Isn't the Big East tied into the Orange Bowl? Herbstreit and Musberger were talking the comissioner of the Big 12 last night about the possibility of a Oklahoma vs. Kansas Fiesta Bowl if OU beat Mizzou. The Big 12 comissioner seemed to agree that thats what would happen. 

Georgia not getting in the title game is fair enough (arguably), but they really should be going to the rose bowl to play USC not the Sugar Bowl to play Hawaii.  I don't think the bowl/conference tie ins apply when the conf. champ is in the title game.

The only team I wish wasn't in a BCS Bowl in your scenario is Illinois, but overall, I'd be pretty happy with it.  I keep hearing talk of people confirming that it will be Kansas v. OU in the Fiesta Bowl, fwiw.

If I were a Mizzou fan, I'd be pretty unhappy that two teams that you beat on neutral fields, Illinois and Kansas, are in BCS Bowls and Mizzou is not.

It really depends on how far Missouri falls in the BCS. Isn't if you are in the top 4 or 5 and didn't win your conference, you get one of the automatic spots? Those are all great BCS bowls though.

Top 4.

 

Early predictions: USC, Georgia (and whatever the spread is set at), Oklahoma, Kansas, and the Sweatervest outcoaches Les Miles.

It's top-4, but not if another at-large is above you, which Kansas likely will be, because of the favorable computer rankings.

I just heard a really crazy rumor, that's probably untrue, but I'll throw it out there for the sake of fun.  OU v. USC in the Rose Bowl, Kansas v. WVU in the Fiesta.

If LSU barely beat Ohio St. and Oklahoma dominates a full strength West Virginia, could we have a split champion?

For such a great season, I am pretty pissed off if these match-ups end up like that. There are a few mis-matches in there and I don't exactly agree with the BCS teams.

You say 70-35, Georgia, I say 56-14, USC and 31-10, LSU.

Brad Edwards "BCS Expert" just declared it over on ESPN News, LSU vs. Ohio St.

Illinois beating USC 56-14?

And you edited right after I clicked submit.

Haha, I read this before the edit, and thought "wow, you must be a huge believer in the Illini."

I'm almost certain that if LSU wins there will be some sort of a split championship. 

I was thinking over Illinois and then I just put it as(, team) so it ended up being combined. Edited it and put USC.

I didn't think split championships were possible anymore, with the elimination of the AP poll.  Is that not accurate?

Well the AP gives their own "Championship". The winner of the BCS title game gets the crystal trophy and the coaches poll championship, but the other individual polls can give their championship to whoever.

I'm not sure.  Couldn't the AP still name their own national champion though?  Maybe the more accurate thing would be to say that the fans won't have a certain champion.

Did anyone else think it was pathetic that Sportscenter was having coaches call in and politic for their team. The best was Les Miles calling in later that night after earlier in the day saying ESPN was misinformed and had bad information.

I cannot believe Ohio State is playing in the title game. They were out for two weeks doing nothing, and they automatically play in the championship? It just does not make sense to me. But I do agree with that Georgia and Hawaii prediction except that I think Hawaii might score even less than that.

I know they wouldn't do it like this and some cases they can not. Wouldn't it be better if it were Oklahoma v. LSU, USC v. Georgia, Illinois v. Hawaii, Ohio State v. Virginia Tech, and West Virginia v. Kansas? All those match-ups are such a great fit.

That mostly makes sense, except I would leave Illinois completely out of the picture, if that was possible.  The ONLY reason Illinois is being mentioned is because of the Rose Bowl's Big Ten tie-in and the Big XII fulfilling their 2 BCS bids.  I'd probably make it OU v. LSU, USC v. OSU, Georgia v. Mizzou, VT v. Kansas, if I had my choice.

What would make the most sense is to have OU v. USC and OSU v. LSU, then have a one game playoff between the winners.  I don't think anyone would have any room to complain about that, and the one extra game wouldn't be a terrible burden to work out.

Of course, this is the NCAA we are talking about, so. . .

I think pundits could make tremendous cases for either LSU or OU as possible entrants in the championship game but I cant see both of them getting in.  The BCS would be even more of a joke if a team with 1 loss, who's a conference champion and ranked #3 going into the last weekend, didnt make the championship game.  I dont think you can fault Ohio State for how the Big Ten plays there football schedules.  The Buckeye's 1 loss was to an Illinois team that's the only team to have two wins against top 5 opponents this season.  If there's anything remotely close to a "quality" loss, that would be it. 

Correct me if I'm wrong but isnt a conference only allowed to have 2 teams in the BCS.  How do Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma all make it from the Big XII??  And West Virginia gets an automatic bid as winners of the Big East conference

The key in my wording was "if i had my choice".  I know the BCS rules and I know that they are the only reason that Illinois is sniffing a BCS bowl.  Edit:  And I think it's pretty clear I knew a conference can only have 2 teams, since I prefaced it with "the Big XII fulfilled their 2 BCS bids."  Plus, I left out a bowl, which would be Hawaii v. West Virginia, IF I HAD MY CHOICE.  Reading is FUNdamental.

Aw man I gave him a smart for that.

Spartans vs Boston College in the Champs Bowl for those who care

Texas - Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl was also just announced.

Always a great game regardless of who's playing. Good test to see the strength of those two conferences.

If it's true what I've been reading, the Big Ten has some very tough matchups in this years bowl season.  OSU/LSU in the Tigers backyard, Illinois/USC in the Trojans backyard and Michigan/Florida in the Gators backyard to go with Michigan State/Boston College and Wisconsin/Tennessee.

Everyone is assuming that Illinois will end up in the top 14 in the BCS? It could be close. What happens if they don't?

It's also sad that ASU isn't getting a single mention despite being Pac-10 Co-Champs. I really wish Washington had taken care of Hawaii last night because that would have freed up a spot.

Absolutely.  Texas has the talent advantage, but I like Arizona State's "team" and coach better.  Should be a fun game.  This is also significant since it confirms ASU won't be in the Fiesta Bowl, opening the way for the all-Big 12 Fiesta.

Add Penn State against Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Big Ten shut out for a win.

Well, then there goes that suspense.

Should be a good game though, that will be an interesting matchup and a good chance for ASU to get some respect.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2836420

There is the updated to now bowl schedule. Kentucky vs. Florida St. could be a good one.

I dont see how Illinois cant end up in the top 14.  They were ranked 15th going into the weekend and both Boston College (11th) and Tennessee (14th) lost there conference championship games.

I agree with you completely.  OSU can't help their conference schedule, but they can help their out of conference schedule, which is so brutally weak that not even their conference schedule could make up for it.  This fact does excludes them from the title game.  Not a single pundit is discussing this fact.  C

heck out this comparison between VT and OSU, after you get done reading it, I would ask you if OSU deserves to be in the title game or is the BCS trying to cover up the truth that we need a playoff system because of this kind of scenario happening.  This will happen more often as parity is starting to creep into College football. 

Va. Tech' resume:
Va.Tech's out of conference opponents 28-20, one loss to LSU.  They had the balls to play a tough out of conference opponent instead of all cupcakes.  Va. Tech wins the ACC, 8 out of 12 teams are bowl eligible, 7 out of 12 teams have an even to winning conference record.  They defeat three ranked teams, two in the top 20.  Both of their losses where to the number 2 team in the nation at the time.  They avenged one of those losses against BC in the ACC title game.  Of the three ranked teams that Va. Tech defeated, all three remain in top 25 in the AP poll, with two currently in the top 20.  Of the two teams that defeated them, LSU is number 2 and BC is #14. 

OSU:
OSU's out of conference opponents 18-30.  All cupcakes and only one with a winning record, which is a Div. I-AA team.  They only left the state of Ohio once for one of those games.   OSU wins the Big Ten, 10 out of 11 teams are bowl eligible, 6 out of 11 teams have an even to winning conference record.  OSU defeats 4 top 20 teams, but no team is ranked better than #20.  Their only loss was to an unranked Illinois.  Of the 4 ranked teams that OSU defeated, all were big ten teams, only one remains in the AP top 25, Wisconsin at number 18.  Illinois is ranked 13, they only team to defeat OSU this year.  

LSU's and VT's stocks rose higher with each of them winning their respective conference title games.  OSU sat back and waited for teams to lose so they could back into the title game.  The only argument for OSU is that their conference is a little stronger than the ACC, that is it. 

So what has happened is that we will not have the two best teams in the nation in the title game this year as I feared.  Oh well, there is always next year. 

It could still be West Virginia vs. Oklahoma in the Fiesta with Kansas going to the Orange.

Illinois is in the BCS. Michigan State is going to the Champs Bowl and the only way that's feasible is if Illinois was taken by the Rose.

Isnt that the same story every year during bowl season

I hope if the Bears/Giants game isn't over yet that Fox just cuts in and starts with the BCS selection show.

In theory it sounds plausible but has there ever been a national championship game between two teams who met in the regular season.  I would think that would be a case for choosing one team over another when it comes to deciding who plays where, assuming the teams are closely matched like VT and LSU are

Missouri just supposedly announced in a press conference that they will be playing Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl.  Bad night/day for them, falling from the potential national title game to the Cotton.

I understand OSU's schedule wasn't the best this year, but I'm kind of tired of hearing they don't shedule anyone. They just had Texas for 2, and next is USC, followed by Virginia Tech, Miami (Fl), California, and Oklahoma. Plus 2 against Cincy mixed in there somewhere. They have and will play tough games that others won't schedule. This year they only had Washington, I know, not very good, but do schedule good teams

 

Plus OSU did something no other conference champ did and that's not lose twice. The Big Ten may not be the top conference but they aren't that much behind the others. Strength of schedule is good for comparing "equal" teams. Like when OSU was behind WVU and Missouri, all with one loss. But they have done nothing to not deserve a shot in the game.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3138383&sportCat=ncf

I believe Gene and I are on the same page on this one.  Seth, you are homer, you have to defend your team even if they were 0-11, which is what is expected of you or any other home team fan including myself.  OSU and LSU got a huge free pass this year from the pollsters, especially LSU.  OSU should have fallen much further than they did when they lost to unranked Illinois.  That is the way it goes, but a fan has to look at this mess objectively and realize that it is time for a play-off system to prevent what could happen this year, a split national title.  

Hawaii is the lone undefeated, but they are not in the national championship game.  Why, their strength of conference.  They did win their conference and were undefeated, so OSU gets special dispensation due to their better conference, right?!  So if this is the case, Hawaii's out of conference opponents records are a combined 13-34 were as OSU's were 18-30.  If I were to look at this objectively, I would say that this fairly close and say well, let's toss out their out of conference opponents records and look at their conference records due to the fact that none, except VT and LSU(against each other) scheduled a really tough out of conference game. 

OSU, VT each have one conference loss, LSU and OK have two conference losses and Hawaii has none.  So using the this knowledge and going based solely on conference record alone currently, Hawaii is in the National Championship game. 

2Hawaii plays VT for it all, based on my previous post.  How is that for a slap in the BCS committee's face!