitched on every game ball, plastered outside the stadiums and weaved in to Lee Corso’s hair.
Top 5 remain intact
Nov 17th
All the national title contenders took care of business and the BCS standings were unchanged at the top Sunday, with Alabama and Texas Tech holding the first two spots and Florida, Texas and Oklahoma poised to move up……
More >
Texas, Florida, Oklahoma looking in…
Nov 11th
Alabama and Texas Tech and their perfect records were on top of the BCS standings Sunday. Texas, Florida and Oklahoma, all with one loss, are lurking and ready to take advantage if the front-runners fall.
Penn State’s loss to Iowa on Saturday left the Crimson Tide and Red Raiders as the only unbeaten teams in the BCS conferences, making it easy to sort out the all-important first two places in the BCS standings this week.
The new rankings are up
Nov 9th
Alabama and Texas Tech are holding the top 2 spots this week…no surprise. And even though UF is #3 in both the AP and USA Today…Texas is #3 in the BCS standings and UF is #4.
Also, went 4-1 this weekend in my predictions… going +7 units. Should have been 5-0 +8 unit…fucking kicker.
What do you think about the latest rankings?
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Saturday Games & Picks
Nov 7th
First…please take a second and answer the poll questions to the left.
Now for my picks…(click ‘continue reading’)
No. 1 Alabama at No. 16 LSU
No. 9 Oklahoma State at No. 2 Texas Tech
No. 21 California at No. 7 USC
Illinois at Western Michigan
Thursday Night Game & Pick
Nov 6th
8:00 PM
No. 12 TCU (9-1) at No. 8 Utah (9-0)
Both these teams are undefeated in the MWC and tonight they battle to sit atop the league alone. The Horned Frogs own a win over BYU and their lone loss came to Oklahoma. Utah is undefeated, sitting on top of all other non-BCS schools. TCU only has Air Force left after this game while Utah has #15 BYU in two weeks.
Analysis and my prediction…. More >
Two huge ‘Top 10′ games on Saturday
Oct 31st
Two games. Four top 10 teams. These 2 games may decide at least one of the entrants into the Big 12 and SEC championship games.
And that means the difference between a BCS game or the BCS game
No. 1 Texas (8-0) at No. 7 Texas Tech (8-0), 8 p.m.
This is likely the last chance for anyone to knock off the top-ranked Longhorns before the conference title game, which they would almost certainly clinch a berth in with a win in Lubbock. The Red Raiders have this one at home, which is big, but even a win wouldn’t make them the presumptive favorites for the conference title – they face No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 4 Oklahoma the next two weeks. Whoever makes the most plays on defense, or even one big play, wins this one.
No. 8 Florida (6-1) vs. No. 6 Georgia (7-1) in Jacksonville, 3:30 p.m.
This one was circled on the schedule even before the season began; in the wacky world of the SEC, it’s impressive that it still has a huge impact. The Bulldogs have won three straight after getting dumped by Alabama and the Gators have romped through three straight wins after being upset by Ole Miss. Plus, Florida’s returning players have a bad taste left from last year’s 42-30 loss to Georgia in which Bulldogs coach Mark Richt ordered his players to get a celebration penalty after the opening touchdown.
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