BCS Shakeup

The BCS standings changed over the weekend with some great games and a few upsets.

Here's a recap.

Auburn, by way of a come from behind win over arch rival Alabama, became the new #1 ranked team in the BCS standings on Sunday. Down 24-0 in the second quarter, Auburn quarterback Cam Newton once again resurrected a stagnant offense to life by accounting for all 4 of the Tigers touchdowns. Defensively, All-American defensive tackle Nick Fairley overpowered the Crimson Tide interior linemen and wreaked havoc on quarterback Greg McElroy and shut down the pass offense completely.

Auburn now faces South Carolina for the SEC championship. A victory by the Tigers will give them a birth in the BCS title game.

Although Oregon defeated Arizona 48-29 over the weekend, the Ducks are now ranked 2nd in the latest rankings. The PAC-10 champs now must play rival Oregon State to end the regular season at 12-0 and gain a birth in the BCS title game.

TCU remains the #3 ranked team this week after finishing off a perfect regular season campaign. The only chance the Horned Frogs receive a title shot is for either Auburn or Oregon to lose.

At #4, Stanford finishes with an 11-1 mark and is in line to play in the Rose Bowl. The Cardinal have the slimmest of hopes of playing in the BCS title tilt by way of both Auburn and Oregon losing. Even at that, Stanford may be too far behind to get to the 2nd spot in the BCS.

At #5 this week are the Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers wound up in a three way tie for the Big Ten title with Ohio State and Michigan State, but essentially were crowned conference champions by finishing the highest in the BCS standings. Wisconsin, along with Stanford, is playing the best football in the country and is worthy of its BCS bid.

Of course the one major upset was Nevada upsetting then #4 Boise State, dashing any hopes the Broncos had of playing for the national championship.

Now that the final weekend of the season is at hand, and some conferences to be decided, we will have a clear picture of which teams will play for the BCS title and which others will play in BCS bowl games.

I can't wait!

Dick

Send email to dlafrance2@207me.com

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Oklahoma Leads The Initial BCS Standings

The initial Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings were released on Sunday evening with the Oklahoma Sooners ranked #1 followed by the Oregon Ducks, Boise State Broncos, Auburn Tigers, and the TCU Horned Frogs rounding out the top five.

As we know, the BCS formula is derived by the the AP poll, USA Today Coaches poll, the Harris Interactive poll, and a series of computer rankings in which strength of schedule is a key component. More information can be obtained at the official BCS Website.

Of course, the first BCS standings means nothing to how the final standings will be. Every week until the conference championship games are played, the standings will change and there are a number of huge games this weekend.

The top ranked and undefeated Sooners face a stiff road test Saturday at Columbia, Missouri to play the undefeated and #11 Missouri Tigers. In another battle of unbeaten teams, #4 Auburn plays host to #6 LSU Tigers in a huge SEC war while #5 TCU plays an always tough Air Force squad at home.

Other games with BCS importance include the #13 Wisconsin Badgers, fresh off defeating former #1 Ohio State Buckeyes, traveling to Iowa City, to face the #15 Iowa Hawkeyes in a huge Big Ten match up. Another key Big Ten game has the #8 and 7-0 Michigan State Spartans traveling to Evanston, Illinois to face a formidable Northwestern Wildcats team losing only once in six tries. Finally, in a key Big 12 showdown, the undefeated #14 Oklahoma State Cowboys is at home against the #16 Nebraska Cornhuskers, who were upset at home by the Texas Longhorns last weekend.

Say what you will about the BCS. I personally feel a playoff system is best but for now this is what we have. So let's enjoy the games this weekend and may your favorite team win!

Dick

Send email to dlafrance2@207me.com

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