Monday, November 26, 2007

More Bowl Predictions: What If...

Does anyone want to play in the BCS Championship Bowl? Apparently not, the way #1 and #2 teams have been losing. This college football season has been incredibly entertaining, and after this weekend, the bowls get even more interesting...

What if Oklahoma, a 2-loss team, beats Missouri, a 1-loss #1, in the Big 12 Championship this weekend? Or (less likely) what if West Virginia loses to Pitt? Will 1-loss Ohio State make the Championship? What would that do to the Rose Bowl? Would the organizers honor the Big 10/PAC-10 tradition? Is there another Big 10 team to fill that spot?

Right now, to be eligible for an at-large BCS berth, a team must have 9 wins, and be ranked at least #14 in their rankings. Plus, no more than 2 teams from a conference can be in one of the 5 BCS bowls. Illinois is currently #15, and the highest-ranked Big Ten team after Ohio State. But what if #14 Tennessee loses to LSU, #12 Hawaii loses to Washington, #11 Boston College loses to Virginia Tech or #13 Arizona State loses to Arizona? Would the Illini move up in the rankings? One or two of these scenarios is likely -- the Vols and BC look particularly vulnerable here. (Thanks to Meegs for this research.)

Yes, that is a lot of "what ifs," but given the season to date, anything is possible. Regardless of whether or not the Illini are BCS-bound, they are headed to a quality bowl game somewhere, and that's worth getting excited about. But, as Chief said, a playoff system would eliminate a lot of the confusion...

# posted by Alma Mater : 10:05 PM


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