Beyond the BCS: Breaking Down the Top Four Teams in the Country

Instead of ranting about why TCU should be in the BCS top three, or why Florida and Alabama are running through an over rated SEC, I decided to stick to the numbers.

While most of this is opinion based, I feel that it accurately reflects the season's that Florida, Alabama, Texas, and TCU have had up to this point.

Keep in mind that all of these teams are undefeated and all have very strong cases why each deserves a spot in the BCS National Championship.

Each team is ranked against one another for each category (one for the best, four for the worst). Also, I ranked the position players of each team against each other, and while positions such as running backs, receivers, offensive line, and defense are highly debatable, I based my rankings off of stats, dominating ability, and my own scouting, which I do for Optimum Scouting.

	Florida	Alabama	Texas	TCU
Top Game 1	1-ALA (12/5)	1-FLA (12/5)	4-OKL 16-13	3-Utah 55-28
Top Game 2	1-at LSU 13-3	2-LSU 24-15	4-OK ST 41-14	3- at Clem 14-10
Top Game 3	3-Tenn 23-13	1-VT 34-24	4-TTU 34-24	2- at BYU 38-7
Total Off. Rank	3 (31st )	4 (36th )	2 (30th )	1 (4th )
Total Def. Rank	2	3	1	4
QB Rank	1	4	2	3
RB Rank	2	1	4	3
WR Rank	3	2	1	4
OL Rank	2	1	4	3
DL Rank	2	3	4	1
LB Rank	2	1	3	4
DB Rank	3	1	2	4
Coach Rank	1	2	4	3
BCS Avg.	1	2	3	4
True Rank	1.86	2.00	3.00	3.00
Categories-14	26/14	28/14	42/14	42/14
FINAL RANK	1	2	3	3

Notes:

-The Florida-Alabama SEC Championship game is the top game on their respected schedules, with the winner getting the boost in the Top Game ranking.

-Playing at Clemson with the Heisman hopeful CJ Spiller seems to be a lot better than playing a Dez Bryant and Zac Robinson-less Cowboys team at home, the edge goes to TCU.

-These teams are the top four in total defense in the country.

-Texas and TCU are within .01 percent on the BCS scale, so it’s a huge one point in Texas’ favor.

-Gary Patterson over Mack Brown will likely be hotly debated, but TCU’s been a top notch defense over the past four years, has a better offense, and does so at a lesser program. Patterson has a national title contender in a non-BCS conference, that sounds pretty good to me.

-I leave Texas and TCU tied in the end, as that is how the numbers worked out. I promise nothing was fudged at all to make it work the way it did.  In my opinion, in a match-up of TCU and Texas, TCU would win seven out of 10 times. The TCU team defense and explosive, yet balanced offense would prevail over Texas. Still, the right to play the SEC champ will be determined by the voters themselves.

Let the debating rage on.

Check out more at www.NFLHouse.com and feel free to email me at [e-mail]