College Football Week 14, in which Oregon sacrifices Rick Neuheisel at the altar

Conference championship week is upon us, which can only mean Nick Saban is kicking back and waiting to see who his Crimson Tide will be facing in the BCS championship game.

Let's break it down with every meaningful game. All rankings BCS; all times Eastern.

Thursday's game

No. 23 West Virginia at South Florida, 8 p.m., ESPN
If the Mountaineers win and Cincinnati loses, WVU is BCS-bound, which would get Dana Holgorson laid even more by Morgantown's cougars.

Friday's games

MAC championship: Ohio vs. Northern Illinois in Detroit, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Fun fact: Ohio has not played on a Saturday since October. NIU has two guys with 10-plus rushing touchdowns.

Pac-12 championship: UCLA at No. 9 Oregon, 8 p.m., Fox
Rick Neuheisel said he was "numb" about his firing. This is from repeated blunt-force trauma Saturday via Matt Barkley and Southern Cal.

Saturday's games

C-USA championship: No. 24 Southern Mississippi at No. 6 Houston, noon, ABC
The Cougars haven't played a close game since Sept. 29. The Golden Eagles lost at UAB. That streak should continue.

Connecticut at Cincinnati, noon, ESPN
If the Bearcats win this one, they go to a second BCS bowl in three years. This time, they get to avoid Tim Tebow.

Iowa State at No. 11 Kansas State, 12:30 p.m.
The Wildcats will either claim a Big 12 title share or a potential BCS bowl bid with a win. Which one is a question of Bedlam.

No. 22 Texas at No. 17 Baylor, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Robert Griffin III could do wonders for his Heisman Trophy campaign with a big game.

SEC championship: No. 14 Georgia vs. No. 1 LSU in Atlanta, 4 p.m., CBS
I thought about only listing this one after I said "Let's break down every meaningful game."

New Mexico at No. 7 Boise State, 6 p.m.
The line for this game is Boise State -49. That warrants mentioning.

ACC championship: No. 5 Virginia Tech vs. No. 20 Clemson in Charlotte, 8 p.m., ESPN
Frank Beamer and the Hokies are shooting for their fourth Orange Bowl in five years.

No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 3 Oklahoma State, 8 p.m., ABC
I remember this game seeming way more important about 40 days ago.

Big Ten championship: No. 15 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 Michigan State in Indianapolis, 8:17 p.m., Fox
The Badgers have won 10 games by an average margin of 36.6 points and lost two games by an average of about eight seconds.

 

If Georgia upsets LSU, Bedlam suddenly becomes a hella lot more important as that game ends and this one kicks off.

 

Not if you believe all the BCS analysts who say LSU can't drop out of the title game based on voting habits and computer numbers.

 

If Georgia beats LSU, they'll be the team in the SEC that has won the highest championship that can be earned.

 

LSU's game is the only one with national title ramifications, right?

Even if they lose, they are still playing Alabama, right?

Am I correct with this?

Amazing how this has played out.

 

Reason number 4,108 why the BCS needs to be destroyed.

 

If Georgia beats LSU, then the BCS has one of three shitty options:

1) Bama/LSU for the title. Teams that finished 2nd and 3rd in their conference go to the national championship game. Or...

2) Bama/Someone else for the title. LSU is punished for winning in Tuscaloosa, because they had to play the extra game and Bama got to stay at home with no chance of losing. Or...

3) Someone else/LSU for the title. LSU holds on a la OU '03 and Bama gets knocked out of the championship game for nothing it actually did.

So what's your pick out of all that?

 

I wonder how badly LSU would have to lose not to make the title game. 50-0? I'm not sure that would do it.

 

What if LSU wins, but the QB is injured bad enough to make voters think he'll miss the title game (ACL, etc.)? Would voters want a rematch with one team missing their QB? Or would they jump Okie State ahead of Bama? Assuming Okie State wins, of course.

 

I love the Iffin Game

 

It matters as much as the actual games this season.

 

1. Nothing that can happen will affect the already-scheduled rematch of LSU-Alabama.
2. Oklahoma State ain't winning.
3. While rematches are almost never as entertaining as the original games, a poster here (whose name I inexcusably forget) made an excellent point on an earlier thread that under the previous rules of college football, LSU-Alabama would've been a tie, and every fan in the U.S. other than T. Boone Pickens would be clamoring for a rematch.