College Football - Championship Week (Dec. 7)

[Andy]

MAC Championship Game in Detroit (8 pm Friday, ESPN2)

Bowling Green vs (14) Northern Illinois

 

Conference USA Championship Game (12 pm, ESPN2)

Marshall at Rice

 

SEC Championship Game in Atlanta (4 pm, CBS)

(3) Auburn vs (5) Missouri

 

Pac-12 Championship Game (7:45 pm, ESPN)

(7) Stanford at (11) Arizona State

 

ACC Championship Game in Charlotte (8 pm, ABC)

(20) Duke vs (1) Florida State

 

Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis (8 pm, FOX)

(2) Ohio State vs (10) Michigan State

 

Mountain West Championship Game (10 pm, CBS)

Utah State at (23) Fresno State

 

Top 25 games

------------------------

(17) Oklahoma at (6) Oklahoma State (12 pm, ABC)

(25) Texas at (9) Baylor (3:30 pm, FOX)

(16) Central Florida at SMU (12 pm, ESPN)

(19) Louisville at Cincinnati (7:30 pm Thursday, ESPN)

 

Other nationally available games

---------------------------------------

Memphis at UConn (1 pm, ESPN3)

UL Lafayette at South Alabama (7 pm, ESPN3)

South Florida at Rutgers (7:30 pm, ESPN2)

Edited December 5, 2013 by Andy

[CubInOK]

I can't wait to see Mizzou screwed out of a BCS game again.

[UMFan83]

Can you imagine the drama if the 4 team playoff was happening this year? Let's pretend that MSU beats Ohio State this weekend. The committee would choose FSU of course but would have to pick 3 teams amongst:

 

Ohio State, Alabama, Auburn/Mizzou, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Baylor, NIU and probably Stanford and Oregon.

[rawaction]

Can you imagine the drama if the 4 team playoff was happening this year? Let's pretend that MSU beats Ohio State this weekend. The committee would choose FSU of course but would have to pick 3 teams amongst:

 

Ohio State, Alabama, Auburn/Mizzou, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Baylor, NIU and probably Stanford and Oregon.

 

FSU, Michigan St, SEC Champ, and then you only have 1 to pick. And if you're forced to pick NIU, that's already done for you.

[Tracer Bullet]

Can you imagine the drama if the 4 team playoff was happening this year? Let's pretend that MSU beats Ohio State this weekend. The committee would choose FSU of course but would have to pick 3 teams amongst:

 

Ohio State, Alabama, Auburn/Mizzou, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Baylor, NIU and probably Stanford and Oregon.

 

FSU, Michigan St, SEC Champ, and then you only have 1 to pick. And if you're forced to pick NIU, that's already done for you.

 

Oklahoma St ahead of MSU. MSU's schedule sucks.

 

MSU played 4 teams worse than Illinois this year. I wasn't sure that was possible for an FBS team.

[stuy119]

Bama, Auburn/Mizzou winner, FSU, and Ok State. Pretty easy decision IMO.

[Butterscup1679666578]

Well, here we go.

[NOLA]

Bama, Auburn/Mizzou winner, FSU, and Ok State. Pretty easy decision IMO.

 

Bingo. Like it or not, that would be it.

[Soul]

Well, here we go.

Yeah, fitting that the BCS era ends with one more maddening round of "we got hosed."

[NOLA]

Well, here we go.

Yeah, fitting that the BCS era ends with one more maddening round of "we got hosed."

 

Yes, but if that person were Urban Meyer, it would be that much sweeter. Almost as much fun as watching Bama fans cry. If somehow Mizzou or Auburn were to win convincingly I could see that happen.

[Outshined_One]

I can't wait to see Mizzou screwed out of a BCS game again.

 

Frankly, I can't wait for MSU and Mizzou to win, only for Alabama to make the title game.

[Guest]

I can't wait to see Mizzou screwed out of a BCS game again.

 

The loser of that game isn't going to a BCS bowl because of the two spots per conference limitation.

 

The winner goes automatically. Bama finishes either third or fourth depending on if OSU wins and gets an automatic spot.

[NOLA]

I really thought that a third team from a conference was allowed in a BCS game if one of the games involved was the title game.

[SpongeWorthy]

SC allegedly honing in on either Peterson or Franklin and looking to make an announcement this week.

[Guest]

So with OSU/FSU wins we're looking at

 

Title: FSU-OSU

Sugar: Auburn/Missouri-

Orange: Clemson-

Fiesta: OkSt/Baylor/Texas

Rose: MSU-Stanford/ASU

 

I assume the Orange selects Clemson to replace FSU (the bowls almost always take another team from the same conference). I guess the Rose could get stuck with NIU if they win because if the Rose loses a team to the title game and a non-AQ team is in the top 12 (it might be ahead of the second-highest BCS ranked team) in that conference, they go. So if OSU beats MSU and NIU wins, NIU might be ranked ahead of MSU and go to the Rose.

 

After that, we've got UCF, one of Oklahoma State or Baylor, Oregon and Bama for three spots with the order going Orange - Sugar - Fiesta. I'd assume the Orange goes with Bama and the Sugar with Oregon, that leaves UCF in the Fiesta and either Baylor or Oklahoma State out.

[Guest]

I really thought that a third team from a conference was allowed in a BCS game if one of the games involved was the title game.

 

Nope. Even in the 2011-12 season when Bama played LSU in the title game, neither No. 6 Arkansas nor No. 8 South Carolina were able to be picked.

[Guest]

So with OSU/FSU wins we're looking at

 

Title: FSU-OSU

Sugar: Auburn/Missouri-

Orange: Clemson-

Fiesta: OkSt/Baylor/Texas

Rose: MSU-Stanford/ASU

 

I assume the Orange selects Clemson to replace FSU (the bowls almost always take another team from the same conference). I guess the Rose could get stuck with NIU if they win because if the Rose loses a team to the title game and a non-AQ team is in the top 12 (it might be ahead of the second-highest BCS ranked team) in that conference, they go. So if OSU beats MSU and NIU wins, NIU might be ranked ahead of MSU and go to the Rose.

 

After that, we've got UCF, one of Oklahoma State or Baylor, Oregon and Bama for three spots with the order going Orange - Sugar - Fiesta. I'd assume the Orange goes with Bama and the Sugar with Oregon, that leaves UCF in the Fiesta and either Baylor or Oklahoma State out.

 

 

This is the most succinct recap of the "If FSU/OSU win" scenario I've seen:

 

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/12/1/5162488/bowls-game-projections-2013-predictions-ohio-state-fsu#comments

 

We have a whole new order. The Orange Bowl will likely get the first pick, since it will probably have to replace No. 1 Florida State. The Rose will go second, and will almost certainly take a Big Ten team if one is available. The Orange is next up again, since it's first in the non-replacement order this year.

 

Assuming Michigan State doesn't fall out of the top 14 in the event of a loss to Ohio State next week, the Spartans are the Rose's replacement for the Buckeyes. That means the Orange essentially gets the first two real choices.

 

The two-time national champions will be available and likely ranked No. 4, with the other choice likely coming down to Baylor, Clemson, or Oregon -- matching the Tide against any of those three would've sounded like a dream national championship back in, say, September. Clemson could get the nod due to the Orange's partnership with the ACC, which will only strengthen in 2014 and beyond, when the bowl essentially becomes an ACC property.

 

After that, the choices could be done. If NIU beats Bowling Green, it's into the BCS. If UCF beats SMU, it's into the BCS. UCF is the easy choice over NIU for the Sugar.

 

EDIT: The predictions from that article:

 

Title: FSU/OSU

Orange: Bama/Clemson

Sugar: SEC Champ/UCF

Rose: MSU/Pac-12 Champ

Fiesta: Big 12 Champ/NIU

[Guest]

They might have changed it, but both Wiki and a Stanford blog say that TCU got picked as an at-large in the 2010-11 season because Oregon went to the title game and TCU was ranked ahead of Stanford in the BCS standings. So TCU had to go to the Rose and Stanford ended up in the Orange.

 

MSU is 10 right now and NIU is 14. I'm not sure how much MSU will drop if they lose but they could drop behind NIU in the standings. That means NIU is locked in to replace OSU in the Rose Bowl.

 

EDIT: And I forgot NIU anyway in my post.

[fiver]

Well, it doesn't look like Auburn will jump osu with a win over Mizzou unless michigan state is victorious. I'm not excited about a potential matchup with Central Florida in the sugar bowl.

 

I think Missouri is going to score quite a few points on Auburn, but AU's read option is extremely difficult for anyone to defend the way Nick Marshall is able to execute it at this point in the season....should be an exciting game.

[Andy]

Northsider, a third team in a conference is only allowed in a BCS game if they're the champion of the conference and the NCG participants are both from that same conference but not the league champs (so it would never have happened).

 

Soccer, the TCU/Rose deal was a one-time occurrence that was placed in the 2010-13 BCS contract, forcing the Rose to take a non-AQ school as a NCG replacement the first time one qualified, because the other 3 bowls were sick of being 'stuck' with them. I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with TCU being ranked ahead of Stanford, though I could be wrong. That option having been exercised, the Rose wouldn't be under any obligation to take NIU this time and they would fall to the Fiesta in the selection order.

 

If FSU/OSU win, the BCS lineup TT posted is pretty much a lock. While Bama/Oregon would probably be a better Orange Bowl matchup than Bama/Clemson, the Orange has a relationship with the ACC and they won't risk pissing them off by passing over an eligible ACC team.

[Andy]

The thing that could get interesting as it pertains to the BCS games would be if OSU loses to MSU. Bama/Ohio State would then be a feasible matchup for the Orange, a dream matchup for any bowl game, but that would bounce Clemson from the BCS, and I can't believe the ACC would be thrilled about that. If the Orange stuck with Clemson, the Buckeyes would fall out of the BCS entirely unless the Sugar chose them over the SEC title-game loser AND South Carolina, which seems unlikely.

[Guest]

The thing that could get interesting as it pertains to the BCS games would be if OSU loses to MSU. Bama/Ohio State would then be a feasible matchup for the Orange, a dream matchup for any bowl game, but that would bounce Clemson from the BCS, and I can't believe the ACC would be thrilled about that. If the Orange stuck with Clemson, the Buckeyes would fall out of the BCS entirely unless the Sugar chose them over the SEC title-game loser AND South Carolina, which seems unlikely.

 

The SEC title game loser and South Carolina can't be chosen, so it's really a matter of order, it'd play out like this depending on the Orange's first pick:

 

Orange-Sugar-Orange

Bama-OSU-Clemson

Clemson-Bama-OSU

OSU-Bama-Clemson

 

The Sugar has a pretty easy decision to make, since it either gets gifted Bama or they take OSU because they aren't allowed to take a conference affiliate. Similarly, the Orange is going to take OSU and/or Clemson over the other similar at-large candidates, so there's little controversy there either.

[Andy]

The thing that could get interesting as it pertains to the BCS games would be if OSU loses to MSU. Bama/Ohio State would then be a feasible matchup for the Orange, a dream matchup for any bowl game, but that would bounce Clemson from the BCS, and I can't believe the ACC would be thrilled about that. If the Orange stuck with Clemson, the Buckeyes would fall out of the BCS entirely unless the Sugar chose them over the SEC title-game loser AND South Carolina, which seems unlikely.

 

The SEC title game loser and South Carolina can't be chosen, so it's really a matter of order, it'd play out like this depending on the Orange's first pick:

 

Orange-Sugar-Orange

Bama-OSU-Clemson

Clemson-Bama-OSU

OSU-Bama-Clemson

 

The Sugar has a pretty easy decision to make, since it either gets gifted Bama or they take OSU because they aren't allowed to take a conference affiliate. Similarly, the Orange is going to take OSU and/or Clemson over the other similar at-large candidates, so there's little controversy there either.

Damn it, you're right. There I was getting all excited over the idea of OSU falling to the Capital One Bowl or something and I didn't think it all through.

[Old Style]

I'm looking forward to the Iron Bowl II after Duke & Sparty win this Saturday.

[Guest]

SC allegedly honing in on either Peterson or Franklin and looking to make an announcement this week.

 

In a shocking turn of events, Chris Petersen said no.