codyg1985’s Think Tank

This year’s college football season has been a season of ups and downs. This last week of the regular season has proven to once again turn the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) system on its head. Here are the BCS standings coming into yesterday:

1. Missouri (11-1)
2. West Virginia (10-1)
3. Ohio State (11-1)
4. Georgia (10-2)
5. Kansas (11-1)
6. Virginia Tech (10-2)
7. LSU (10-2)
8. USC (9-2)
9. Oklahoma (10-2)
10. Florida (9-3)
11. Boston College (10-2)
12. Hawai’i (11-0)
13. Arizona State (9-2)
14. Tennessee (9-3)
15. Illinois (9-3)

The only undefeated team left is the Hawai’i Warriors. As a member of the WAC Conference, there is a chance they may make the BCS. However, it is a given that they will not make the BCS title game.

The only one-loss teams left are the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Kansas Jayhawks. The Buckeyes will make the BCS, and from a pure record standpoint, there is a good chance that Ohio State will be in the BCS Title Game.

Kansas did not appear in the Big 12 Title Game after being demolished by Mizzou one week ago. I think that Kansas has a good shot at getting a BCS at-large bid, but I do not think that Kansas will appear in the BCS Title Game.

There are many two-loss teams that are still in the BCS picture. Of those, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, LSU, USC, and Oklahoma will be granted automatic bids to BCS games. The question is this: will a two-loss team be granted the pass to New Orleans in lieu of one-loss Kansas, assuming Ohio State gets the other spot? Given the fact that neither Kansas nor Georgia are conference champions (nor did they even appear in their respective conference championships), it is a long shot for either team to appear in the BCS title game. However, both Georgia and Kansas may get at-large bids to a BCS game.

My opinion is that LSU will get the nod to appear versus Ohio State in the BCS title game. Even though Virginia Tech was ranked ahead of LSU and won the ACC Championship Game, LSU crushed Virginia Tech during the second week of the season 48-7. Then again, LSU has gotten weaker since then. I do believe that it will come down to either Virginia Tech or LSU to appear in the national title game.

Here are the guaranteed BCS slots, from each conference:

• Virginia Tech (ACC)
• West Virginia (Big East)
• Ohio State (Big Ten)
• Oklahoma (Big 12)
• USC (Pac-10)
• LSU (SEC)

There are five BCS bowl games: Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and the BCS National Championship game. There are six automatic bids from each BCS Conference listed above, so there are four remaining at-large bids. Here are my predictions for each bowl game:

• BCS National Title Game: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. LSU Tigers
• Rose Bowl: Kansas Jayhawks vs. USC Trojans
• Sugar Bowl: Arizona State Sun Devils vs. Georgia Bulldogs
• Fiesta Bowl: Hawai’i Warriors vs. Oklahoma Sooners
• Orange Bowl: West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Virginia Tech Hokies

I made these predictions based on these guidelines. Instead of explaining my predictions, I will say that it is mostly based on those guidelines. We shall see how well these predictions turn out tonight.