It’s conference championship weekend, along with a few assorted regular season games. The #2 spot in the BCS is still in play, as well as four BCS conference championships.
Last Week: 13-7 Season: 180-80
Big XII Championship game at Kansas City: Oklahoma vs. Nebraska: The Sooners are making a surprise appearance here, winning seven games in a row after losing to Texas. They are doing it the Woody Hayes way: three yards and a cloud of dust. RBs Allen Patrick and Chris Brown have picked up the slack after the injury to Adrian Peterson. Nebraska is the best of a mediocre bunch in the North, but the Huskers do have a big road win over Texas A&M, the latest conquerors of Texas. The forecast is for temperatures in the 20s in Kansas City Saturday night, which favors the OU running game over the West Coast Offense of Nebraska. Pick: OU
MAC Championship game at Detroit: Central Michigan vs. Ohio: Frank Solich has the Ohio Bobcats in the championship game and a bowl in his second year in Athens. The Chippewas blew through the West division of the MAC. Pick: Ohio
Conference USA Championship game at Houston: Southern Miss vs. Houston: The Coogs have rolled through the West division of C-USA, after a midseason 3-game losing streak. Southern Miss is consistently good. The game is on Houston’s home field. Pick: Houston
ACC Championship game at Jacksonville: Wake Forest vs. Georgia Tech: Wake Forest got through a murderer’s row in their division, getting past Maryland, Boston College, and a weakened Florida State to reach the championship game. Georgia Tech is coming off of a tough loss to archrival Georgia. Neither team expected to be here at the beginning of the year. The ride continues for Wake. Pick: Wake Forest
SEC Championship game at Atlanta: Florida vs. Arkansas: The Gators have made it to this point with only one loss, on the Plains at Auburn. Arkansas won 10 games in a row before losing last week against LSU. Arkansas is doing some fun things on offense, such as lining up RB Dwight McFadden in the “Wildcat” formation, a variation of the single wing. Florida barely survived last week in Tallahassee against weakened archrival Florida State. Arkansas is better than Florida State. Pick: Arkansas
Army vs. Navy at Philadelphia: A lot of these guys will be fighting terrorists as soon as next year. Props to them for serving our country. This rivalry takes a back seat to none. On the field, Navy is once again having a solid season. Army has had its ups and downs. Pick: Navy
USC at UCLA: All that stands between the Trojans and the BCS championship game are their hated rival Bruins. USC needs to win in the Rose Bowl to avoid returning there on January 1. UCLA is a fair team, but nothing special. USC just keeps getting better. Pick: USC
Rutgers at West Virginia: The Scarlet Knights can secure a conference championship and BCS bowl bid with a win. Problem is, it’s their toughest road game of the year. West Virginia suffered an improbable home loss to South Florida last week, bringing an end to their BCS hopes. Still, the ‘Eers will have enough in the tank to bounce back and handle Rutgers. There will be a lot of happy people in Louisville Saturday night. Pick: West Virginia
Air Force at TCU: TCU, with a win, will clinch another 10 win season, after slipping under the radar with early losses to BYU and Utah. Air Force has slipped to the status of a middle-of-the pack Mountain West team, and is no longer the strongest program of the service academies. Pick: TCU
Oregon State at Hawaii: The Beavers are the only team to defeat USC this year. They will not have a vacation in Hawaii this week, as the Warriors have won 9 games in a row, and are ranked 24th in the nation. The Warriors (don’t call them Rainbow) have scored more than 40 points in all 10 of their wins. The Beavers can’t hang with that. Pick: Hawaii
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5 comments:
TCU is now 10-2, but it still feels like a crappy season. I hate BYU.
And we have to play a crappy 7-5 NIU. They couldn't even beat the even sorrier University of Toledo Rockets.
*sigh*
It would be even worse if TCU had beaten Utah, and had only the one loss to BYU. They'd be 11-1 and still going to the Poinsettia Bowl.
You're right, it still feels like a crappy season. At least they're not going to the Fort Worth Bowl. And, at least they're not going to play Middle Tennessee State in the Motor City Bowl. ugh.
This whole thing sucks. You're right about the "buying a bowl game" thing. We need the playoffs and I know we won't get them until something horrible happens.
See my new proposal for a playoff at the top of the blog...
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