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

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Down To The Wire In College Football

With the college football season in its final two weeks of the season, there is still much to be determined in conference races and the BCS final standings. In fact, all we know about the standings in the six automatic qualifying BCS conferences is that the SEC championship game will feature East kingpin South Carolina versus West champs and #2 Auburn and Virginia Tech has won the ACC Coastal Division.

Let's now examine where things stand in conference races, including the non – automatic qualifying Mountain West and WAC conferences.

Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC):

As previously mentioned, Virginia Tech has won the Coastal division and await either Atlantic Coast division champion Florida State or North Carolina State for the ACC title. The Hokies have been solid on offense and play their normal stifling defense.

Big East:

The University of Pittsburgh lead the Big East by one game over both Connecticut and West Virginia with two games remaining and control their own destiny. Pitt plays West Virginia at home on Friday and travels to Cincinnati to finish the conference schedule. Two wins and they're the champs.

The Mountaineers can lay claim to the title by beating the Panthers then defeating Rutgers in its finale along with a Connecticut loss.

U Conn has a shot at the title by winning its two remaining games at home versus Cincinnati and at South Florida. The Huskies need a little help and will get some as the loser of the West Virginia/Pittsburgh will fall behind Conn. It also helps that Connecticut has beaten both teams this season.

Big Ten:

The most exciting conference race remaining as three teams vie for the Big Ten title as #7 Wisconsin, #8 Ohio State, and #10 Michigan State have just one loss in conference. Wisconsin has beaten Ohio State but has lost to Michigan State while the Spartans lone defeat came at the hands of Iowa. On top of that, Ohio State and Michigan State go not meet this season.

How will the Big Ten title be determined?

In the event of a three way tie for the lead, the team with the highest BCS ranking will be crowned Big Ten champion in which Wisconsin leads for the time being.

Should Wisconsin and Ohio State tie for first, the Badgers will claim the with the aforementioned victory over Ohio State.

Should Wisconsin and Michigan State top the conference standings, the Spartans will win the crown by having beaten the Badgers.

In the event that Ohio State and Michigan State lead the pack, the squad with the higher BCS rank will prevail with the Buckeyes leading the way at the moment.

The schedule for the weekend has Wisconsin at home versus Northwestern, Ohio State staying home to play rival Michigan, and Michigan State traveling to Happy Valley to go against Penn State.

Good stuff, you think?

Big 12:

Nebraska controls its own destiny in the North Division and can claim its place in the Big 12 title game with a win against Colorado on Saturday. However, should the Cornhuskers lose and Missouri wins its game at Kansas, the Tigers will win the North.

The South Division will be decided Saturday as the Oklahoma Sooners travel to Stillwater to play the Oklahoma State Cowboys with the winner playing in the Big 12 title game.

Pacific 10:

The BCS #1 Oregon Ducks have two games remaining --- at home against #21 Arizona and at Corvallis to play arch rival Oregon State. One win will clinch the PAC 10 title and winning out will put the Ducks in the BCS title tilt.

Stanford, at #5, holds out slim hopes of being the conference champ by winning its remaining game against Oregon State and Oregon losing both of its games.

Southeastern Conference:

As previously mentioned, #2 Auburn and # 18 South Carolina will vie for the SEC title in 2 weeks.

Mountain West:

The #3 TCU Horned Frogs have already laid claim to the Mountain West title and look to finish a perfect regular season with a defeat of lowly New Mexico.

Western Athletic Conference (WAC):

The WAC title will be decided this weekend as the Boise State Broncos, ranked 4th in the current BCS standings, travel to Reno to square off against the #19 Wolfpack. Both teams have explosive offenses, but BSU has a stifling defense to boot.

This looks to be an exciting weekend for college football and the BCS standings could be jumbled. The key tilt will be #2 Auburn playing #11 Alabama with national championship implications for Auburn.

Enjoy the games!

Dick

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The World Series, Randy Moss, And College Football

In another week filled with sports stories ranging from sublime to bizarre, three events of note caught my eye that has inspired me to write yet another post of multiple subjects.

Baseball season is now over, a mercurial wide receiver makes headlines yet again, and college football's landscape goes through more turnover.

Let's get this show on the road!

San Francisco Giants End Long World Series Drought.

The San Francisco Giants ended a 56 drought between World Series titles by defeating the Texas Rangers in 5 games to become the 2010 World Champions. The Giants rode the arms of starting pitchers Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, 21 year-old Madison Bumgarner, and closer Brian Wilson to what was to be easy pickings against the Rangers vaunting hitting attack.

But the surprise star was aging shortstop and World Series MVP Edgar Renteria. Renteria hit 2 homers and knocked in 6 teammates including the series clinching 3 run shot in game five. Edgar is now contemplating retirement after a very good major league career that included 2 World Series titles.

Congratulations to both the Giants and Renteria!

Randy Moss Moving Again.

In what I thought was a stunning development, The Minnesota Vikings suddenly waived wide receiver Randy Moss just a month after acquiring his services from the New England Patriots for a third round draft choice in the 2011 NFL draft.

Moss did little to revitalize the Vikings passing game and reportedly got upset over bad food from a catering service. Whatever the case, it was Randy's attitude that bit his butt yet again and Vikes' coach Brad Childress has publicly regretted making that trade.

Moss has been claimed on waivers by the Tennessee Titans to bolster their passing game which surprised me as I thought the St. Louis Rams would claim him ahead of the Titans. We'll see what happens.

The Ever Changing Landscape Of College Football.

More upsets last weekend led to more changes to the headache that is the BCS standings. Previously unbeaten Michigan State and Missouri got thrashed by Iowa and Nebraska respectively and Oregon leapfrogged Auburn as the nation's new top dog (or duck).

Two key games to keep an eye on this weekend as #3 TCU travels to #5 Utah for what should be the Mountain West title and #6 Alabama plays #10 LSU in what should be a defensive struggle for positioning in the SEC West.

Then we can watch the BCS show at 8:15 PM Sunday to see the new standings...Or not.

Dick

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The World Series, BCS #1, And The New York “Football” Giants

Much has happened this past weekend in the wonderful world of sports. We have witnessed Major League Baseball crowning league champions, the #1 ranked team in college football's BCS getting hammered, and the emergence (or re-emergence) of a potential NFC power.

One by one, I will briefly recap these events and give opinions on the future of upcoming events as pertains to these subjects.

Here we go!

The 2010 World Series ---

This season's World Series pits the National League champion San Francisco Giants versus the Texas Rangers, champion of the American League. The Giants feature a strong pitching staff, as witnessed in the NLCS by defeating defending champion Philadelphia Phillies, while the Rangers have a potent batting attack as the defending world champion New York Yankees encountered. San Francisco has not won the Series since 1954 while Texas is playing in its first ever fall classic.

It has been stated and proven that good pitching beats good hitting most of the time, but I feel that the Ranger bats and aggressiveness will be too much for 'Frisco's call to arms.

I like Texas in six games and bring home their first world title.

Game 1, to be played Wednesday evening in San Francisco, will feature Giants ace Tim Lincecum against Texas stopper Cliff Lee, one of the all time post season's best hurlers.

It's NOT Good To Be The King ---

Being #1 in major college football has not been to the liking of three teams in the last three weeks. Alabama was knocked off the AP's top rung by being upset by South Carolina three weeks ago. The following Saturday, newly anointed #1 Ohio State gets bounced by Wisconsin and then this past Saturday night, initial BCS #1 Oklahoma got shelled by Missouri. The one thing in common is that all three top dogs lost on the road and this week the new BCS leader Auburn plays Mississippi … yup, at Mississippi.

I believe the string gets broken this week as Auburn overpowers “Ole Miss” and retains its lofty perch.

The New York Giants Becoming An NFC Power ---

If someone had told me that after seven weeks into the NFL season that the New York “Football” Giants would be tied for the best record in the NFC, my response would have been, “You're crazy!”. But yet,the Giants --- my Giants are in that position. After a bumbling start, including an embarrassing 29-10 loss at home to Tennessee, the G-Men have ripped off four consecutive victories, including a 41-35 victory in Dallas against the Cowboys. The offense is well balanced with a very good offensive line that opens holes for both Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs and protects quarterback Eli Manning sufficiently.

Speaking of Eli, he has what is the best young receiving corps in the NFL with possession slot man Steve Smith, deep threat Mario Manningham, and budding superstar Hakeem Nicks.

Defensively, New York has regained it's vaunted pass rush, added run stopping ability, and improved its pass coverage under new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell. Truly, the defense has been sparkling this month and is among one of the better units in the NFL.

The Giants hope to continue playing well after this weeks bye as the meat of their schedule is upcoming as they must face the Cowboys again and have divisional foes Philadelphia and Washington for a pair each.

Now if Eli can stop throwing needless interceptions...

Enjoy!

Dick

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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

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It's That Time Again --- College Football Commences

That time of year has arrived --- Labor Day weekend barbecues, autumn around the corner, baseball pennant races going down the stretch, the NFL season draws neigh, and for many this is the beginning of the college football season.

Starting Thursday night September 2nd, the chase for the BCS title commences with eighteen games, including two involving teams with National Championship hopes as Ohio State, the #2 ranked team in the Associated Press poll plays host to Marshall and The University of Miami, #13 playing a home game versus Florida A&M. While the home teams should win handily, these games will set up a battle between the two powerhouses in week two.

Another couple of tilts with significance are The 15th ranked University of Pittsburgh Panthers traveling to Utah to face the The University of Utah Utes and the 14th ranked USC Trojans traveling to face Hawaii.

The reason why I bring up the Trojans is that there is a possibility, albeit remote, that USC could win all their games and finish as the AP National Champions. Remember that USC is ineligible to play in the BCS title game under NCAA sanctions for knowingly allowing boosters and others to aid players, namely Reggie Bush, and other transgressions under former Athletic Director Mike Garrett. A split championship? That is what the BCS is suppose to negate.

Over the weekend there are two huge games with BCS title implications. The #24 Oregon State Beavers hit the road on Saturday night to face 2009 BCS party crashers TCU Horned Frogs, the 6th ranked AP team. Then Sunday evening, The other non BCS power Boise State Broncos, the AP's 3rd ranked squad, go to Blacksburg, Virginia to face perennial powerhouse and 10th rated Virginia Tech Hokies.

To think this is week one of the college season! That's not a bad group of opening games!

Whether you have a favorite squad, be it Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas, defending champion Alabama, or any other team, I think this season will be as exciting as any we've seen in recent memory. Let's sit back, relax, and enjoy opening weekend.

Time for kickoff!

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An Easy Explanation for the BCS --- Take Out the”C”

If you are a fan of major college football, you know that there is one method determining the two teams playing for the national championship within the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). It is a system that weighs 2 polls, computer rankings, and has a unique formula to determine standings or rankings. It also is a source of frustration for most college football fans due to 2 reasons --- its complexity and some of the qualifications. I will give a synopsis of the system that some say is BS.

Welcome to the Bowl Championship Series, better known as the BCS.

There is only one question to ask … How are teams selected for BCS games?

To answer that, there are teams that automatically qualify for a BCS game, namely the champions of the following conferences: Atlantic Coast (ACC), Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern (SEC) throughout the 2013 regular season.

Easy enough, right? Now there are provisions for non-Automatic Qualifiers.

The conference champions of Conference-USA, Mid-American (MAC), Mountain West, Sun Belt, and Western Athletic (WAC) will earn a berth at a BCS game if one of two events occur:

One of these teams is in the top 12 in the final BCS standings OR
One of these teams is a top 16 BCS team and is ranked higher than a conference champion of an automatic qualifier.

Okay, that may not be so confusing --- but then there's this little piece of information that must be considered:

Notre Dame will earn a BCS berth should it finish in the top 8 in the final BCS standings.

But what happens if 2 or more non Automatic Qualifying teams fulfill these provisions? Well, only one team can go to a BCS game and that will be the higher ranked team in the final BCS standings while the other team(s) may earn a BCS bid should it meet the previously mentioned criteria.

There are other provisions too, but it becomes complicated so I won't elaborate.

Such an easy concept --- yeah, right!

The next provision is that of at-large eligibility. If there are not 10 teams that automatically qualify for BCS berths then the following criteria must be met to get an At-Large bid.

Teams must have 9 regular season victories, AND
Is in the top 14 in the final BCS standings.

There are other provisions should there not be enough eligible teams, but yet again, it is complicated and not worth my breath.

For most college football fans, there are obvious facts. One is the top 2 teams in the final BCS standings play for the National Championship and that certain conferences are contractually committed to host bowl games. Those being the ACC for the Orange Bowl, the SEC for the Sugar Bowl, the Big 12 for the Fiesta Bowl, and the Big Ten and Pac-10 hosting the Rose Bowl.

Should a bowl game lose a host because that team is in the National Championship game, it shall be replaced by either an Automatic Qualifier or an At-Large team. And yes, there are other provisions should certain events occur.

A pain in the neck about now!

Now to the BCS standings and how they are compiled. More fun!!!

The BCS standings are comprised of the Harris Interactive College Football Poll, the USA Today Coaches Poll, and computer rankings (SIX of those!) of which each has an equal third of weight. To get the percentages of each, all teams get an inverse point total, such as 25 points for #1, 24 points for #2, and so on.

The percentages of the two polls are calculated by dividing each team's point total by a maximum 2850 possible points for the Harris Poll and a maximum of 1525 points from the USA Coaches Poll. The computer rankings percentage is calculated by dropping the highest and lowest ranking for each team and then the remaining total is divided by one hundred. Included in the six computer rankings are strength of schedule, of which I haven't a clue on how that's determined. I'm guessing that each provider has it's own formula to derive that.

Finally, the BCS Average is formed by averaging the percentages of the Harris and USA Coaches Polls and the computer rankings. These averages are ranked to get the BCS Standings.

Let's see, all of that to determine the BCS National Championship Game participants, determining any other Automatic Qualifiers, and establishing the pool for At-Large teams.

Go at it you math majors!

Now we all know the workings of the BCS...well, some of it. It's complicated and it's made major college football a sham to some. Of course, you can get more information on the BCS at the official BCS site within the links provided. It's a lousy read --- really it is.

Now that I'm finished, I need some Advil for my headache, sore neck, and sore fingers. Perhaps I may need a hospital stay to go into traction.

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