SubscribeOnce again, the BCS gets a lucky break. Or two.
Boise State loses to TCU. Stanford loses to Oregon. And two potential, controversial, discussions about who deserves to play in the BCS National Championship game go away.
Now the path is clear. As long as LSU and Oklahoma State win out, they’ll face each other in the BCS National Championship game in New Orleans.
But, first a few words about the losers.
Boise State will start crashing the BCS party on a regular basis in 2013. Boise can now recruit better. Its strength of schedule will now improve. It doesn’t have to hunt out tough games in September. The reconfigured Big East still won’t be a great conference, but it will be better than the Mountain West. And Boise is already good enough to compete.
As for Stanford, look for the Cardinal to take a fall next year unless it can shore up its defense, which looked much more porous against Oregon than I anticipated. The Cardinal’s run defense numbers for the season were a phantom, created by quarterback Andrew Luck’s impressive season. Opponents have played from behind all year, a situation that compels them to eschew the run for the pass. Oregon, and RB LaMichael James, exposed that weakness Saturday night. If Stanford wants to be a consistent winner, it must defend the run better.
And find a replacement for Luck next year.
As for the Heisman, Luck threw for 271 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He also fumbled once. This game doesn’t destroy his Heisman chances, but he’s no longer the lead-pipe lock he was a couple of weeks ago. And now James is back in the mix in a big way.
So, Oklahoma State, the stage is yours. The Cowboys have never won a Big 12 championship and have the best team the program has ever had.
Funny, we were saying similar things about Stanford last week. I guess we’ll see.
The PigksinU.com Top 25 for Week 11 is below.
1. LSU (1): As long as the Tigers win out, they’ll be in the BCS National Championship game.
2. Oklahoma State (4): With Boise State and Stanford both losing, my Top 2 now mirrors the BCS standings.
3. Alabama (5): Oregon notched a big win, but I don’t see them as being better than Alabama. I just don’t. So the Tide moves up two.
4. Oregon (6): Most say the Ducks’ win over Stanford puts them back in the national title picture. I don’t. That goes back to the rematch scenario with LSU-Alabama. I don’t think anyone wants it.
5. Oklahoma (7): The Sooners are off and move up two spots. You have to love bye weeks.
6. Arkansas (8): Ditto for the Hogs, who are the one team that can screw up the BCS title game for LSU.
7. Stanford (3): Everything was set up for the Cardinal. But that defense was exposed against Oregon.
8. Boise State (2): Anyone who thinks Boise State isn’t still a Top 10 team doesn’t know squat about college football.
9. Nebraska (14): It’s a big jump for the Cornhuskers, who might still be the best team in the Big Ten. But they still need help to win the Legends Division.
10. Virginia Tech (10): The Hokies must still beat North Carolina and Virginia to win the Coastal Division.
11. Houston (11): Houston beat Tulane 73-17. That says more about how bad Tulane is than how good Houston is. And Houston’s really good.
12. Clemson (12): Clemson is the first team to clinch a spot in its conference title game.
13. Wisconsin (15): If the Badgers beat Minnesota and Penn State, they win the Leaders Division.
14. Georgia (17): Suddenly the loss to Boise doesn’t look so bad. A win over Kentucky clinches the SEC East, despite a loss to South Carolina.
15. Penn State (9): There can be no doubt the Nittany Lion football team and its fans represented State College with class on Saturday. Football was secondary, but the loss to Nebraska does hurt for a team that was on track to win the Leaders Division.
16. Michigan State (19): All Sparty has to do is keep winning and a trip to Indy is theirs.
17. South Carolina (18): All the Gamecocks can do now is wait and see what Georgia does against Kentucky.
18. Kansas State (21): The Wildcats needed four overtimes to beat A&M, but in doing so they remain the No. 3 team in the Big 12.
19. Michigan (20): The Wolverines bounce back to beat Illinois and stay within a game of Michigan State. But if the Spartans win next Saturday the Wolverines are out of the Legends race.
20. texas (16): texas is about to go through some serious growing pains. They’re banged up and have Kansas State coming to town.
21. Cincinnati (13): Cincinnati loses to West Virginia. My world makes a little more sense now.
22. Southern Miss (25): A three-spot jump for the Golden Eagles, who needed everything to get past a plucky Central Florida outfit trying to get bowl eligible.
23. TCU (NR): The Horned Frogs spoil Boise State’s season. Their reward? A berth in the Las Vegas Bowl! That’s only a reward if you can get anywhere near the casinos.
24. West Virginia (NR): The Mountaineers are back in the Big East hunt after beating Cincinnati.
25. Georgia Tech (22): All the Yellow Jackets can really do now is try and play spoiler to Georgia in a couple of weeks.
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