Bleacher Report - College Football Polls

New BCS Rankings Week Seven: An Epic Final Weekend Is Set

Asher Feldman — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:09:06 -0500

We’ve been waiting the entire length of the college football season for a huge upset, but haven’t gotten one.

For all the boredom that that brings to the college football scene, the week seven BCS standings finally point to a final weekend of the season that could be supremely exciting.

Florida, Alabama, and Texas occupy the top three spots as they have all season, and are set to play in season deciding games.

Florida and Alabama have known for quite some time that winning out during the regular season would allow for a national semifinal in the SEC Championship Game, and that’s exactly what we’re going to get, as a loss by either team would knock it out of the national title spots. A victory would send either team to the BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, CA.

Texas only needs to beat No. 22 Nebraska in order to punch their ticket to Pasadena for the title game, but after the Longhorns had some trouble with Texas A&M anything is still possible.

After that, things get a little more interesting.

Say, for instance, that Texas is shocked in the Big 12 Championship Game. Who would fill their spot?

No. 4 TCU and No. 5 Cincinnati have sat in the two spots directly behind the Longhorns for a few weeks now, the Bearcats have slowly but surely crept closer and closer to the Horned Frogs during these weeks.

TCU has basically locked up a BCS bowl spot, but could they take the spot of the Longhorns should they falter? Or, should they beat Pitt on Saturday, will the BCS be untrusting of a non-BCS team in the national title game and jump the Bearcats over TCU and leave the state of Texas completely out of the national title game?

At No. 6 Boise State must feel left out in all of this, even as an undefeated team. There is no chance for them to make the national title game, and it still seems like a 50-50 proposition for a BCS bowl bid.

No year has come where two non-BCS schools have participated in the BCS, but this could be that year.

After Oklahoma State lost on Saturday, which certainly helped the Broncos cause, there remains the strong possibility of another BCS conference team being taken ahead of the Broncos with an at-large selection.

No. 7 Oregon will face No. 16 Oregon State for the Pac-10’s Rose Bowl bid and conference championship, playing for the rights to face No. 8 Ohio State.

No. 9 Iowa and No. 11 Penn State will likely also be battling it out in the press for a BCS at-large selection, as both are attractive candidates for the bowls with large national followings.

No. 10 Georgia Tech lost on Saturday to instate rival Georiga, but still can make a BCS bowl if they can beat Clemson in the ACC Championship Game next Saturday.

Until that time it’s sure to be a hectic projection-filled week as we approach the final weekend of the college football season.

You’ll want to stay tuned.

BCS Rankings – November 29th

Rank	Team	BCS Score
1	Florida	.9868
2	Alabama	.9513
3	Texas	.9282
4	TCU	.8689
5	Cincinnati	.8547
6	Boise State	.8096
7	Oregon	.7343
8	Ohio State	.6882
9	Iowa	.6028
10	Georgia Tech	.5803
11	Penn State	.5499
12	Virginia Tech	.5376

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Projected BCS Rankings Week Seven: Three Upsets Change the BCS Slightly

Asher Feldman — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:41:30 -0500

We went into this weekend hoping for some upsets, and while we got a couple of interesting ones, it didn’t change a whole lot at the top of the BCS standings.

The upsets came in the final weekend of November, and the final full weekend of college football action as this unusually upset-free season comes to a close.

Georgia Tech—already having secured a spot in the ACC Championship Game—and knowing a BCS bowl bid is the best they could do, overlooked a very game Georgia team and fell to the Bulldogs in the rivalry game.

In Bedlam, Oklahoma State, who had a lot more riding on the game than Oklahoma did—looking for a BCS bowl at-large bid—slipped terribly, not able to score a single point and falling to the Sooners 27-0.

No. 9 Pittsburgh, who had been looking towards a Big East showdown with the Cincinnati Bearcats, obviously overlooked the Backyard Brawl, and fell to West Virginia on a last second field goal.

Texas and Alabama had some trouble finding victory over the long weekend, but neither actually lost. No harm, no foul, and the SEC Championship as a national semifinal holds true for a second consecutive year, as Florida and Alabama will face off to see who gets to represent the conference in the national title game. The loser of the game, although not happy, will likely still see a Sugar Bowl bid in their future.

Surprisingly, five of the six BCS conferences will hold “conference championship” games, although only three (Big 12, ACC and SEC) actually have official games with such a name.

The Pac-10 and Big East will feature matchups that will decide the conference’s regular season title winners and BCS bowls bids after this weekend’s action was not enough to decide either crown.

The Pac-10 will feature a Thursday Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State, the winner likely headed to the Rose Bowl. The Big East will see an undefeated Cincinnati and the aforementioned Pitt face off for the Big East crown.

But that is all the future, for right now all we can do is project this week’s BCS standings, which will be released after the slate of FOX NFL games tomorrow on the OT show:

Projected BCS Standings November 29

Rank	Team
1	Florida
2	Alabama
3	Texas
4	TCU
5	Cincinnati
6	Boise State
7	Oregon
8	Ohio State

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NCAA Top 25 Week 13: Rivalry Week Lurks Ahead of Conference Championships

The Sportmeisters — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:56:37 -0500

By Ryan of The Sportmeisters

Rivalry week is here! This is the week where records can be thrown out, because, if you can beat your rival, it can be considered a winning season. Will this week's top 25 have some upsets ahead of them?

1. Texas (Last Week: 2) Next Game: 11/26 at Texas A&M

A prime-time Thanksgiving game, where the Longhorns are going to be thankful Florida and Alabama have to play each other, giving Texas a boost in the BCS.

2. TCU (Last Week: 1) Next Game: 11/28 vs. New Mexico

TCU drops to number two, not because of their win over Wyoming, but because I rank Texas’s beating Kansas higher than TCU over Wyoming.

3. Florida (Last Week: 3) Next Game: 11/28 vs. Florida State

Another year of a “warm-up” before Florida State comes to town, and QB Tim Tebow should feast in his last home game against FSU’s shoddy defense.

4. Alabama (Last Week: 4) Next Game: 11/27 at Auburn

Auburn is an up-and-down team, and if Alabama is looking ahead, Gene Chizik’s staff could pull the rug right out from underneath the Tide.

5. Boise State (Last Week: 5) Next Game: 11/27 vs. Nevada

Boise State can’t sleep on the Wolfpack, who have won eight in a row since starting off 0-3.

6. Cincinnati (Last Week: 6) Next Game: 11/27 vs. Illinois

A non-conference matchup still holds some weight for the Bearcats, who look to remain undefeated, with an outside shot at the BCS title game.

7. Georgia Tech (Last Week: 7) Next Game: 11/28 vs. Georgia

The Yellow Jackets have had the Bulldogs number in the past few seasons, and should continue that, leading up to their clash against Clemson next week.

8. Ohio State (Last Week: 9) Next Game: Rose Bowl vs. TBD

As per the Big 10, Ohio State ended their season, and now will sit and wait for their Rose Bowl opponent.

9. Pittsburgh (Last Week: 10) Next Game: 11/27 at West Virginia

The Panthers cannot afford to look ahead to Cincinnati next week, and have to focus on Noel Devine and his blazing speed.

10. Penn State (Last Week: 11) Next Game: Bowl Game

Penn State jumps back into the top ten, and waits for word on their bowl game.

11. Oklahoma State (Last Week: 12) Next Game: 11/28 at Oklahoma

A year ago, this would have been a bigger game, but for Coach Mike Gundy, he is still looking for his first victory against the Sooners.

12. Virginia Tech (Last Week: 13) Next Game: 11/28 at Virginia

Is this really a rivalry game? VT should run all over Al Groh’s hapless squad.

13. Oregon (Last Week: 14) Next Game: Idle

Oregon waits for the Civil War against Oregon State in two weeks, with the Pac-10 on the line.

14. Iowa (Last Week: 16) Next Game: Bowl Game

Iowa will look back on this season as the one that could have been, and hope to start next season off right with a bowl win.

15. Clemson (Last Week: 19) Next Game: 11/28 at South Carolina

An ACC Title Bid and a win against South Carolina could make a lot of Tiger fans very thankful this holiday season.

16. LSU (Last Week: 10) Next Game: 11/28 vs. Arkansas

Only in the SEC could a top 25 coach be out on the streets after the season, but that’s how it’s looking for Les Miles.

17. Oregon State (Last Week: NR) Next Game: Idle

Both Oregon and Oregon State get the extra week to prepare for a huge Pac-10 showdown next week.

18. USC (Last Week: 18) Next Game: 11/28 vs. UCLA

Can USC salvage this “rebuilding season” with a win against their rivals?

19. Utah (Last Week: 20) Next Game: 11/28 at No. 20 Brigham Young

Neither team can win the MWC, but both are fighting for a 10-win season, which is still respectable.

20. Brigham Young (Last Week: 21) Next Game: 11/21 vs. No. 19 Utah

BYU is 3-2 at home, while opponent Utah is 3-2 on the road.

21. Navy (Last Week: 22) Next Game: 11/28 vs. Hawaii

The Midshipmen take a week off, and still move up in the polls.

22. Miami (Last Week: 23) Next Game: 11/28 at South Florida

It’s not a rivalry game per se, but South Florida already took down one of the Florida Big Three, can a second win be far behind?

23. Houston (Last Week: 24) Next Game: 11/28 vs. Rice

Houston bounced back with a trouncing of Memphis in week 12.

24. Mississippi (Last Week: NR) Next Game: 11/28 at Mississippi State

An upset win brings the Rebels into the top 25.

25. North Carolina (Last Week: NR) Next Game: 11/28 at NC State

The Tar Heels move into the top 25, on the heels of a four-game winning streak.

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