BCS Week 6 Report: South Carolina Brings Down No. 1 Alabama

...and they fell hard as the Crimson Tide plummeted to the eighth spot in this week's AP Poll.

When Steve Spurrier was winning the SEC every year as the Florida Gators head coach, the were few men more hated. After a failed attempt in the NFL and a long re-building process in South Carolina, the Old Ball Coach has become far more likeable.

Stephen Garcia hit Alshon Jeffery for two huge first half touchdowns while freshman running back Marcus Lattimore averaged four yards a carry for 93 tough yards against the Alabama defense. The South Carolina defense made big plays when they needed them as the game was closer than the final 14 point deficit would indicate.

The other big SEC game had an epic fake field goal successfully run by LSU. Les Miles might not use his athletes to their potential but he will always take the big risk when presented with it. Eschewing a 53 yard field goal and calling what appeared to be yet another bad timeout, kicker Josh Jasper grabbed a lateral on the first bounce to run for a first down late in the game.

Alabama might be the best team in the country but they are looking up at both LSU and the Cameron Newton led Auburn Tigers in the SEC West. With the BCS the way it is, Alabama will now need a lot of help to find their back to the BCS Title Game. Their first order of business will be to win the rest of their games and they will get to play both LSU and Auburn.

Both Boise State and TCU caught a nice break, aside from the 'Bama loss, when the Oregon State Beavers beat number nine Arizona. Neither Boise State nor TCU have the type of conference schedules that Ohio State, Oregon, Nebraska or the SEC schools will face so the more that Oregon State and Virginia Tech win the better it is for Boise State's title run.

It is a flaw of the BCS that only a playoff could solve. Alabama is the best football team in the country. Their problem is that they play in the best conference so I did not include them in my top two at any time this season. If there was a playoff in college football then I would be silly not to pick the Crimson Tide to repeat.

There is not one though so I had to predict who would win and who would lose. I have the Ohio State Buckeyes as the top team in the country and the Boise State Broncos as the team they will play in the BCS Title Game because of the quirks of the regular season tournament system that the BCS is.

As college football fans, we are treated to great Saturdays throughout the fall with the end result being a two team tournament. The BCS did not get lucky this year as the best team in college football will not go undefeated, therefore, the best team in the country will not be able to play for the championship.

List Time

My Top Two: 

1. Ohio State

2. Boise State

Conference Power Rankings:

1. SEC

2. Big Ten

3. Pac-10

4. Big 12

5. Mountain West

6. WAC

Week 7 Preview:

1. Ohio State at Wisconsin

2. Arkansas at Auburn

3. Iowa at Michigan

4. Nevada at Hawaii

5. Oklahoma State at Texas Tech

One Last Thought...

The Big Ten had two stories on opposite ends of the spectrum on Saturday.

In Michigan State's 34-17 victory over Michigan, MSU coach Mark Dantonio started on the sidelines before going up to the press box to watch his team shut down the dynamic Denard Robinson. Still recovering from a heart attack, Dantonio has been an inspiration this football season.

With a big fourth quarter lead against Minnesota, the chart told Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema to go for two. So the Badger coach went for two in what was a real sign of poor sportsmanship.

One of my favorite all-time quotes came from former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes. With a huge lead late against rival Michigan, he chose to go for two after a touchdown. When asked after the game why he went for two with such a big lead, Hayes dropped this gem:

'Because I couldn't go for three.'

Bret Bielema should have ignored the chart and just kicked the extra point. The least he could have done after such a poor show of sportsmanship would be to give us an epic quote.