BYU and TCU: Sharing the Same Goals

So far this season just about everything has gone the way the Mountain West needed it.  To have three teams in the top 25 at this stage of the campaign is almost more than could be hoped for by the conference.  

The only real disappointments are perhaps the poor overall performances of teams such as Washington, UCLA and Michigan.  Before the season, these looked like good opponents to have on the schedule but unfortunately, victories over them have not helped BYU or Utah much in poll perception or BCS strength of schedule. 

Still, both schools need to keep scheduling opponents such as these—the luck will change.

Before the season began, I thought BYU would lose tonight’s game at TCU in Ft. Worth.  However, TCU’s offense has not shown enough spunk and the large BYU following expected at Amon G. Carter Stadium should help propel the Cougars to victory.

Will a victory over TCU and Utah be enough to propel the blue and white into the national championship game?  I also wrote before the season in these pages that I thought an undefeated BYU had a decent chance of playing in the title game.

However, with the implosion of UCLA and Washington, any chance they did have has probably been dashed. 

Odd things do happen though.  In fact, if you look carefully you may see that BYU and TCU are actually fighting for the same two goals tonight—a Mountain West Conference Championship and a spot in a BCS game. 

Either BYU or Utah would be virtually guaranteed a spot in a BCS bowl by winning out either of their seasons.  Either team would finish no lower than number twelve and that would be enough to ensure an invitation to the big time. 

But whoa! What about TCU?  What happens if TCU manages to win out its season?  Victories over two undefeated teams on national TV would certainly impress the voters. With five games to go, TCU could conceivably jump inside the top 16 in the polls.  

From there, the Horned Frog’s strength of schedule would enable it to pretty much hold its position in the BCS rankings. 

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