(This is a guest series by MotSaG reader Jason Nafziger. He’ll be taking a weekly look at the college football polls and pointing out the absurd, the laughable and the head scratchers. Please note that Jason is not talking about the BlogPoll. Or my ballot to the BlogPoll.)
Well, the BCS lucked out again with Auburn’s rally from a 24-point deficit to win the Iron Bowl by a single point. Now the Tigers will try to beat South Carolina again for the SEC title and, of course, a coveted spot in the BCS championship game. Last time, the Gamecocks held a 6-point lead going into the fourth quarter, where they proceeding to turn the ball over on all four of their drives. South Carolina is on a three-game winning streak that includes road wins over rivals Florida and Clemson.
Oregon got off to a slow start in their Black Friday game as well, trailing Arizona by 5 going into halftime before exploding for five touchdowns in the second half. Next is rival Oregon State, and a loss to the 5-6 Beavers would be a shocker. This one is going to be ugly.
And then Boise State gave the BCS the final gift of the weekend, dropping an overtime heartbreaker to Nevada and eliminating virtually all ill will unless at least one of the top two teams loses (and TCU gets passed over, which would probably happen.) That sound you hear is the evil chortle of a corrupt system getting away with it again.
The Poll Dancing Hypothetical and Totally Awesome Playoff (v. 1.4):
(1) Oregon vs. (16) Florida International
(2) Auburn vs. (15) UCF
(3) TCU vs. (14) Connecticut
(4) Wisconsin vs. (13) Northern Illinois
(5) Stanford vs. (12) Virginia Tech
(6) Ohio State vs. (11) LSU
(7) Michigan St. vs. (10) Oklahoma
(8) Arkansas vs. (9) Boise St.
Lots of movement in our much more intriguing playoff scenario in light of the Boise, LSU, and Alabama losses. The Big Ten moves three teams into the top half, UConn gets in on the party, and FIU is looking at one of the longest road trips imaginable (while NIU has one of the shortest). And, honestly, who doesn’t want to watch that Arky-Boise game?
The Breakdown (full Top 25): 24% SEC, 20% Big 12, 20% mid-major, 12% Big Ten, 12% Pac-10, 8% ACC, 4% Big East
Thanks to Nevada’s win over Boise and Northern Illinois sneaking in at #25 (plus Iowa’s inexplicable loss to Minnesota), these numbers change for what seems like the first time in a month. The Big East finally returns with West Virginia, who is essentially a placeholder for whoever the eventual conference champion is.
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