BCS, NCAA Football NEWS
Sooners Win Makes BCS A Mess
Published by MoonDog on November 24, 2008
All Texas Tech had to do Saturday night in Norman was defeat the Sooners and in all likelihood the Red Raiders could have purchased air fare to Miami for the BCS national championship game against Alabama or Florida.
But Oklahoma had other ideas. Big time.
The Sooners win over Texas Tech scrambled the Big 12 and BCS championship scenarios
The Sooners annihilated the Red Raiders 65-21 in a game that was over with 7:45 left before halftime.
With the Sooners huge win the Big 12 Conference South Division has been thrown into a three-way tie with Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Texas all having 6-1 conference marks.
With all three teams having one final regular season game remaining, the chances are good that the Big 12 South will end up with the Red Raiders, Sooners and Longhorns remaining tied atop the division standings.
Should that become reality, the November 30 BCS standings will determine the Big 12 South representative in the Big 12 Conference championship game against Missouri on December 6.
Next week’s BCS standings will also go a long way in determining which two teams will square off in Miami for the BCS national title.
The Gators or Crimson Tide will likely represent the SEC in the BCS title game
The Big 12 isn’t the only conference with an interest in next week’s standings. The SEC is sitting pretty right now with No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Florida needing only to win their last regular season games to set up a mini-national title game in the SEC championship on December 6.
The Tide must defeat in-state rival Auburn this Saturday while the Gators must take care of business against Florida State in Tallahassee. Should both of them win, the SEC will be guaranteed a spot in the BCS national championship game on January 8.
Potentially the biggest loser among the nation’s top ranked teams is Texas, currently No. 2 in the BCS standings released Sunday. The Longhorns have a victory over Oklahoma on October 11 when they defeated the Sooners 45-35 in Dallas.
But Texas lost control of their own destiny when they lost to the Red Raiders on November 1. Texas Tech came back late to defeat the Longhorns 39-33 and for the Longhorns to stay in the hunt for the Big 12 and BCS championships, they must defeat in-state rival Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night.
Even with the Sooners win over Texas Tech, Oklahoma isn’t guaranteed anything at this point. Currently ranked No. 3 in the BCS, the Sooners must defeat Oklahoma State in Stillwater on November 29. If we’ve learned anything this season, or any other season, college football can be a wild ride.
Texas Tech is probably out of the Big 12 and BCS championship pictures
The Cowboys could erase the joy of Oklahoma’s win over Texas Tech with a win and would love doing so in the process. A loss by Oklahoma knocks them out of the Big 12 and BCS championship games and sends the Sooners to a non-BCS bowl for the first time since 2005.
Despite the loss to Oklahoma, Texas Tech, currently No. 7 in the BCS standings, remains alive in the Big 12 and BCS championship discussion. The Red Raiders must defeat Baylor on November 29 and hope for Texas and the Sooners to lose their games.
Meanwhile No. 5 USC (9-1) and No. 6 Utah (12-0) can only hope for all of the teams ahead of them to lose their last regular season games to give either of them a shot at earning a trip to Miami.
The Trojans, like Texas, could be the biggest losers in the whole BCS scenario. USC has remaining games against Notre Dame on November 29 and cross-town rival UCLA on December 6.
If the Trojans win those games as expected, they’ll finish the regular season 11-1 but may not win the Pac-10 Conference championship because of their loss to Oregon State.
Penn State earned their first Rose Bowl berth since 1994
If the Beavers defeat Oregon this Saturday, they’ll win the Pac-10 title and will face Penn State in the Rose Bowl. The Nittany Lions pounded Oregon State 45-14 on September 6 in Happy Valley. Penn State earned their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1994 when they defeated Michigan State 49-18 on Saturday.
Southern California could easily end up No. 3 in the BCS with an 11-1 mark and would likely land in the Fiesta Bowl, possibly against undefeated Utah. The Utes won the Mountain West Conference with a 48-24 win over BYU to complete their second undefeated season in the last four years.
Utah actually has a better chance of landing in the BCS national championship game than USC. If Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Florida, USC and Alabama all lose their last regular season games, the Utes could end up as the No. 1 team in the land and will remain there because they’ve completed their schedule.
As unlikely as that sounds, it remains a possibility. You could also add Penn State to the short list of teams with a chance of getting into the BCS national championship under the same scenario.
When its all said and done, I really believe Oklahoma and Florida will end up in Miami for what should be an incredible matchup for the BCS title. If you stop and think about it, any number of combinations exist and all of them offer potentially attractive matchups.
While we’re complaining about the BCS, the conversations will begin again regarding the need for a playoff in college football. Regardless how everything shakes out, this has been another fantastic college football season.
Check out the latest BCS standings here.
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- Which SEC Team Will Win The BCS Title?
- Guns Up!, Gators Chomp, Tide Is No. 1
- BCS Doesn’t Suck For SEC, Big 12
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tophatal on Mon, 24th Nov 2008 13:56
Moon Dog
I think that what we saw with Texas Tech and Oklahoma is what has been so indicative of the season thus far. No team has remained consistently consistent throughout the season. And even though ‘bama is unbeaten so far. Their schedule as it stands hasn’t been anything to write home about now has it ? They’re not going to be tested until they meet Florida in the SEC championship game. And only then will we really see how competent this team really is !
tophatal …………
tophatal on Mon, 24th Nov 2008 14:02
Moon Dog
This is may well be what the BCS naysayers are after. In order that at the end of the season we’ll be availed with a playoff system once and for all.
We know that it’s a cash cow for the BCS conferences. And as such the broadcast networks in conjuctions with the BCS aren’t about to change the system anytime soon !
As for the Red Raiders they laid themselves open to the assumption that they were good enough. But in the end they were found wanting on all fronts !
tophatal …………..
NESW Sports Headlines 11/24/2008 | NESW Sports, Sports Videos on Mon, 24th Nov 2008 23:18
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