Looking at the BCS, D-III Tournament

Glad to see our wonderful new Web site is up and running. Hope everyone will check out my blog, which will likely be the best spot to catch up on Brockport sports over the winter, so be sure to check it out.

Let’s dive right in to a few things about college football in the FBS.

Today, we’re going to take a close look at what teams are still in the race for a BCS Bowl bid, and who will likely be in that National title game. Let’s get a few things straight in case you don’t much about the BCS system.

There are five BCS Bowl games (Orange, Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and of course, the National championship.)

Six bids are automatic locks, they go to the conference champion of all six BCS Conferences (ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, Pac-10).

Which leaves four bids that can go to any conference, but no conference can have more than two teams in the five bowl games. Hence why Missouri was snubbed last year for Kansas, even though they beat Kansas. Missouri, if you recall, lost twice (both times to Oklahoma) and Kansas just once, to Missouri. The BCS rankings listed Kansas higher than Missouri, thus giving them the second spot.

ACC: Florida State (6-2, 3-2) looked like they were returning back to old form, but coughing up a fumble inside the Georgia Tech 10-yard-line in the last few minutes may have sealed their fate. That leaves Maryland (6-2, 3-1), yes that Maryland team that lost to Middle Tennesee State earlier in the year with a chance to win the division at home against Florida State in three weeks. My gut tells me the coastal division will come down to Miami (6-3, 3-2) at Georgia Tech (7-2, 4-2) in two weeks, regardless of what happens this week. I like the Yellow Jackets at home.

ACC Championship: Maryland vs. Georgia Tech. Sad to see the winner will grab a BCS bid, but I’ll go with Paul Johnson – the miracle worker- getting an ACC title in his first year with Georgia Tech.

Big Ten: Although you may think Penn State (9-0, 5-0) has this bid locked already without a conference championship game, think again. Michigan State (8-2, 5-1)  still controls their destiny even if Penn State wins out until the final game of the season. Although it’s a home game for Penn State, if Michigan State were to win, they would be heading to the Rose Bowl.

Big 10 champ: Penn State

Big East: South Florida (6-3, 1-3) and West Virginia (6-2, 3-0) have been major disappointments, but the Mountaineers – even with losses to Colorado and East Carolina – should win the conference. Look out, though, when they travel to Pitt in the end of November.

Big East champ: West Virginia

Big 12: The Big 12 South division is the best division in the history of college sports, let alone conference. Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have a combined three losses – all have come against each other. Unfortunately, this will keep happening, so I don’t like any getting into the title game, unless it is with one loss. Expect Tech to lose one, maybe two of their final three games. With Oklahoma and Texas with one conference loss each, Texas gets the division title.

Big 12 championship: Texas vs. Missouri. Texas should handle Missou.

SEC: Florida locked up the East title with last week’s trouncing of Georgia. Alabama appears to have the West completely in the bag. They can clinch it with a win against LSU this weekend. Even with a loss, they’re probably fine.

SEC Champ: Alabama vs. Florida. I actually like Florida here, plus this will completely ruin the BCS system yet again.

Pac-10: Something you need to know: if Oregon State (5-3, 4-1) wins out, they win the Pac-10, remember they already beat USC. The big game though, is this weekend with USC hosting Cal. Cal can make things extremely interesting, but I don’t see it.

Pac-10 champ: USC

Mid-Majors:

HUUUUGE game tonight between No. 8 Utah (9-0, 5-0) and No. 12 Texas Christian (9-1, 6-0) in the Mountain West. The Mountain West badly deserves a BCS bid, with Brigham Young (8-1, 4-1) just as deserving. Don’t forget, BYU’s only loss is to TCU, and TCU’s only loss is to Oklahoma. Outside of the Okalhoma loss, TCU is outscoring opponents 356-73.. seriously insane.

Mountain West winner: I really hope it’s Utah so they can steal a bid, but I expect TCU to win tonight, and thus win the conference.

Everything esle:

Tulsa’s only loss leaves only Boise State and Ball State as the only two capable teams to grab a bid. Ball State still has to travel to Central Michigan, so I don’t think they can do it, but expect the Boise State Broncos to run the table and likely grab a bid.

National championship: Penn State (Big 10) vs. (gulp) Florida (SEC)

Rose Bowl: Ohio State (at-large) vs. USC (Pac-10)

Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech (ACC) vs. Texas (Big 12)

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma (at-large) vs. West Virginia (Big East)

Sugar Bowl: Alabama (at-large) vs. Boise State (at-large)

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