College Football's Five BCS Contenders

ass-happy Texas Tech. Somewhere in there is two losses, so they are out.

Tech could throw a wrench into the whole mess, but their D is too questionable and D wins championships. Make no mistake, they will beat one of the Big Boys, but that's it. Which leads to Mizzou and Oklahoma.

The Tigers' two bumps in the road are at Nebraska and at Texas. There is a possible one loss in there, but I don't see two. Oklahoma faces a pretty nice schedule: their only road games are Washington, Baylor, K-State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State plus the neutral site for the Red River Shoot-out. Throw one possible loss in there (take your pick) and they will be facing Mizzou for the conference championship.

So it's a toss-up at this point for Mizzou and Oklahoma.

On to the SEC. It's really simple- Florida or Georgia. (Hold your breath SEC fans)

Florida and Georgia are the only real legit contenders for the SEC. First up Georgia.

The Dawgs travel to Arizona State, LSU, Auburn and a neutral site for the World's Largest Outdoor Coctail Party against Florida. There's a loss in there somewhere. Trust me. This team will NOT go undefeated, and that's simply due to the brutal schedule. Since Georgia and Florida are in the same division, only one can represent the SEC East and go on to the conference championship, so the only issue here is picking which one will go.

Florida, on the other hand, has road trips at Tennessee, Vandy, Arkansas and Florida State plus the neutral site for the "Cocktail Party." The Gators will win their road trips, but it's too close to call on the date with Georgia. However, since Georgia will most likely have one loss in there before they face Florida and don't have Superman on their team, the Gators should face the SEC West champ Auburn.

Done deal. The Gators beat the Tigers and represent the SEC.

So there you have it: Ohio State, USC, Oklahoma, Mizzou and Florida. Those are the big five and only two will make it to the Big Dance.

Which ones will go?

USC and Florida would be a ratings bonanza for television, garnering both the west and east coast markets. It would also pit two "fast" teams against each other. The voters want to see speed vs. speed.

While Oklahoma looks very strong this year, their past four of five BCS bowls have been duds, and may scare off some voters. Ohio State has gone to the title game two years in a row and has disappointed college football fans with their inability to overcome speed, so they may lose some votes as well. Mizzou is somewhat of a media darling, and if they won the Big 12, could get some sympathy votes.

Depending on the outcome of the Mizzou-Oklahoma conference championship, the final rankings should like this:

1. Florida
2. USC
3. Mizzou/Oklahoma
4. Ohio State

Prediction: Florida versus USC in Miami, January 8th, 2009 for all the marbles.

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