College Football: One Loss Teams That Won't Make The Trip to Glendale
As most people that know college football, the predictable choice for the National Championship game would be the Buckeyes of Ohio State and the Crimson Tide of Alabama to meet in Glendale next January.
The following squads could end their season in early December with one single blemish on their record and be looked over for a shot at the National Championship.
Boise State Broncos
1 of 10
2010 Schedule
9/6: vs Virginia Tech
9/18: at Wyoming
9/25: vs Oregon State
10/02: at New Mexico State
10/09: vs Toledo
10/16: at San Jose State
10/26: vs Louisiana Tech
11/06: vs Hawaii
11/12: at Idaho
11/19: vs Fresno State
11/26: at Nevada
12/04: vs Utah State
The Broncos’ biggest test will be the opening week game in Landover, MD against a loaded Virginia Tech squad that could keep them out of the National Championship game.
The WAC conference schedule that Boise State will contend with during the season will make them less appealing to voters and the BCS.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
2 of 10
2010 Schedule
9/4: vs Western Kentucky
9/11: vs Idaho
9/18: at Washington
9/25: vs South Dakota State
10/7: at Kansas State
10/16: vs Texas
10/23: at Oklahoma State
10/30: vs Missouri
11/6: at Iowa State
11/13: vs Kansas
11/20: at Texas A&M
11/26: vs Colorado
As the Cornhuskers welcome their Big 12 South rival Texas to Lincoln, the chance of an undefeated season will leave with the Longhorns back to Austin in their early October matchup.
Nebraska will be looking to move on from the Big 12 next season to the Big Ten while much harder opponents in Ohio State, Penn State, and Iowa will also bring greater chances of making the BCS Championship game in the future.
TCU Horned Frogs
3 of 10
2010 Schedule:
9/4: vs Oregon State
9/11: vs Tennessee Tech
9/18: vs Baylor
9/24: at SMU
10/2: at Colorado State
10/9: vs Wyoming
10/16: vs BYU
10/23: vs Air Force
10/30: at UNLV
11/6: at Utah
11/13: vs San Diego State
11/27: vs New Mexico
In an early November matchup with Utah in Salt Lake City, the Horned Frogs will most likely be knocked from their perch in the Top Five in the polls along with a chance at a National Title.
The Mountain West schedule for TCU won’t look very rugged to the voters as the conference has yet to obtain its sought after automatic bid for the BCS.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Houston Cougars
4 of 10
2010 Schedule:
9/4: vs Texas State
9/10: vs UTEP
9/18: at UCLA
9/25: vs Tulane
10/9: vs Mississippi State
10/16: at Rice
10/23: at SMU
10/30: at Memphis
11/5: vs UCF
11/13: vs Tulsa
11/20: at Southern Miss
11/27:at Texas Tech
While the high-powered Cougars threw the ball all over their opponents in 2009, Houston will be bested by Rick Neuheisel and his up and coming UCLA Bruins in their September matchup at the Rose Bowl to mark their first and only loss of 2010.
While in Conference USA, the Cougars share the same fate of other “mid-major “schools with gaudy regular season records in that the BCS will merely glance at them on their way to a team from one of the big six conferences, unless Houston jumps to a new Big 12 in the coming years.
BYU Cougars
5 of 10
2010 Schedule:
9/4: vs Washington
9/11: at Air Force
9/18: at Florida State
9/25: vs Nevada
10/1: at Utah State
10/9: vs San Diego State
10/16: at TCU
10/23: vs Wyoming
11/6: vs UNLV
11/13: at Colorado State
11/20: vs New Mexico
11/27: at Utah
As the Cougars deliberate if this will be their final season before declaring their independence in football, BYU will have a shot at a perfect season until a meeting with TCU in Fort Worth.
The Cougars’ 2010 schedule will not have the challenges that other teams will have, so their chances of making it to Glendale will be a serious long-shot.
Wisconsin Badgers
6 of 10
2010 Schedule
9/4: at UNLV
9/11: vs San Jose State
9/18: vs Arizona State
9/25: vs Austin Peay
10/2: at Michigan State
10/9: vs Minnesota
10/16: vs Ohio State
10/23: at Iowa
11/06: at Purdue
11/13: vs Indiana
11/20: at Michigan
11/27: vs Northwestern
The Badgers will fall a win short of claiming a berth in the National Championship game after eventual Big Ten champion Ohio State comes to Camp Randall and defeats the experienced Wisconsin team in late October.
Wisconsin will have to deal with current Big Ten members Iowa, Penn State and the aforementioned Buckeyes if they ever want to gain a shot at the BCS Championship.
West Virginia Mountaineers
7 of 10
2010 Schedule
9/4: vs Coastal Carolina
9/10: at Marshall
9/18: vs Maryland
9/25: at LSU
10/9: vs UNLV
10/14: vs South Florida
10/23: vs Syracuse
10/29: at Connecticut
11/13: vs Cincinnati
11/20: at Louisville
11/26: at Pittsburgh
12/4: vs Rutgers
The Mountaineers' perfect season will fall by the wayside after a trip to Death Valley to meet Les Miles and his LSU Tigers in a late September matchup of two teams that have never met on the football field.
The Big East will always be under scrutiny for getting an automatic bid to BCS bowl game and being a true championship contender since the departure of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College to the ACC several years ago.
Virginia Tech Hokies
8 of 10
2010 Schedule
9/6: vs Boise State
9/11: vs James Madison
9/18: vs East Carolina
9/25: at Boston College
10/2: at NC State
10/9: vs Central Michigan
10/16: vs Wake Forest
10/23: vs Duke
11/4: vs Georgia Tech
11/13: at North Carolina
11/20: at Miami
11/27: vs Virginia
As the Hokies potentially have the talent to capture another ACC Championship, they will fall short of reaching their second national title game as Boise State will keep their dream of a championship season together after this Week One matchup.
The Hokies will have to deal with the growing concern of fans and pundits believing that the ACC isn’t a top BCS league, as some of its members are not up to terms of other conferences.
Temple Owls
9 of 10
2010 Schedule
9/3: vs Villanova
9/9: vs Central Michigan
9/18: vs Connecticut
9/25: at Penn State
10/2: at Army
10/9: at Northern Illinois
10/16: vs Bowling Green
10/23: at Buffalo
10/30: vs Akron
11/6: at Kent State
11/16: vs Ohio
11/23: at Miami (OH)
As the Owls attempt to improve on their nine win 2009 season, they will have an early setback when they travel to Happy Valley for a game with the Penn State Nittany Lions after their 31-6 loss last year.
As the MAC hasn’t earned the respect of having top championship contenders and the Temple program slowly losing its typical punch line status, there is no way they make to Glendale.
Utah Utes
10 of 10
2010 Schedule:
9/2: vs Pittsburgh
9/11: vs UNLV
9/18: at New Mexico
9/25: vs San Jose State
10/9: at Iowa State
10/16: at Wyoming
10/23: vs Colorado State
10/30: at Air Force
11/6: vs TCU
11/13: at Notre Dame
11/20: at San Diego State
11/27: vs BYU
The Utes will have a showdown with the defending MWC Champions TCU in Salt Lake City that will subsequently end their perfect season after eight wins.
Utah will have an opening test with a home game against Pittsburgh but besides that, the schedule seems pretty weak until their eventual move to the Pac-10 in the coming year.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
