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I see the Rose Bowl picking an SEC team for TV purposes. Florida (if they lose) or LSU. SEC vs Big Ten works well for TV purposes when it comes to the bowls. The sugar will take Louisville. That leaves the Orange Bowl. If Georgia Tech wins would they jump at a ND-GT rematch or go in another direction? That's the problem for ND is that two of the bowls could present possible rematches with ND. Obviously if Wake Forest wins then this problem is averted. I may be missing something but where does the Big East winner fit in? Either Rutgers or Louisville will have an automatic bid that I didn't see listed. If I'm not mistaken, I think the BE winner will go to the Sugar Bowl (someone correct me if I'm wrong). That would mean: Nat Title: OSU v USC Rose Bowl: Michigan v Fiesta Bowl: Boise St. v Oklahoma/Nebraska Orange Bowl: Wake Forest/Georgia Tech v Sugar Bowl: Florida/Arkansas v Rutgers/Louisville leaving loser of BE and loser of SEC championship plus LSU and Notre Dame to fill two spots. Arkansas and Rutgers are out if they lose, which would solve the problem. If they don't both lose, ND could miss a BCS berth. A couple of things that are a little off with this. One, the Big East winner has no specific bowl tie in-that's why nobody knows exactly for sure where they will go. The Rose Bowl will have first and second pick (as the 2 teams in the title game) and they will select Michigan and ?. The Sugar Bowl picks next, then Orange, then Fiesta-that's why Boise State is penciled into the Fiesta because they pick last. Second, there is no way ND misses a BCS berth. 4 BCS at-large spots are available. 2 of them will go to Michigan and Boise State. The other 2? One of ND, one SEC team (either LSU or Florida if Florida loses-Arkansas would have no chance with 3 losses if they lose) and 1 Big East team (either Louisville if Rutgers wins, or Rutgers/WV if WV beats Rutgers). The bowls are not going to select both a 2 loss SEC team and a Big East team, with a chance of them having 2 losses over ND. There is simply no way-fair or not, ND is getting picked. Here's how it plays out: Nat Champ: OSU vs USC Rose: Michigan vs ? Sugar: Arkansas/Florida vs. ? Orange-GT/Wake vs ? Fiesta-Oklahoma/Nebraksa vs Boise State The Rose will pick first. While the announcers think they will pick Notre Dame, I see them going with Louisville, with a small chance that it is LSU. Second is the Sugar-they are going to pick ND if the Rose does not. If the Rose picks ND, look for the Sugar to go with the Big East winner because they certainly won't pick an SEC team here. Finally is the Orange-if it gets down to them, and LSU has not been taken, they are going to take them. For them, it will come down to who they think will travel better-LSU or West Virginia, and they will pick LSU to face GT. If LSU got taken by the Rose, they will go with the Big East winner here. If Rutgers wins next week, then LSU loses out on the BCS. I also could see Louisville getting picked for a bowl before Rutgers (Rutgers of course would still get picked later on), even if Rutgers is the conference champ and Louisville is not.

The only good thing that can come from ND in the Rose Bowl is my cousin (senior at ND) would come here to visit. Is there a way Texas can come back to the San Gabriel Valley again? Best fans to travel out here, oh so nice and pleasant, very friendly. It was great to have them two straight years. LOL-I doubt Texas will be eligible for the BCS after their loss. My guess though is that the Rose Bowl picks somebody else with the first pick. I just cannot see them wanting a ND-Michigan rematch. My guess is that they pick a team like Louisville, and then the Sugar Bowl will pick ND. LSU brings in the southern tv market. Louisville is already covered by the midwest market with michigan. I think this is why they will skip ND too, plus its a rematch of a blowout. I was thinking about LSU also-that's certainly a good possibility as well. The Big East winner will have to be figured out first-if Rutgers beat West Virginia, it will be an interesting fight to see if Louisville or LSU gets the last at-large spot. If WV wins, the whole thing will become a great deal easier. Congratulations to the Trojans. They simply outplayed the Irish tonight-no excuses. Both teams had opportunities, and they took better advantage of them than ND did.

The only good thing that can come from ND in the Rose Bowl is my cousin (senior at ND) would come here to visit. Is there a way Texas can come back to the San Gabriel Valley again? Best fans to travel out here, oh so nice and pleasant, very friendly. It was great to have them two straight years. LOL-I doubt Texas will be eligible for the BCS after their loss. My guess though is that the Rose Bowl picks somebody else with the first pick. I just cannot see them wanting a ND-Michigan rematch. My guess is that they pick a team like Louisville, and then the Sugar Bowl will pick ND.

This feels like Madden now-in a blowout game, both teams just take turns scoring at the end of the game in hilarious fashion.

Well, there's a reason USC hasn't lost at home in 5 years. The USC I saw in the middle of the year, and the USC I see now look like 2 completely different teams. I think Booty is better, Jarrett is back which helps a great deal, and the defense has gelled. They are going to be a tough team if they get past UCLA for Ohio State to play.

I simply don't understand it. Last year, people thought we went deep a great deal, but we really didn't. We ran 3 step drops, sometimes 5 and would run slants, screens, and crossing routes that turned into big plays. Now, the offense is all 7 step drops that expose the offensive line and make it so Brady is sacked all of the time. I simply do not get this offense whatsoever sometimes-we have a large amount of talent, but they are not being put in the best place to succeed most of this year.

Yeah, did you hear the announcer "The USC right tackle..........protecting his quarterback" when he realized they were not going to call it. I'm not that upset though-Jarrett made such a great catch that it's hard to say that 5 yard difference would have even been a big deciding factor. By the way, whichever team loses this game (likely to be ND, but still has a small chance of being USC) is going to be kicking themselves-both teams have had plenty of opportunities to change the game, and most of those have fallen flat.

Against this defense? The play action is much better. I like the play action, but they should have spread it out on first down. That playcalling was absolutely terrible on that drive-spread it out, and then you can run that QB draw on first down if they do that. I've been frustrated all season a little bit with the playcalling, and this game has been the worst in that respect.

Neither one will really influence LSU-both of these teams are practically guaranteed BCS games already. The best thing for LSU would be if WV beats Rutgers next week, and Florida to beat Arkansas. If those happened, I think LSU would get in over WV and Rutgers.

If it weren't for a blocked punt USC would be up 21-3. USC scored too easily and the let ND back in the game. By the same token, Notre Dame has made serveral unforced errors. McKnight caused 2 drives to stall with drops, and he doesn't do that. Walker doesn't fumble normally, but he did that as well. I don't think either team played particularly well in the 1st half though-Notre Dame is going to have to step up to make up for those opportunities they lost.

The box score doesn't list turnovers by downs-Notre Dame had 3 of those in the 1st half (all of them were in USC territory-too close for a punt, too far for a field goal).

That's pretty much a given :D

I don't think he would have made it-he would have been 2-3 yards short. There will be plenty of possessions in this game though-a couple of times turning it over on downs in the game doesn't matter all that much.

I agree. If they're willing to part with one of them for someone like Chad Tracy, they should be willing to part with them for Jones. I don't agree with your logic here AT ALL. Tracy has a ton more value than Jones. A ton. After looking at his stats again, I would have to agree. Tracy is 26 and has had one season above a .900 OPS already. His last season was a .794, which is a signficant step down but still close to Jones. His potential for improvement makes him much more valuable than Jones.

Ok, then why not just say that then beat around the bush? I think because they wanted to exclude the possibility of the bowls picking another team from that conference. Let's say Wisconsin had lost to Ohio State and didn't play Michigan instead of the opposite. Michigan finishes 3rd in the BCS, and Wisconsin finishes 5th. The BCS bowls might be inclined to pick Wisconsin over Michigan-this rule says you cannot do that-in that case the team in 3rd would automatically qualify. Only if the 2nd team is one of the top 2 does the team in 3rd not automatically qualify, and that's what they were trying to say.

That is a stupid rule then, and has no place for being in existence. If the 1 and 2 teams are supposed to play, of course it would be an at large team from the same conf. for the Title game. Why even have this rule? The automatic qualifier from the third spot doesn't have to be a third team from a conference-it could only be the second team from that conference. That provision is intended specifically to keep a third team from one conference out.

I would agree with that completely. Wake, Maryland, Georgia Tech-not exactly any power teams left to go to a BCS bowl. They are all good, but none of them are great-Boise State at least has the chance to be great, although they are completely unproven.

There was just an amazing play in the Georgia-Georgia Tech game. Reggie Ball fumbled, and there was a huge pileup for the ball (at least 6-8 bodies). Georgia's Tony Taylor went into the pile standing up-he didn't try to dive on the pile at all-he just reached into the pile, wrenched it away from all the people fighting for the ball, and ran 30 yards for the Georgia TD. 7-3 Georgia now in the 3rd quarter.

Wow-Oklahoma barely survived that.

I don't understand why ESPN employs Lou Holtz and allows him to speak on national television. The guy makes statements that hold absolutely no merit and are completely off base. Don't get me wrong, Mark May isn't great either, but at least he puts thought into his arguments and provides a good reasoning to go along with them. As an ND fan, Lou Holtz embarrasses me at this point. When someone tries to make an argument for your team and they are so horribly bad at it that it can easily be shot down by the whole country, the country can become convinced that there is no better argument out there. Every time Lou says something about ND, it just makes ND look weaker and weaker because of his horrible representation of the facts. I hope he retires-soon.

Oklahoma State still has a chance. It's 27-21 Oklahoma now, 6 minutes left. It should be on most of your Fox Sports Net channels if anybody is trying to look for it.

Wow-Nevada has -4 total yards and 3 turnovers-that's the way to get destroyed. The only reason it's as close as it is is because Boise State has turned it over on 3 4th and 1's so far.

I thought it was incomplete, but I thought overturning it was the wrong call. To me it appeared that he caught it and took a step or two, but hey, I'm not a referee. Yeah, I thought he bobbled it for just a second-he established possession after a step or so, but right when he did he got hit, so I thought by the time he established it he never had a chance to make a football move.

I thought it was incomplete, but I thought overturning it was the wrong call.

Boise St. in a BCS bowl would be a travesty. Outside of an early win against Oregon St, they have played absolutely no one. Just because a team goes undefeated against a high school schedule does not entitle them to a BCS game. Although it would be kind of fun to watch them get massacred. you have to feel bad for them though. That program has done a great job in recruiting and building a good team....not their fault that the rest of the conference is a joke. I think it's elitist to say that only teams from the 6 BCS conferences should be allowed to play in a BCS game. Boise St. has been pretty well punished in both the polls and computer, but staying undefeated has forced them in there. If they lose today, then no problem, they go to the whatever bowl. If ND loses tonight, would you still put them in as an at-large over BSU? If they are punished by both the Polls and the Computers, doesn't that actually mean something? That they face weak competition and they really aren't that good? I sorta agree that it would be an embarrassment to see them in the BCS. They'll get steamrolled. If they want to go, let them go, but they will get destroyed. Also, LOL, ND is pretty bad. Notre Dame's victories are about on par with Boise State. In fact, has Charlie Weis really beaten any quality opponent? Just a team who is likely to be their conference winner in a major conference this year with a chance to beat a 2nd conference winner tonight. What throws a monkey wrench into it is a 3 or 4 loss team or 2 that wins the Conference Championship. The Big East could screw it up too as they only have 8 teams and that increases the chances for a 3 loss team like Pitt a couple of years ago . It's not just limited to the Big East. Look at Florida State last year. ETA: Georgia Tech could lose today, win the ACC championship game, and go into a BCS bowl with 3 losses. Did they have the best record along with winning the ACC Championship? No-if they lose today, and come back and win the ACC championship-Georgia Tech will be in with 3 losses, but Virginia Tech with 2 losses won't even play in the ACC title game. That's of course because Georgia Tech's losses would have mostly come OOC. The Big XII could have Nebraska win and go with several losses-also, if Oklahoma State comes back today, then no team in the Big XII will have less than 3 losses.