Every Saturday Is a Play Off, Round Two!

Every Saturday is a play off, but in the new millennium sometimes Wednesday or Thursday is Saturday.

         When the season started 120 teams and their fans wished for the one thing that only a few have every achieve, using the Final AP poll as the  measuring  stick   27 teams over the 72 year history of the countries 1^st major poll  has won a national championship. And a National Championship is the dream of all 120 teams and their fans. 

The season is half way over and the 120 is down to 8 undefeated teams and a few once beaten that still have a chance.

         South Florida & Cincinnati played Thursday night. The Top 10 Bearcats of WKRP’s hometown  traveled to Tampa and beat the undefeated Bulls of South Florida. 

         Wisconsin dropped out of the race last week when Ohio State overpowered the Badgers 31-13. Wisconsin could keep an outside chance for a Big Ten championship if they could beat the Big Ten’s only undefeated team, Iowa.

   Iowa off to their best start in 24 years, could jump into the top ten with a win over Wisconsin then have smooth sailing till a Nov. 14 battle in Columbus.   

      Since we mentioned the Buckeyes, lets see where they sit in the one-loss  bracket, the whole Big Ten is hurt by the fact the league does not have a championship game,  but Ohio State at #7 in the AP could move up if they can beat Penn St, Iowa then  Michigan. The boys from Ohio should be pulling for the Hawkeyes because it can do nothing but help them to play a spotless Iowa team.

            # 3 Texas will play twice beaten Oklahoma   in the Red River Rivalry,  Bob Stoops Sooner’s maybe out of the national championship hunt, but they are right in the middle of the Big 12 round-up. The winner Saturday morning will be atop the heap for the south division. Oklahoma’s chances got much better when Heisman candidate Sam Bradford came back last week and had a solid game versus Baylor, 27 of 49 for 389 yards 1 td & 0 interceptions. Another boast may be the return of Wr Ryan Broyles, who before his injury led the team in catches.

     The other undefeated team in the Big 12 is about to start on the meanest part of their schedule so after they waltz over 1-4 Colorado, if they can survive the last 5 games, the Jayhawks will be atop the northern division, but that ain’t happening, Kansas schedule so far, would embarrass Boise State.

        # 12 TCU outlasted a decent Air Force team  last week in horrible weather , an icy 19-degrees, they should have an easier time this week when the 3-3 Rams of Colorado State visit.

Tcu may be the most deserving of “lower tier” D1A schools, cause they have wins over Virginia, Clemson and to finish undefeated they will have to beat BYU in Lavell Edwards Stadium, then beat  Utah at home then back up north to play Wyoming. Also TCU has a stronger history of playing Big Time teams, but it would do the Hornfrogs  good to get back into the B12 or try to move into the USA Conference.

         May I make a  suggestion for the “lower tier” teams, that complain about not getting any respect,  create a super conference from the Mountain west & the WAC, cut some the weak schools out and  play a championship game, then you might-and I mean MIGHT get some attention.

               Of the once beaten, Virginia Tech has a big game against top 20 Georgia Tech, while the hype will be all over the University of Spoiled Children at Touchdown Jesus.  The Trojans are a 10 point favorite but watch out for Jimmy Clausen, he may be Notre Dame’s 1^st legitimate Heisman candidate in decades. The Junior leads the nation in pass efficiency, BTW: if someone could please explain what that means I’ll buy them a big ole Pepsi! 

        But Pete Carroll has won 7 in a row against the boys from South Bend, and # 8 might push the Trojans push Virginia Tech in the polls.

Undefeated List:  # 1 Florida, # 2 Alabama, #3 Texas, # 5 Boise State, #8 Cincinnati, #11 Iowa,

# 12 Tcu, #17 Kansas,

         Once-beaten: # 4 Virginia Tech, # 6 USC, # 7 Ohio State, # 9 Miami,  

For the curious here are the teams that have won the Associated Press Final Poll: 1936-2008

Notre Dame 8

Alabama 6

Oklahoma 6

Miami 6

USC 5

Nebraska 4

Ohio State 4

Minnesota 4

Texas 3

Florida 3

Army 2

Pittsburgh 2

Penn state 2

FSU 2

LSU 2

Michigan 2

Tennessee 2

The rest have one

Auburn, BYU, Clemson, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan State, Syracuse, TCU, Texas A&M