Punching Some Tickets: Five Things We Learned In Week 11

Saturday finally gave us the first BCS lock of 2009, with the Ohio State Buckeyes pulling out the dramatic finish in OT against the Iowa Hawkeyes for the Big Ten title.

It also continued to thin out the BCS picture, as the top four teams in the country, Florida, Alabama, Texas, and TCU, have clearly separated them from the rest of the nation.

With only a handful of important games left, with Heisman and national title campaigns hanging in the balance, every snap is more important than the last.

As the drama builds, here are the five things we learned in Week 11:

1.) Ohio State-Iowa shows why the Big Ten should have a title game

Not too many people gave Iowa a chance against the Buckeyes, but they fought like the top team that they have been all season, riding a talented defense and big plays from the QB position.

They did not finish the comeback, and the magic might be gone in Iowa City, as the Hawkeyes lost 27-24 in overtime on the foot of OSU K Devin Barclay, the former MLS player.

But that game was everything the nation hoped it would be before Iowa lost to Northwestern. And who knows, Iowa QB James Vandenburg could be a superstar soon.

But without a doubt, the unofficial Big Ten Championship Game has been one of the best games of 2009, and should create a bigger push for an official title game in the imminent future.

It took a former soccer player to put the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 13 years. As history has shown us, the most unlikely person on the field could be the hero at the end.

All we know is that this will be a game that people in Columbus will be talking about for a long time.

2.) If Texas loses, TCU deserves serious national title consideration

Some felt that the Horned Frogs' last true test of the season would be a home showdown against Mountain West rival Utah.

If that was a test, TCU passed with flying colors, ringing up 55 on the Utes and all but assuring themselves the Mountain West title.

With very little challenges in the last two weeks of their season, it's very possible that the Horned Frogs could play for the national title. And if they do, they very much deserve that shot.

TCU is fourth in the nation in scoring offense, and eighth in scoring defense, with an average margin of victory over 26 points per game.

So if Texas does slip up somewhere down the road, it should be the Horned Frogs that are the first mid-major to punch a ticket for the national championship game.

3.) Mark Ingram and Colt McCoy are the slim leaders for the Heisman, but that could change again next week

The Heisman race for 2009 could be the most convoluted in recent memory, but at least for now, the trophy is a two-horse race between Alabama's Mark Ingram and Texas' Colt McCoy.

Ingram has continued his hot pace of running well in the SEC, rushing for 149 yards and two TDs in a 31-3 win over Mississippi State, which included a 70-yard TD run to ice the win.

McCoy led the Longhorns to 40 points in the first half, throwing for 189 yards and two TD passes before being pulled to start the second half.

With the chance that both of their teams could play for the national championship, these two will have to carry the loads to finish out the final few weeks of the season.

If they do matchup, there will be little doubt that the Heisman belongs to one of these two fine players.

4.) Charlie Weis is all but out at Notre Dame, could Stoops be next?

With another loss for the Irish, the whispers calling for Charlie Weis's firing are starting to become shouts.

All along, with a talented offense and a watered-down schedule, the goal for 2009 for the Irish was to make the BCS. And with all the talent the Irish had in the wings, all fingers should be pointed squarely at Weis.

With the BCS being out of the Irish's reach this season, Weis could be let out of his long contract extension with many years left to be paid back.

And it seems the potential firing of Weis could be imminent, as rumors of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops having interest in the job are starting to fly across message boards.

The job has been vacant multiple times during his tenure at Oklahoma, but the cupboard in South Bend is more filled than in years past, and after the rough year in Norman, anything can happen.

It might not, but now Stoops' name will be thrown in the hat as often as Urban Meyer's name until one or both drops their name from consideration.

5.) USC's 2009 is following Murphy's Law

For the program of the decade, the ending has been something out of a nightmare for the Trojans.

Literally, everything that can go wrong has gone wrong, as they dropped a second straight game by double figures and gave up the most points in school history in the loss to Stanford.

It's a shame what has happened in USC with everything from Stafon Johnson's lifting accident to the collapse of the Trojan defense in the last two weeks.

Pete Carroll's job should not be in question because of one bad season. Everyone has years like this, such as Oklahoma this year and Florida in 2007.

2010 should be a better year for the Trojans, because not much else can go wrong in California.

Now that one ticket has been punched for the BCS, it's time to give BCS bowl projections, something I will be doing at the end of every article in my series for the rest of the season.

Citi BCS National Championship Game: Alabama vs Texas

FedEx Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs Penn State

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Boise State vs Cincinnati

Allstate Sugar Bowl: Florida vs TCU

Citi Rose Bowl Game: Ohio State vs Oregon