7:05 AM
Football
By Ed Bagley
With everything on the line for a shot at the BCS National Championship, 3 of the nation's top 4 college teams-Florida, Texas and Oklahoma-made their case in College Football's Week 14 action.
The two big questions were: 1) Would Florida win big and protect its No. 4 BCS ranking? and 2) Would a statement victory by No. 3-ranked Oklahoma lift the Sooners over No. 2-ranked Texas and into a Big 12 Championship game with Missouri?
Texas, which had beaten Oklahoma 45-35 earlier in the season at a neutral site, polished off the unranked 4-8 Texas A&M Aggies 49-9 at home to set the table. Unbeaten Alabama then registered its 12th straight victory at home by shutting out unranked Auburn 36-0 to retain its No. 1-ranking and possible date in the National Championship game. Florida followed suit on the road by taking apart No. 23-ranked (by AP) Florida 45-15.
Finally it was show time Saturday night and Oklahoma hit the road and performed on cue, turning back No. 11-ranked Oklahoma State 61-41. Last week Oklahoma routed then-No. 2 Texas Tech 65-21. Saturday's victory over its in-state rival was its 4th consecutive 60-point-plus win. The Sooners' Sam Bradford completed 30-of-44 passes for 370 yards and 4 touchdowns and then added another score on a 1-yard run.
Oklahoma needed to make up a minuscule eight-thousandths of a point to Texas in the BCS Standings to earn a spot against Missouri. When the new BCS Standings were released Sunday afternoon, Oklahoma was ecstatic, leapfrogging over Texas to claim the No. 2 spot with Texas No. 3 and Florida No. 4.
And now the final drama in Week 15 begins. No. 1 Alabama travels to Gainesville to face the No. 2 Florida Gators for the SEC Championship (AP Top 25 Poll rankings), and No. 19 Missouri travels to Norman to challenge No. 4 Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship.
The Oklahoma-Missouri contest was damaged big time as Missouri suffered a pathetic loss to unranked Kansas, 40-37, over the weekend, leaving the Tigers with a 9-3 record and looking really woeful next to the South Division's 11-1 Texas, 11-1 Texas Tech and 9-3 Oklahoma State, all better teams that wanted to be in the Big 12 showdown.
Should Florida beat Alabama and Oklahoma beat Missouri, as most pundits think will happen, then Florida would meet Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship Game. Should Alabama beat Florida and Oklahoma beat Missouri, then it would be Alabama and Oklahoma. Should either Florida or Alabama win and Missouri upset Oklahoma, then Texas would face Florida or Alabama.
The regular season has now ended for the AP's No. 3 Texas, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Utah, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 14 TCU, No. 19 Brigham Young (BYU), No. 20 Northwestern and No. 21 Michigan State. All of these teams will play in a bowl game somewhere.
Other AP Top 25 teams that won this weekend included No. 5 Southern California at home over Notre Dame 38-3, No. 7 Texas Tech at home over Baylor 35-28, No. 9 Boise State at home over Fresno State 61-10, No. 15 Ball State at home over Western Michigan 45-22, and No. 16 Cincinnati at home over Syracuse 30-10.
No. 18 Georgia Tech on the road upsetting in-state rival No. 13 Georgia 45-42 in a barn burner, No. 19 Oregon on the road over No. 17 Oregon State, 65-38, knocking the Beavers out of a possible Rose Bowl appearance, No. 20 Boston College at home over Maryland 28-21, and No. 25 Mississippi at home shutting out in-state rival Mississippi State, 45-0.
Other games that caught my attention were Pittsburgh sneaking by West Virginia 19-15 to give the Panthers their 8th win of the season, Buffalo dropping an unnecessary loss to Kent State 24-21, Eastern Michigan (3-9) upsetting Central Michigan (8-4), 56-52 in a sad display of defense, Arkansas slipping by LSU 31-30, Rice working hard to outlast Houston 56-42 in another shameful display of little defense on either side, and 6-6 Florida Atlantic beating 4-7 Florida International in overtime, 57-50, in a game where no defense was played.
Other huge games this Saturday include No. 18 Boston College traveling to unranked Virginia Tech with the Atlantic Coast winner earning the title an automatic bid to a BCS game. No. 8 Penn State, the Big Ten champion, appears headed to the BCS Rose Bowl.
East Carolina and Tulsa will face off for the Conference USA title. Unbeaten No. 12 Ball State (12-0) tangles with Buffalo for the Mid-American Championship. No. 7 Utah won the Mountain West Championship and will probably get a BCS bowl spot. No. 5 Southern Cal needs to beat UCLA to wrap up a Pac 10 title and automatic BCS bowl bid for the 7th consecutive year.
Elsewhere, Arkansas State and Troy battle it out for the Sun Belt title, and unbeaten No. 9 Boise State (12-0) has already won the Western Athletic Championship but will likely not get a BCS bowl bid.
Following Saturday's action, bowl officials will move in like a hot knife through butter to determine bowl bids and set the stage for Bowl Mania during the holidays to cap this year's college football season.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
Read my other detailed, knowledgeable, interesting articles on 2008 college football, including:
"College Football - Week 13 - Fantasy Season at Texas Tech Is Over, Oklahoma Kills the Dream, 65-21"
"College Football - Week 11 - Only 5 Unbeaten Teams Left, Iowa Ends Penn State's BCS Title Hopes"
"College Football - Week 10 - In Just Two Years Nick Saban Has the Crimson Tide No. 1 in the Nation"
"College Football - Week 9 - Texas Handles Unbeaten Oklahoma State, and Penn State Whips Ohio State"
"College Football - Week 7 - Only 10 Undefeated Teams Remain - Oklahoma, Missouri and LSU All Lose"
"College Football - Week 5 - 9 AP Top 25 Teams Lose, 6 to Unranked Teams, No. 1 USC, No. 3 Georgia & No. 4 Florida All Lose"
"College Football - Week 4 - 14 Teams Suffer Their First Defeat - Auburn, East Carolina, Oregon & Florida State All Lose"
With everything on the line for a shot at the BCS National Championship, 3 of the nation's top 4 college teams-Florida, Texas and Oklahoma-made their case in College Football's Week 14 action.
The two big questions were: 1) Would Florida win big and protect its No. 4 BCS ranking? and 2) Would a statement victory by No. 3-ranked Oklahoma lift the Sooners over No. 2-ranked Texas and into a Big 12 Championship game with Missouri?
Texas, which had beaten Oklahoma 45-35 earlier in the season at a neutral site, polished off the unranked 4-8 Texas A&M Aggies 49-9 at home to set the table. Unbeaten Alabama then registered its 12th straight victory at home by shutting out unranked Auburn 36-0 to retain its No. 1-ranking and possible date in the National Championship game. Florida followed suit on the road by taking apart No. 23-ranked (by AP) Florida 45-15.
Finally it was show time Saturday night and Oklahoma hit the road and performed on cue, turning back No. 11-ranked Oklahoma State 61-41. Last week Oklahoma routed then-No. 2 Texas Tech 65-21. Saturday's victory over its in-state rival was its 4th consecutive 60-point-plus win. The Sooners' Sam Bradford completed 30-of-44 passes for 370 yards and 4 touchdowns and then added another score on a 1-yard run.
Oklahoma needed to make up a minuscule eight-thousandths of a point to Texas in the BCS Standings to earn a spot against Missouri. When the new BCS Standings were released Sunday afternoon, Oklahoma was ecstatic, leapfrogging over Texas to claim the No. 2 spot with Texas No. 3 and Florida No. 4.
And now the final drama in Week 15 begins. No. 1 Alabama travels to Gainesville to face the No. 2 Florida Gators for the SEC Championship (AP Top 25 Poll rankings), and No. 19 Missouri travels to Norman to challenge No. 4 Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship.
The Oklahoma-Missouri contest was damaged big time as Missouri suffered a pathetic loss to unranked Kansas, 40-37, over the weekend, leaving the Tigers with a 9-3 record and looking really woeful next to the South Division's 11-1 Texas, 11-1 Texas Tech and 9-3 Oklahoma State, all better teams that wanted to be in the Big 12 showdown.
Should Florida beat Alabama and Oklahoma beat Missouri, as most pundits think will happen, then Florida would meet Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship Game. Should Alabama beat Florida and Oklahoma beat Missouri, then it would be Alabama and Oklahoma. Should either Florida or Alabama win and Missouri upset Oklahoma, then Texas would face Florida or Alabama.
The regular season has now ended for the AP's No. 3 Texas, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Utah, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 14 TCU, No. 19 Brigham Young (BYU), No. 20 Northwestern and No. 21 Michigan State. All of these teams will play in a bowl game somewhere.
Other AP Top 25 teams that won this weekend included No. 5 Southern California at home over Notre Dame 38-3, No. 7 Texas Tech at home over Baylor 35-28, No. 9 Boise State at home over Fresno State 61-10, No. 15 Ball State at home over Western Michigan 45-22, and No. 16 Cincinnati at home over Syracuse 30-10.
No. 18 Georgia Tech on the road upsetting in-state rival No. 13 Georgia 45-42 in a barn burner, No. 19 Oregon on the road over No. 17 Oregon State, 65-38, knocking the Beavers out of a possible Rose Bowl appearance, No. 20 Boston College at home over Maryland 28-21, and No. 25 Mississippi at home shutting out in-state rival Mississippi State, 45-0.
Other games that caught my attention were Pittsburgh sneaking by West Virginia 19-15 to give the Panthers their 8th win of the season, Buffalo dropping an unnecessary loss to Kent State 24-21, Eastern Michigan (3-9) upsetting Central Michigan (8-4), 56-52 in a sad display of defense, Arkansas slipping by LSU 31-30, Rice working hard to outlast Houston 56-42 in another shameful display of little defense on either side, and 6-6 Florida Atlantic beating 4-7 Florida International in overtime, 57-50, in a game where no defense was played.
Other huge games this Saturday include No. 18 Boston College traveling to unranked Virginia Tech with the Atlantic Coast winner earning the title an automatic bid to a BCS game. No. 8 Penn State, the Big Ten champion, appears headed to the BCS Rose Bowl.
East Carolina and Tulsa will face off for the Conference USA title. Unbeaten No. 12 Ball State (12-0) tangles with Buffalo for the Mid-American Championship. No. 7 Utah won the Mountain West Championship and will probably get a BCS bowl spot. No. 5 Southern Cal needs to beat UCLA to wrap up a Pac 10 title and automatic BCS bowl bid for the 7th consecutive year.
Elsewhere, Arkansas State and Troy battle it out for the Sun Belt title, and unbeaten No. 9 Boise State (12-0) has already won the Western Athletic Championship but will likely not get a BCS bowl bid.
Following Saturday's action, bowl officials will move in like a hot knife through butter to determine bowl bids and set the stage for Bowl Mania during the holidays to cap this year's college football season.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
Read my other detailed, knowledgeable, interesting articles on 2008 college football, including:
"College Football - Week 13 - Fantasy Season at Texas Tech Is Over, Oklahoma Kills the Dream, 65-21"
"College Football - Week 11 - Only 5 Unbeaten Teams Left, Iowa Ends Penn State's BCS Title Hopes"
"College Football - Week 10 - In Just Two Years Nick Saban Has the Crimson Tide No. 1 in the Nation"
"College Football - Week 9 - Texas Handles Unbeaten Oklahoma State, and Penn State Whips Ohio State"
"College Football - Week 7 - Only 10 Undefeated Teams Remain - Oklahoma, Missouri and LSU All Lose"
"College Football - Week 5 - 9 AP Top 25 Teams Lose, 6 to Unranked Teams, No. 1 USC, No. 3 Georgia & No. 4 Florida All Lose"
"College Football - Week 4 - 14 Teams Suffer Their First Defeat - Auburn, East Carolina, Oregon & Florida State All Lose"
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