Heart stopped beating. Twice. More on that later this week. For now, the biggest takeaways are these:
- The Big XII is bad. After Texas, Oklahoma State and a snake-bit Oklahoma squad, there is nothing of consequence there. I'm absolutely shocked at how Nebraska and Kansas seem to be unable to step up and claim the North title. And if that wasn't bad enough, make sense of these scores: 1) Texas Tech 66 Kansas State 14 2) Kansas State 62 Texas A&M 14 3) Texas A&M 52 Texas Tech 30 It makes my head hurt. Unless Texas either loses on Saturday to Oklahoma State or loses in the Big XII title game, this league is only getting one BCS team this year.
- The SEC is shallow. After you get past Alabama, Florida, and LSU, there's not a lot to see here. Ole Miss and South Carolina look to be the best of what's left, but neither is that impressive.
- If USC loses to Oregon this Saturday and Notre Dame drops a third game somewhere (against PItt maybe?), the 10-2 Trojans will be very likely headed to the Fiesta Bowl and a matchup with the mid-major that gets into the BCS. I don't know if Oregon gets the same treatment if they lose on Saturday. My guess is that the Fiesta takes the Big Ten runner-up.
- Not much changed from last week. Halloween night will be the big shake-up. Projections are after the jump...
Remember the rules.
- These are projections. I am taking into account what will happen in future games, not assigning teams based upon current standings.
- The best teams don't always go to the best games. In the end, butts in the seat and eyes to the television are the biggest factors.
- The order of BCS selection is 1) Replacement for #1 Team; 2) Replacement for #2 Team; 3) Orange Bowl; 4) Fiesta Bowl; 5) Sugar Bowl.
- The Champs Bowl picks its Big Ten team ahead of the Alamo Bowl this year.
- For the full rules on BCS selections, look here.