The only thing we do know, is that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be playing in the BCS National Championship game in Miami six weeks from now. The rest? Hard to say, but there’s an almost definite chance that the winner of the SEC championship game between Georgia and Alabama will be the team to join them in the battle for the title.
The rest of the hopefuls – Oregon (beating Oregon State), Florida (beating Florida State) and even LSU who didn’t impress in their division game against Arkansas, will have to settle for BCS Bowl games at best. Oregon’s only loss came against a highly ranked Stanford, which should give them the edge over Georgia if both schools go on to win their conferences, at least in the minds of the voters, but it won’t help. SEC isn’t loved around the country, but wins vs SEC teams are worth more in the minds of the poll takers than in any other conference.
Notre Dame were the biggest winners of the week. Heading into USC to close out the season against a rival they haven’t beaten much in recent years. A fast start was the end of the game. No high powered Trojans offense, nothing even close, especially with Matt Barkley not playing. The Fighting Irish steamrolled through a vicious schedule and don’t need a conference championship game to earn the top spot. They are probably the least impressive offensive team among the top 9-10 schools in the country, but there’s more to this team than flash, touchdowns and Heisman winners.
The way the cards were held out heading into Saturday, Georgia and Alabama had everything to lose going into their rivalry games vs Georgia Tech and Auburn respectively.
Famous rivalries, fierce. The Iron Bowl was sad, pathetic. Auburn couldn’t put a single point on the board, finishing with only 163 yards and turning the ball over three times. If nine loss seasons are unacceptable at Auburn, what will Gene Chizik use to defend getting shutout in the Iron Bowl and the school’s worst loss against the Tide since 1948?
It wasn’t much different in Athens. Georgia had a 42-3 lead when the fourth quarter began, before they eased off a team that looked helpless, and will still play in the ACC championship game. World’s away some conferences are, and all the rivalry and hate in the world couldn’t make this game close, as the Yellow Jackets had no answer to Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall.
One team that deserves praise despite ending their season? Ohio State, gaining back dominance in their rivalry with Michigan and more for finishing the season with a 12-0 record. I wonder what the polls will say about that if no team has an undefeated record when it’s all said and done. Will the AP hand the national title to someone who isn’t the winner of the BCS championship game?