The Top 10 Potential BCS National Championship Match-Ups
It's almost that time of year boys and girls.
As the college football season approaches fans are already thinking ahead, trying to predict how the season will unfold.
Will Alabama repeat as national champions?
Can Florida maintain its level of success without Tebow?
Can Boise State or TCU make it to the championship game?
Will Ohio State go undefeated?
What new team is going to emerge from the pack?
All of these questions cannot fully be answered until the season begins, but we all have our preferences. Sometimes the BCS title game is must-see TV, other times it feels like fans got the booby prize on "Let's Make a Deal".
You can't always get what you want, but you can in the preseason!
Therefore, we present the top 10 idealized BCS Championship games. If we the fans got what we wanted, these would be the great clashes we would get to see.
The best teams, the biggest stars and the most storied programs in college football about to do battle for the title...just a few months early.
Let the debate begin!
10. Boise State Vs. Ohio State
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Coaches Chris Petersen and Jim Tressel are two of the best in the game.
Boise State will be an automatic draw for television ratings if they were able to make the championship game after their heroics in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma in 2007.
Everybody loves the underdog and just like the Butler Bulldogs or George Mason in basketball, it's a team people can rally around.
Oh yeah, they're also pretty talented. The Broncos are experienced and feature a quarterback who had 39 touchdowns and only three interceptions last season.
If they run the table, given the state of parity in the other leagues, they will be in the BCS title game.
So who would make a good opponent?
The Ohio State Buckeyes play the perfect role of Goliath.
They are the pinnacle of success with seven ten-win seasons in the last nine years. They have a national championship and three championship game appearances under "The Vest" and provide more NFL talent than you would imagine.
Their domination of the Big Ten conference is unlike any other in college football at the moment. They would make the perfect foil to Boise State's miracle run.
Wouldn't you like to see who wins?
Wouldn't you like to debate who would?
Hopefully we'll get our chance.
9. Miami Vs. Nebraska
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Holy unlikelihoods, Batman!
I know, I know, the chances of both Nebraska and Miami running the table are rather unlikely but this about potential, attractive match ups.
We all know that the Hurricanes have high hopes in 2010 and they have a brash but talented quarterback in Jacory Harris.
If he finds a way to eliminate some of his putrid performances he had last season, Miami has the pure talent to beat anyone on their schedule.
That's right Buckeye fans, anyone.
Miami may be 13th in the preseason polls, but they have one brutal schedule that could easily pull them up the rankings with victories over Ohio State and Pittsburgh.
Let's face it, every championship team gets lucky, the stars align for a great season. Miami could easily pull off a perfect storm given not only their talent level but the parity in the other leagues.
Is it likely? Maybe not but it's certainly not impossible.
Would it be compelling? Definitely.
So if we're going with a Miami miracle, we should rekindle an old rivalry and put the Miami offense against Nebraska's defense.
This game would have a good old-time feel. I could see FOX pulling up old coverage of "The U" right now.
This game would be interesting, it would be close and it would shake up the college football landscape. Something that often happens but is rarely correctly predicted.
Who wouldn't like a little chaos every now and then?
8. Alabama Vs. Oklahoma
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Two storied programs, 20 claimed national championships between them.
799 victories all-time for Oklahoma, 792 for Alabama, these two teams know a thing or two about success in college football.
They also should be considered the favorites to lock horns in the BCS championship game this season.
Oklahoma has an emerging quarterback in Landry Jones who had the unenviable task of filling in for Sam Bradford quite earlier than expected. The pressure was on the freshman and he developed into quite the passer, throwing for over 3,500 yards and developing a great relationship with his wide receivers.
He may not have been perfect, his interceptions were high and his completion percentage needs improvement, but that's typical of a first-year signal caller.
With a year under his belt, Jones should have the edge against Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert and that could mean the difference between a Big XII title or another disappointing finish to the season.
The SEC may have gotten better, but Alabama is still the cream of the crop.
Arkansas has yet to prove they can defend anyone, LSU has a questionable quarterback and Auburn has to live up to the immense hype surrounding them this season.
Alabama still has the best rushing unit in the country, they still have a smart and accurate quarterback and they have Nick Saban.
That's a winning combination in anyone's book.
These two teams would make for a great game and would certainly capture the imagination of the college football world.
They just have to win...a lot.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. Virginia Tech Vs. Ohio State
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As much as this pains me as a Virginia Cavaliers fan, nationally most people like the Virginia Tech Hokies.
Sure, they have a reputation as chokers and people might find them to be over-rated, but they would not vomit at the sight of them in the national championship game like I would.
This year could really help build the case for an ACC team in the championship game. The Hokies open the season against Boise State in a "neutral" aka home game that will boost their ranking particularly if they win.
They have an improved ACC which will improve their national clout if teams like Miami and North Carolina can win some of their big out-of-conference showdowns.
The Hokies are experienced and know how to work their way through the ACC towards a conference title.
If ever this were the year for an ACC team to gain some respect, this is how they'd do it.
Of course, with the exception of Tennessee, Virginia Tech has faltered in its big showdowns with SEC schools.
So the best case scenario for the Hokies would be to test their mettle against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
It'd be a clash of undefeated teams, Tressel and Beamer are actually tied with career wins as head coaches and both teams use mobile quarterbacks with adequate throwing arms.
It could make for some compelling television and it could help both programs shed labels as "big game under-performers" over the last few years.
6. Nebraska Vs. Alabama
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Change is good, boys and girls.
Sometimes it is nice to see a program not named Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, Ohio State or Alabama competing for a national title.
Of course, it helps when you come from a championship pedigree. Waking up the echoes as it were is a sure fire way to raise interest and boost TV ratings.
Enter Nebraska.
It's been 13 years since the Cornhuskers last won a national championship, eight years since they even appeared in a BCS bowl.
This year though could be the breakthrough campaign for coach Bo Pellini and Nebraska, even without their star lineman Ndamukong Suh.
Nebraska avoids Oklahoma and gets to play Texas at home. The possibility of running the table is there.
The Cornhuskers have a complete team and could pose a great challenge against the complete team of the Alabama Crimson Tide. The two actually have plenty of similarities and would make a great duel for a BCS title.
Remember, Alabama started 5th in the preseason rankings in 2009, Nebraska is 9th. Three of those eight teams in front of them are guaranteed to lose because they will (or would) play each other at some point this season.
Don't sleep on Nebraska!
5. Ohio State Vs. Texas
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Yep, these two teams squared off in 2005 and 2006. It's also true that the winner of that game went on to play for the BCS National Championship.
Why don't we move that budding rivalry to the actual championship stage?
The Texas Longhorns always bring in a huge market, it's why their going to get the lion's share of the revenue in the new Big XII deal.
They have a young quarterback with something to prove after his performance last year in the BCS Championship and a defense with one of the best secondaries around. If the Longhorns pressure Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor, things will get interesting.
As for Ohio State, they have a chip on their shoulder after the past few championship appearances. To get into this spot, they likely will have a chance at an undefeated season and Pryor could even be a Heisman candidate.
Will these two teams provide the fireworks that we saw in 2005 with the 25-22 showstopper?
It'd be worth the opportunity to find out.
4. Texas Vs. Florida
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Two young quarterbacks, two established coaches and two ravenous fan-bases.
That's what I call a fun combination.
Both of these teams have question marks entering 2010, but they also bring in millions of viewers and plenty of storylines if these two teams can make it to the championship game.
Can coach Urban Meyer take another Florida team to a BCS title, establishing himself as the best coach in the game today?
Can Mack Brown and the Texas defense torment an SEC opponent and finally notch a big victory between the two preeminent power conferences in college football?
This game would provide some big plays on both offense and defense, it would feature some big NFL talents and it would come down to the wire.
What's not to like?
3. TCU Vs. Texas
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Boise who?
The Texas Christian University Horned Frogs have a great opportunity for their BCS glory this season. Finally, a chance to beat someone not named Boise State on the biggest of stages.
With a stellar coach, a great quarterback in Andy Dalton and a linebacker in Tank Carder who will make himself a household name by season's end, no one wants to take on this dangerous team.
In fact, the BCS national championship seems like a perfect time to revive an old rivalry by making the Longhorns take on the Horned Frogs.
These two teams plain don't like each other, and although these teams have had some battles in the past, however in the past 15 years these two teams have only played twice.
The Horned Frogs are used to playing Big XII foes and their defense would make a great match-up against the young Garrett Gilbert.
Some might worry this is too localized a national championship game, but who can't get behind the little guy taking it to the preeminent program in the biggest football state in the land?
2. Boise State Vs. Oklahoma
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Wait...these two teams have played before?
You would think I'd remember that.
The Fiesta Bowl was one of the craziest, most entertaining and program defining games in college football history. It helped put the Broncos in the position they are in 2010, to actually have a chance at being national champions in a system built to deny them the opportunity.
So wouldn't it be fate for Boise State to try and earn their Cinderella moment against the team the Broncos defeated to make a name for themselves?
Don't you think that Oklahoma would love the opportunity for a re-match so that they could redeem themselves and earn a BCS trophy in the process?
The two teams would be in similar positions as they were in 2006-07, an experienced Bronco team taking on a team loaded with talent but relatively young in Oklahoma.
Could history repeat itself?
Wouldn't you like the opportunity to find out?
1. Ohio State Vs. Alabama
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What more could you really ask for?
The defending national champions take on the Ohio State Buckeyes, a team that has appeared in three BCS championship games this century.
Ohio State has one of the best dual threat quarterback in the game with Terrelle Pryor and Alabama has a vaunted rushing attack, but this game would be decided by the defenses.
Could the Buckeyes that almost annually rank as the best defense in the Big Ten exorcise some demons from the past and defeat an SEC team in the championship game?
Can Alabama do the impossible in college football and not only survive the SEC but repeat as national champions?
Two of the top coaches, experienced quarterbacks, play-makers on both sides of the ball with storied histories and championship pedigree, I know I'll be watching.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
