BCS Rankings Week 14: 25 Things We Learned from 7th BCS Poll
The BCS rankings for Week 14 have had plenty of time to fester by now, and it is now time to put our outrages in the rear-view mirror and see what we can learn from this new Top 25.
No doubt, we've all had time enough to vent any-and-all misgivings we might have with the new BCS poll, but there's more to the game than simply getting annoyed at the whole system, as buffoonish as it may be.
The truth is there is a valuable lesson about each of the 25 teams coded into their respective rankings.
With that in mind, here's what we learned about each of the 25 teams in the seventh BCS poll.
No. 25 Northern Illinois Huskies
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What We Learned: After a long layoff, the Huskies are back on the national radar.
Welcome back, Northern Illinois. The last time we saw you in the rankings was 2003, and you're also the first-and-only MAC team to receive any votes at all in the polls this season.
In any case, I suspect not too many out there know much about the Huskies. Here are some helpful Cliffs notes.
They've won nine in a row since losing at Illinois on September 18th. In that span, they've averaged over 46 points a game.
Chad Spann, the Huskies' running back, leads the nation with 20 rushing touchdowns.
And, perhaps most importantly, they're going to their first MAC championship game since 2005.
No. 24. West Virginia Mountaineers
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What We Learned: Their return too form might end up being too little, too late.
It's no secret this has been a bad year for the Big East. None of the conference's eight members have emerged as a truly dominant force, and the whole thing is going to instead be determined by tiebreakers.
And despite the fact that it is the Mountaineers that have vaunted back into the BCS Top 25, they will only be playing in a BCS bowl if they can combine a win over Rutgers with a UConn loss.
If UConn wins, we might have a team playing in a BCS bowl game that's not even ranked in the BCS Top 25.
No. 23 Arizona Wildcats
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What We Learned: Their imitation of a Pac-10 elite ended up being pretty lame.
Exactly how and why the Wildcats are still in the Top 25 seems a little odd. They've lost three in a row and have been bounced from the Top 25 in each of the human polls. They were saved, it would seem, by their average ranking of No. 23 in the BCS computers.
But never mind all that. I have a bigger issue with the fact they're a mediocre competitor within their own conference, never mind the nation at large. The Wildcats have a 4-4 record in Pac-10 play, and it would seem that the only reason they're in the discussion at all is because of their big-trophy win against Iowa earlier this year.
Iowa has since been dropped from the Top 25 altogether.
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No. 22 Mississippi State Bulldogs
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What We Learned: Chris Relf may be worth a damn after all.
In his first year as a starter, Bulldogs quarterback Chris Relf had yet to have a real breakout game.
Well, he picked the right time to do it. Relf completed 13 of his 20 passes against Ole Miss for 288 yards, three touchdowns and just one pick.
Thanks to him, the Bulldogs won the Golden Egg for the second straight year and won in Oxford for the first time since 1998.
No. 21 Florida State Seminoles
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What We Learned: The state of Florida belongs to the Seminoles once again.
It was a good Saturday for Jimbo Fisher's boys. Florida State swept in-state rivals Florida and Miami for the first time since 1999 and beat the Gators for the first time since 2003.
It also earned a spot in the ACC championship game when NC State went down.
And I'd like to give a shoutout to Christian Ponder. His late fumble against the Wolfpack could have ended up ruining the season, and he also had to sit out against Clemson with a bad arm.
But in three games since that NC State debacle, he's passed for 665 yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception. Hats off.
No. 20 Utah Utes
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What We Learned: As the saying goes, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
While the Utes do deserve some credit for battling back in the fourth quarter in their game against BYU, the tape tells us they had a little help from the referees.
The moment in question was on Brandon Bradley's interception of Jordan Wynn, in which he fumbled the ball back to the Utes on his return. But his knee was clearly on the ground when the ball came out, meaning that Utah's game-winning drive probably should not have happened.
But it did and the Utes jumped a spot in the rankings because of it and will likely be playing in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth. Fair trade.
No. 19 South Carolina Gamecocks
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What We Learned: South Carolina really couldn't be any hotter heading into its SEC championship tilt against Auburn.
And the Gamecocks nearly beat the Tigers the first time around and are heading into their rematch with a full head of steam and a dominant three-game win streak.
They also played Auburn tough without the help of freshman superstar running back Marcus Lattimore. Lattimore had just 14 carries in that game and, famously, had just three carries after halftime.
One suspects he'll see more action this time around.
No. 18 Texas A&M Aggies
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What We Learned: If Ryan Tannehill and Cyrus Gray are back in College Station next year, the Aggies could end up being the team to beat in the Big 12 South.
I'm not sure what the future holds for Tannehill and Gray, but it's largely because of them that the Aggies were able rise from mediocrity to a legit Big 12 South contender in just six games.
The Aggies won six in a row after Tannehill became the starting quarterback, as he threw 11 touchdowns and just three picks down the stretch. Gray topped 100 yards in all six of those games and torched the Longhorns for 223 yards on 27 carries.
And kudos to Mike Sherman as well. I was writing articles about him being on the hot seat not too long ago.
No. 17 Nevada Wolf Pack
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What We Learned: The payoff for the biggest win in your school's history isn't always what it should be.
It probably doesn't matter much to the Wolf Pack that they only moved up two spots to No. 17 after knocking off Boise State, formerly No. 4 in the BCS.
Instead, I'm sure they're just fine with having the program's first-ever win over a Top 10 team. And the way in which they did it, which involved torching Boise's top-ranked rush defense for 239 yards in the second half, was epic.
Sure, they got some help, but they still deserve the win.
No. 16 Alabama Crimson Tide
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What We Learned: When you play teams like Auburn, you have to finish.
Take away Alabama's first quarter in the Iron Bowl, in which they jumped out to a 21-0 lead, and you can see just how poorly they played the rest of the game.
Most of their inevitable doom was decided in the second quarter. The Tide made it deep into Auburn territory in all three of their second quarter drives and came away with three points. They got the one field goal and turned the ball over in their other two trips.
That's not going to get it done most days. And it didn't against Auburn.
No. 15 Virginia Tech Hokies
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What We Learned: After a rough start, the Hokies ended up being the most dominant team in the ACC in a decade.
The Hokies pounded the Virginia Cavaliers to finish their 2010 season with a perfect 8-0 record in conference play. They're the first team to go undefeated in ACC play since Florida State in 2000.
That's oddly fitting, as they will be taking on the Seminoles in the ACC championship game, which the Hokies will be trying to win for the third time in four years.
No. 14 Oklahoma State Cowboys
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What We Learned: Unless it involves some kind of acrobatic interception, the Pokes really can't defend the pass worth a damn.
Oklahoma's Landry Jones struggled early and often against the Pokes in the Bedlam game on Saturday night but still ended up trying the school record with 468 yards passing. His two long touchdowns at the end of the game were too much for the Cowboys to overcome.
As much praise as he deserves for that, the Oklahoma State secondary deserves a stern wag of the finger. And it's largely because of their ineptitude that the Cowboys missed out on their first ever Big 12 championship game.
No. 13 Nebraska Cornhuskers
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What We Learned: Who needs Taylor Martinez when you have Rex Burkhead?
The Cornhuskers wrapped up the Big 12 North with a dominating 45-17 win over Colorado, and they did it without embattled freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez. Officially, he sat out with injuries to his ankle and toe, but you wouldn't be too misguided if you figured it was because he was in Bo Pelini's dog house.
In any case, sophomore running back Rex Burkhead picked up the slack. He rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown and added another two touchdowns through the air on halfback options.
I, for one, hope that Pelini lets him throw the ball again in the Big 12 championship game against Oklahoma.
No. 12 Missouri Tigers
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What We Learned: Missouri's good, but Kansas just plain sucks.
Missouri is, I think, a team that really isn't as good as its record would indicate. But at the same time, I'll be damned if they didn't pull out a dominant performance against Kansas in the Border War.
The Tigers held the Jayhawks to just 141 total yards, including just 45 through the air. This allowed them to more than make up for a fifth straight mediocre effort to end the season, as Blaine Gabbert had just 179 yards and two picks.
In any case, it looks like the Holiday Bowl for the Tigers.
No. 11 Boise State Broncos
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What We Learned: Sometimes the only thing separating a championship contender from just another team is a kicker with a pair of balls.
Man, that sounded mean just typing it. But it's also true.
No doubt, many will come to poor Kyle Brotzman's defense by saying it was the team who choked, and that Boise truly lost the game not on Brotzman's leg but on the collapse of their defense in the second half.
But just think of what we'd be saying had Brotzman made that short, 26-yard chip shot. We'd undoubtedly be talking about Kellen Moore's brilliant pass to Titus Young that put the Broncos in a position to win the game, and perhaps about how amazing it was that Boise was able to overcome the unstoppable Wolf Pack rush attack.
But, instead, Brotzman missed not once, but twice.
But no worries, Kyle. Drinks are on me if I ever make it to Boise.
No. 10 LSU Tigers
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What We Learned: So much for that brilliant LSU pass defense...
The Tigers came into their matchup with the Hogs with the fourth best pass defense in the country, as they were allowing an average of just 151.8 passing yards per game. And most pundits thought they were going to be able to neutralize Ryan Mallett's big arm.
But nope. Mallett passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns on just 13 completions. Two of those touchdowns went for more than 80 yards, one of which was on an excellent pass just before the half.
And in the end, LSU just ran out of the luck it had all season, and it looks like the Capital One Bowl for the Tigers.
No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners
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What We Learned: When it comes to the Sooners and pressure games, one should never doubt Bob Stoops.
While it wouldn't be advisable to say the Sooners could have "easily" lost Saturday night's Bedlam tilt with the Pokes, that fourth quarter did look like it had the capacity to get away from them.
Instead, they had an answer for everything that Oklahoma State could throw at them. And the decision to go with a gutsy playaction pass on third down with less than three minutes to go resulted in a 77-yard touchdown that sealed the game.
So hats off to Bob Stoops. There's a reason his Sooners have won the Big 12 six times in the last decade.
No. 8 Michigan State Spartans
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What We Learned: Michigan State officially deserves the designation of the best bend-but-don't-break team of the 2010 college football season.
Indeed, it seems like the Spartans almost never had a game squarely in hand. It was almost always a close affair and it often times seemed like Mark Dantonio always had to pull out all the stops to get his team a win.
And sometimes they simply outlasted their opponent, as they did on Saturday against Penn State.The Nittany Lions made it a little too close for comfort with a 19-point fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to end the Spartans hopes for a share in the Big Ten title.
And they got just that. And they deserve it.
No. 7 Arkansas Razorbacks
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What We Learned: The Hogs are legit.
At one point the Razorbacks were a modest 4-2, having lost games to Alabama and Auburn.
They didn't lose the rest of the way, and they earned the right to be considered maybe the SEC's second best team by unseating South Carolina, Mississippi State and LSU along the way.
Leading the charge, of course, was Ryan Mallett. He leads the SEC with 30 touchdown passes and 3,592 yards. He wasn't even at his best against LSU and still finished with 320 yards and three touchdowns.
It looks like the Hogs will be in the Sugar Bowl. Cheers.
No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes
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What We Learned: How long does one team need to dominate for before it can no longer be considered a rivalry?
I guess that's more of an open-ended question, but still. The Buckeyes won their seventh straight against the Michigan Wolverines, and it was never really all that close, as they rode a 24-point second quarter to a 37-7 win.
We talk a lot about Terrelle Pryor, but how about the year Dan Herron had? He went over the 1,000-yard mark with a 175-yard effort against the Wolverines. Big ups.
No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers
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What We Learned: There doesn't seem to be any stopping them.
Good luck in the Rose Bowl, TCU. You're going to get a shot at testing out your top-ranked defense against, quite possibly, the country's most unstoppable offense.
In Wisconsin's last four games, the Badgers have scored 235 points. In that time, they've gotten all of 16 carries out of John Clay.
So seriously, good luck.
No. 4 Stanford Cardinal
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What We Learned: Keeping this team out of both the BCS national championship and the Rose Bowl really doesn't seem fair.
I hate Stanford. Not only are the Cardinal my alma mater's biggest rival, they're also just too damn good.
Honestly, any team that can outscore its last five opponents 186-54 deserves only the best. And for some reason, the Orange Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl just don't seem to cut it.
No. 3 TCU Horned Frogs
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What We Learned: When the whole world wants you to fail, the right kind of pep talk can make all the difference in the world.
That must have been what was going through Gary Patterson's mind when he confronted his team and delivered that harsh mid-game speech to his team (the video of which I was unable to find). Indeed, a 31-17 halftime lead over quite possibly the most hopeless team in the country wasn't good enough.
The Frogs scored 45 unanswered points in the second half and won 66-17.
Barring some kind of debacle with either Oregon or Auburn, the Frogs will be playing in the Rose Bowl. And as I said before, good luck against those Badgers, boys.
No. 2 Oregon Ducks
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What We Learned: Cal didn't provide much of a blueprint after all.
So much for all those concerns regarding Oregon's offense after my Bears held them to one offensive touchdown and just over 300 yards. The Ducks had a tough time against the Wildcats in the first half but pulled out one of their trademark second half explosions to win 48-29.
Barring a slip-up in the Civil War, the Ducks will be in Glendale in early January.
No. 1 Auburn Tigers
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What We Learned: Yeah, Cam Newton's great. But the rest of the team is pretty darn good too.
When it comes to Auburn, I get the feeling that most people look at the Tigers as Cam Newton and then 21 other guys.
And while Newton deserves the bulk of the credit for Auburn's comeback in the Iron Bowl, the rest of the team stepped up big too. Especially the defense, which came up huge in the final three quarters after getting shredded in the first.
That defense may not be as sexy as some of the other units in the country. But they are clutch and that's just as important.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
