What a weekend this was in college football! Some things we learned about some teams: 1) Georgia still cannot overcome their demons with Florida (going 0 for 13 on 3rd down is not going to beat anyone). 2) Nobody gives Notre Dame a tougher time than fellow Catholic school, BC & it might be a good idea for the Irish to burn those horrid green jerseys. 3) Miami is really sleepwalking right now. It is time for the Hurricanes to wake up. 4) Oklahoma is damn impressive. I would not want to bet against them. 5) Texas and Washington State were the big winners of all the upsets as each one of them won huge games. My Top 5 is: 1) Oklahoma - just a better team than Miami right now. That last game of the season against Oklahoma State may be the toughest and then of course another meeting against Colorado (probably) in the Big 12 Championship Game. 2) Miami - have not played well or like they can the last 3 games. They still have the talent to win it all but with games against Tennessee, Pitt, and Virginia Tech left, they could lose any of those games, especially if they play like they did against Rutgers today. 3) Ohio State - was very impressive against Minnesota despite Clarett not playing. They have 2 easy ones coming up with Illinois and Purdue before taking on their bugaboo in Michigan. 4) Texas - amazing what happens when 3 undefeated teams lose, showed a lot of guts in winning at Lincoln (what in the hell was Lord thinking when he threw that pass at the end?) 5) Washington State - beat one of the hottest teams in the country in ASU and did it going away....enuff said. As of right now, I don't see Miami or anyone else beating OU. Miami may not even make it to Tempe. It should get even more interesting if only 1 team is left that is undefeated (probably OU).
I think the clear top 3 are: OU Miami Ohio State then Texas, Iowa, and Washington State are the next 3, but I'm not sure which order. It's going to suck for Iowa if they go undefeated in the Big 10 and don't even get a BCS bowl due to OSU also going undefeated. That's reason #1 why the Big 12 and SEC should never, ever eliminate their championship games. There's no reason Iowa should be denied a Big-10 championship because of ridiculous things like non-conference record or, even worse, "last time to go to the Rose Bowl" or whatever crazy stuff they use as tiebreakers in the Big 10.
Between you and me, I think UT and NU would whip OSU. OU is full of inangibles. Their offense is average, but they pick their spots.
I saw on ESPN that they were predicting that OSU goes to #2 in the BCS. I don't understand how. I know they are expecting Miami to fall in the polls to #2, but I don't think that is enough to cause OSU to go ahead Miami. Right now if OU played OSU, it would be OU 35, OSU 14. Also, if Miami played OSU, it would be Miami 42, OSU 28. Looks like I better start hoping for a Michigan win.
Manny, they said that OSU may jump to 2 because of quality win points coming from their win over WSU.
Holden, You make no sense. The longhorns before the weekend were the best one loss team in the country. In fact, in my opinion we have been the 3rd best team in the country all along-because in my opinion OSU is highly overrated and Va Tech is too one dimensional, but still good. And what have we done not to deserve our ranking? We beat Nebraska and Kansas State on the road, Iowa State at home, hung on vs a solid Ok State team at home and played a tough game vs OU, which we easily could've won. We are 8-1, after a very tough schedule, so I think we are well worth our ranking.
So you think Miami would score the same amount of points against Ohio State that they scored against Rutgers, even though they'd be facing one of the best defenses in the country, and you think Ohio State would score 28 points against the best defense they'd have faced all season long...? Have you actually watched many OSU games this year...? I know it's only speculation, but I don't see OSU getting involved in many combined 70-point shootouts with their defense and the tack they take offensively. If Miami and OSU played, I would have to go with my head and say Miami 23, OSU 7. I don't see OSU scoring double-digit points on either Miami or OU.
Oh, and as for Iowa, **** Iowa. Ohio State hasn't won an outright Big Ten championship since 1984 and they won't get a chance to win one this year since Iowa's not on the schedule. OSU has had to share conference titles (and has lost out in bowl seeding thanks to the Big Ten's YMCA let's-everyone-share rules) with inferior teams twice since then. So I have no sympathy.
I saw on ESPN that they were predicting that OSU goes to #2 in the BCS. I don't understand how. I know they are expecting Miami to fall in the polls to #2, but I don't think that is enough to cause OSU to go ahead Miami. Right now if OU played OSU, it would be OU 35, OSU 14. Also, if Miami played OSU, it would be Miami 42, OSU 28. VaTech, Georgia, etc losing hurt Miami. That drags OSU closer in both the polls and the computer rankings. Plus, their "bonus points" (which were ironically added to correct the Miami issue in 2000) may jump them over Miami. Miami really needed to beat an undefeated VaTech team so they could get bonus points. Now, beating VaTech may drop them out of the top 10 which would cost Miami the bonus points. Miami's schedule is a bit tougher with both Pitt and VaTech, so that may be enough to jump them. Or, the pollsters might push Miami back to #1 to get the matchup they want (like they tried for Colorado last year). Who's knows, but controversy is great
Oh, and as for Iowa, **** Iowa. Ohio State hasn't won an outright Big Ten championship since 1984 and they won't get a chance to win one this year since Iowa's not on the schedule. OSU has had to share conference titles (and has lost out in bowl seeding thanks to the Big Ten's YMCA let's-everyone-share rules) with inferior teams twice since then. So I have no sympathy. True, but that's not the Iowa players' fault, and they are the ones getting screwed. It will suck if they end up 8-0 in the Big10 and go to the Citrus Bowl or some such nonsense. As much as I would love for Texas to make a BCS bowl, I think the Rose Bowl would (and should) take Iowa if OSU is picked by the Fiesta Bowl.
Brian, I have watched Ohio State play some this year, mainly when they played Wisconsin. I just threw out a score at random, but please be aware that I do a sucky job of predicting scores. I think that Miami's defense this season has been susceptible to giving up big plays, which is why I said 28. However, to be more simplistic, I think that if OU played Ohio State right now, OU wins by 21. If Miami played Ohio State right now, Miami wins by 14. People have to remember that Miami has a bullseye on their back right now. Every team they play is going to try to play their best game of the season so they can be the ones to end the streak. Plus I think Miami, because they have some young guys, have been playing down to their competition (something that was obvious yesterday). With that being said, I think that OU is better right now and should be ranked #1 in the polls. However, if Miami wins out and is 12-0, they should be in the Fiesta Bowl. But this is what college football loves...controversy. And it's not like Ohio State plays in a conference like the MAC or Conference USA, the Big 10 is considered a top-notch conference (although I think it is not as strong as it used to be). Oh and OSU not playing Iowa really sucks. The Big 10 needs to get another team, preferably Notre Dame, to make 12 teams and split into divisions like the Big 12 and the SEC and have a Championship Game. But I will say it again...I am confident that everything will work out and that Miami, assuming they win out, will be in the NC Game. So as Frank Costanza would say "Serenity Now."
