BCS Bowl Predictions: Ohio State and Oklahoma Claim Top Spots

The football season starts in just over a week.  To fuel some fire, I went through the whole season to see where teams could fall for the final BCS poll and who would be playing in BCS bowls.  The following is what I concluded:

Final BCS Poll

1.   Oklahoma (13-0)
2.   Ohio State (12-0)
3.   Georgia (12-1)
4.   USC (11-1)
5.   Florida (11-1)
6.   Clemson (12-1)
7.   South Florida (11-1)
8.   Missouri (11-2)
9.   North Carolina (11-2)
10. West Virginia (10-2)
11. Utah (11-1)
12. Michigan State (10-2)
13. Tennessee (10-2)
14. Texas (10-2)
15. Wake Forest (10-2)
16. Wisconsin (9-3)
17. Brigham Young (10-2)
18. Texas Tech (9-3)
19. Washington (10-2)
20. Penn State (9-3)
21. LSU (9-3)
22. Auburn (9-4)
23. Florida State (9-3)
24. Arizona State (9-3)
25. Fresno State (10-2)

Just Missed Out: Pittsburgh, Tulsa, Virginia Tech, Miami (FL), and Texas A&M

BCS Automatic Bids

Oklahoma (Big 12 Champs and BCS #1)
Ohio State (Big 10 Champs and BCS #2)
Georgia (SEC Champs)
USC (Pac-10 Champs)
Clemson (ACC Champs)
West Virginia (Big East Champs)
Utah (At-Large)

BCS Bowl Matchups

Orange Bowl
Clemson vs. Utah

Explanation: Orange Bowl selects Clemson with ACC ties.  Must select Utah because it is the last bowl in the rotation to pick and is left with Utah as an at-large bid.  Utah qualifies by being in the top 12 of the BCS standings.

Sugar Bowl
Georgia vs. *West Virginia
*Other possible teams: South Florida or North Carolina

Explanation: Sugar Bowl selects Georgia with SEC ties.  Is second in the pick rotation.  Assuming Fiesta Bowl already picked Florida, the Sugar Bowl is left with either West Virginia or Utah and selects the better of the two.  If Fiesta picks West Virginia, the Sugar Bowl must choose between South Florida or North Carolina.

Fiesta Bowl
Missouri vs. *Florida
*Other possible team: West Virginia

Explanation: Fiesta Bowl selects Missouri with Big 12 ties and with second behind Rose Bowl due to losing automatic tie in Oklahoma to the championship game.  Is first in the pick rotation and can select either Florida or West Virginia.  Most likely to pass on Big East Champion for top SEC team in Florida.

Rose Bowl
Michigan State vs. USC

Explanation: Rose Bowl selects Michigan State with Big 10 ties and with first pick due to losing automatic tie in Ohio State to the championship game.  Selects USC with Pac-10 ties.

BCS National Championship
Oklahoma vs. Ohio State

Explanation: BCS selects Oklahoma and Ohio State with top two spots in BCS final poll.