The Troy Aikman Memorial Week 8 NCAA Football Running Thread

[ucacm]

If TCU runs the table they'll be in a BCS bowl. There will not be two Pac-10 BCS teams this season.

Are you saying that TCU would make it over Boise or the BCS bowls would select Boise and TCU?

10 spots: 6 conference champs. Pretty safe to assume that the Sugar will select a SEC team if Florida or Bama make it to the BCS championship. Boise State, assuming they finish as the top non AQC team. 2 spots left.

Is TCU more attractive to the Orange, Fiesta, or Sugar bowl than a two loss Pac 10, Big 10, or Big 12 runner up? It might be a little more likely this year than most, but it is still an extreme long shot if you have Boise and TCU making it. If Texas gets upset in the Big 12 championship game, Iowa makes the BCS championship game, or Oregon makes the Rose Bowl and USC finishes with only two losses, I don't think there's a chance in hell that Boise and TCU both make it.

Also, you've got to consider the remote possibility of Notre Dame still making it if they run the table and finish 10-2.

 

[BTExpress]

No current Gator player was alive the last time UF won in Starkville.

Would be hilarious to see them lose again.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Yo, ESPN: What happened to the Mid-Major Craptastic Tuesday Game of the Week this week?

 

[Steak Snabler]

No current Gator player was alive the last time UF won in Starkville.

Would be hilarious to see them lose again.

Well, they've only played there three times since 1986, and in a couple of those years, MSU was pretty good.

Seriously, I can't see them losing to this MSU team. I had to double-check and make sure it wasn't Blitz posting on this thread.

 

[Oz]

Even if they (meaning Florida/Alabama/Texas) lose a game, it's going to be a mixture of Florida/Alabama/Texas in the title game.

If USC wins at Ohio State, at Notre Dame and at Oregon during a one-loss regular season, with its only loss coming on a day when its starting quarterback sat out with injury, the Trojans would have to be given some thought. I don't buy into the theory the BCS game has to be SEC/Big 12 just because of the conferences.

 

[I Should Coco]

Even if they (meaning Florida/Alabama/Texas) lose a game, it's going to be a mixture of Florida/Alabama/Texas in the title game.

If USC wins at Ohio State, at Notre Dame and at Oregon during a one-loss regular season, with its only loss coming on a day when its starting quarterback sat out with injury, the Trojans would have to be given some thought. I don't buy into the theory the BCS game has to be SEC/Big 12 just because of the conferences.

Agree with Oz. If Texas loses, I think USC gets its shot in the title game if the Trojans win out. Winning those three road games would be impressive ... and don't discount the fact that Washington is a much improved team. The Huskies did should have beat Notre Dame, and I think they'll give Oregon all they want in Seattle this weekend.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

The Gators have had some embarrassing losses in Starkville. One of them got a coach fired. I don't see that happening. If Florida loses it will be at South Carolina or in the SEC Championship game.

 

[I Should Coco]

I should add that even as an Iowa/Big 10 graduate/fanboi, I can't see the Hawkeyes winning out. Doesn't mean they haven't had a great season, especially considering that their best bet to replace departed NFL running back Shonn Greene was injured and is missing the season.

Therefore, I think the BCS big enchilada bowl field comes down to the SEC and Big 12 champs and USC. That's the sad reality for teams like Cincy, Boise State and TCU.

 

[Songbird]

interesting read on the SEC in the current SI. (and photos that are just ... great. the shot of tebow under center, and the shot of bama gang-raping a rebel, and the shot of a few piggies looking up at a flyiing auburn helmet sans a tiger in the frame is what sports photography is all about.)

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

rape train?

 

[dooley_womack1]

The O'Jays decided to call the song Love Train instead.

 

[Cosmo]

If Cincy wins the Big East, they'll be back in the Orange Bowl. Boise would be a shoo-in for Glendale.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Bearcats.
Horned Frogs.
It's the Orange Bowl Classic!
Get your tickets now! (or wait until 30 minutes before game time, because there will be plenty of seats available)

 

[ucacm]

If Cincy wins the Big East, they'll be back in the Orange Bowl. Boise would be a shoo-in for Glendale.

Assuming any combination of Big Ten, SEC, Pac 10, Big 12 schools in the championship game, why would the Orange Bowl willingly select Cinci?

Miami automatically gets the ACC champion and would then have the third at large pick after two of the other three bowls replaced the teams they lost to the BCS championship game. Would the Orange Bowl really select Cinci over any other at large pick? Second, how long until the Orange Bowl gets tired of getting stuck with absolutely ****ty matchups?

Since the addition of the 5th BCS championship game the Orange Bowl has been putrid:

2007: Wake Forest v. Louisville
2008: Kansas v. VA Tech
2009: VA Tech v. Cinci

 

[Cosmo]

More often than not, it's been the Big East champ vs. the ACC. Oklahoma was already in the Fiesta in 2008 so Kansas wasn't going there.

 

[ucacm]

More often than not, it's been the Big East champ vs. the ACC. Oklahoma was already in the Fiesta in 2008 so Kansas wasn't going there.

This has more to do with bad luck in the rotation than anything else.

Last year, the Orange Bowl had the #5 pick for their at-large bid. Fiesta picked first to replace their conference champ (#1 Oklahoma) and went with Texas. Sugar went second to replace their champ (#2 Florida) and went with Alabama. At this point, the picks rotate every year. #3 was Fiesta and they went with Ohio State. #4 was Sugar and they had to pick from Utah and Cinci, went with Utah. #5 was Orange and they literally had no choice but to pick Cinci.

The year before, LSU and Ohio State were the top two, so The Rose Bowl went with Illinois and Sugar with Georgia. #3 pick was Orange and they went with KU. #4 was Fiesta and went with WVU. #5 was Sugar and got stuck with Hawaii, who they had no choice but to pick.

In the 2007 games Orange had the #4 pick and had no choice but to select from Boise and Louisville.

This year, with the Orange Bowl having the #3 overall pick, I'd have to imagine they'd go with any major conference team over Cincinnati considering last years game with Cinci produced the all time worst television rating for any BCS Bowl in BCS history (since 1999). Of course, if Cinci is without their QB for the rest of the season, the Big East champ could end up with a really putrid record.

The Fiesta has #4 pick and Sugar #5 pick this year. I'd have to think that the Sugar will get stuck with the Big East champ this year as Fiesta would rather have Boise than anyone from the Big East.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Is TCU more attractive to the Orange, Fiesta, or Sugar bowl than a two loss Pac 10, Big 10, or Big 12 runner up?

At-Large Eligibility

If there are fewer than 10 automatic qualifiers, then the bowls will select at-large participants to fill the remaining berths. An at-large team is any Football Bowl Subdivision team that is bowl-eligible and meets the following requirements:

A. Has won at least nine regular-season games, and
B. Is among the top 14 teams in the final BCS Standings.

A two-loss Pac-10 team won't finish in the top 14, I don't think. A two-loss Ohio State team is not a good bet, although Penn State is a possibility despite one loss and a laughable NC schedule. Whomever Texas plays from the North in the Big 12 championship won't be anywhere near the top 14 after the Longhorns whip them.

If TCU finishes undefeated and everyone else besides the Alabama/Florida loser (who gets one at-large) has two losses, they're almost forced to pick both TCU and Boise State to fill two of the remaining three at-large spots if they want to maintainn even a shred of credibility.

Of course, please shoot me for using BCS and credibility in the same sentence.

Title: SEC champ (1), Big 12 champ (2)

Other automatics: Big East champ (3), ACC champ (4), Pac-10 champ (5), Big Ten champ (6)

At-large: SEC title-game loser (7), Boise (8), TCU (9), highest-ranked (or highest profile) remaining team from a BCS conference or (shudder) Notre Lame, whose toughest remaining games would be average Pitt and Stanford if the Domers win against BC this weekend if ND somehow finishes in the top 8.

"Under the new BCS arrangement Notre Dame will be guaranteed one of the at-large slots in a BCS bowl if it is ranked No. 8 or better in the final BCS Standings."
Big Ten champ

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Pitt's ranked and favored which means USF by 17.

 

[Songbird]

dartmouth has lost 17 in a row. long way from that columbia streak, but still.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Ohh, and I think Cincinnati traveled something like 25,000 to the Orange Bowl last year, so I doubt many bowl committees would be bitching about the Bearcats if they got them.