(7) Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. (10) Xavier Musketeers

Notre Dame appeared to be in big trouble in the early going of this season after their only returning starter Tim Abromaitis suffered a torn ACL which ended his season just two games in. Luckily for the Fighting Irish other players were able to step up and Notre Dame continued to be a force throughout the course of the season. Jack Cooley has been magnificent leading the team in scoring with 12.4 PPG and rebounding with 9.0 RPG. Notre Dame also gets major contributions from guards Jerian Grant and Eric Atkins. Both average over twelve points and four assists a game. Notre Dame does have areas to be concerned about. Only six of their wins have come on the road or at a neutral site, and that includes the Big East tournament game that was gifted to them by USF. They also have proven they can lose to anybody with bad losses to Rutgers, St. Johns, Maryland, and Georgia.

Xavier looked as if they could be an elite team in the country during the early portion of their 2011-2012 campaign. The Musketeers started off 8-0 but after a physical altercation at the end of a win against the Cincinnati Bearcats they just weren’t the same. Despite having a somewhat disappointing season in conference the Musketeers looked crisp in the A10 Tournament. With tournament wins against formidable opponents Dayton and Saint Louis they proved they are back to form and are an undesirable opponent in the NCAA tournament. Xavier has an excellent backcourt in Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons. Holloway averages 17 PPG along with 5.1 APG while Lyons puts up 15.5 PPG and 2.7 APG. The Musketeers average just 63 points a game so if you can keep Holloway and Lyons in check they don’t have any other dominant scoring threats. Xavier shoots the ball well from 3 and defends the perimeter just as well so if the Musketeers are going to win look for the play from the perimeter to be the reason. Xavier is very deep with 10 players averaging over 10 minutes played a game, a welcomed advantage for the Musketeers who face off against a Notre Dame 8 man rotation.

The Pick: Notre Dame- 66 Xavier- 62

The Fighting Irish have proven they can go toe to toe with top competition acquiring seven wins against RPI top 50 teams. Look for Cooley to be a problem for Xavier, and the Irish to win the battle of the big men. Xavier’s back court will put up good numbers but be contained enough for the Irish to pull out a close one.

Deividas Dulky's greets FSU fans with the ACC Championship Trophy

Move over Tobacco Road, the football-crazed coeds from Tallahassee are becoming an ACC juggernaut in a sport that doesn’t involve an oblong-shaped ball. Defeating Miami, Duke, and North Carolina, Florida State capped off the program’s best season in 19 years with the school’s first ACC Championship.

Going back to the beginning of the season, a trip to the tournament was looking bleak. Losing to two Ivy-League teams, an 18 point loss at Florida as well as a 20 point massacre at Clemson, the lowly ‘Noles looked like a fair-at-best NIT team. Following that Clemson debacle, Bernard James called out his teammates questioning their effort. It was at that moment that the Seminoles had a decision to make. Considering they would go on crush the Tar Heels by 33 points in Tallahassee and go on a 7 game winning streak; it worked.

Arriving back in Tallahassee late Monday to hundreds of fans celebrating their win, the ‘Noles are poised to make a deep run. With their self-proclaimed “Junkyard Defense” and an offense clicking on all cylinders, Florida State is a threat to each and every team in the tournament. In their matchup against 14th seeded St. Bonaventure (Friday 2:45pm, CBS) the ‘Noles are strong favorites. Having multiple big bodies to throw at Andrew Nicholson, the Bonnie’s big man and high scorer, Florida State will surely keep a physical presence inside along with the strong perimeter shooting from the ACC’s Most Valuable Player Michael Snaer as well as guards Deividas Dulkys and Luke Loucks.

While Florida State alongside Leonard Hamilton has reached new heights through program-defining victories, the most important games are still ahead of them. All aboard the ‘Noles bandwagon!

With college football’s decision makers finally moving in the direction of a playoff – any playoff – the decision seems to be when, not if, the new format will begin.  These BCS Executives will review dozens of potential plus one models in attempts of finding the best way to crown major college football’s national champion while ensuring the following:  first, the most exciting, and meaningful, regular season in all of sports is not harmed.  Second, we never again see a rematch of two teams from the same division of the same conference in the BCS Championship Game without other teams having a fair shot.  (By the way, I’ll also formally state the requirement to protect the student athlete, avoid conflicts with exams and avoid lengthening the season.  Since I firmly believe TV revenue trumps any of these requirements, as evidenced by mid-December bowl games, a twelve game regular season and a BCS Championship Game on January 10, we’ll leave these requirements in the background)

Let me be clear here – I believe Alabama and LSU were the two best teams in the country during the 2011 season.  However, I also understand the national perception of the Southeastern Conference and its dominance in the sport over the last several years.  The last thing the masses wanted was a ’Bama/LSU rematch and those individuals made it known through the viewership, or lack thereof.

Assuming a plus one format will be the final outcome and no future “bracket creep” will occur to move towards 6, 8, or 16 teams in the post season, the regular season shouldn’t be harmed.  Likewise, a plus one would provide one more significant challenge for the top two teams and if the Crimson Tide had beaten Stanford or Oklahoma State for the opportunity to play LSU the outcry would have been significantly reduced.

The bigger long term issue, however, is the impact on fans and bowl game attendance.  The thought process has long been to include the BCS bowl games into the playoff rotation using two as semi-final sites and one as the Championship Game site.  Many have pointed to this being an important step in keeping the major bowls a part of college football.  However, let’s look at the economics of this option and conduct a quick case study from the 2010 post season.

The 2010 BCS Championship Game in Glendale, AZ matched Auburn against Oregon.  According to seatgeek.com, the average ticket price for this game was $842.31.  However, with a plus one model, Auburn would have played BCS #4 Stanford while Oregon would have played BCS #3 TCU.  This would mean each game would occur at another BCS site, say, the Rose and Sugar Bowls.  Seatgeek.com shows the 2010 average ticket prices for these two games as $392.50 and $296.16, respectively.  You could also argue these ticket prices would be significantly higher when turned into national semi-finals.

The point being that two of these four teams would not only need to pay ticket and travel costs for one bowl site, including air fare, hotel, food, spending money, etc., but would then need to do so again one to two weeks later to a different destination city.  Sooner or later the economics will force the fans of the favored teams to skip the semis and save their money for the big game.  We’ve already seen this occur when fans skip the conference championship games instead opting to spend money for the bowl game.  The SEC is the only conference to consistently sell out the conference championship game to date.  The Big Ten is just getting started and the PAC 12 will not have this issue on campus.  It’s only a matter of time before the plus one games look like this year’s Orange Bowl in the stands.

This all brings us back to the guys who have it right – the Big Ten.  Jim Delany proposed the plus one games be played on the campuses of the higher ranking teams.  Many may think this was posturing on his part to give his conference members a much needed advantage over the SEC due to the cold climates, and that may be.  I feel it is Delany’s understanding of the economics of such a set up that led to this proposal.  Think about it this way – you can still have title sponsors to fork over millions for games of this magnitude, the atmospheres would be second to none given what’s at stake and, most importantly, you don’t have to split ticket revenue with a “Non-profit” (wink, wink) for the opportunity to play the game.  Throw in the option of bidding out the title game to Indy, Dallas, etc. and you have a monster money maker while meeting all other objectives (see above, but remember to ignore the student athlete stuff).

The Big Ten may have fallen out of the elite recently on the field but the group still is very much out front otherwise.

As another unpredictable NCAA basketball season draws closer to the start of conference tournaments and March Madness teams are trying to stay sharp in order to pursue their journey of punching that ticket into the tournament.  There are Bracket-Busters all around as we have seen many ranked teams lose to unranked and some say unworthy teams. 

 Teams like #16 ranked Florida State looked as though they might have a chance at the ACC regular season title which would have been a first in a long time due to North Carolina and Duke being so successful. Lately that vision has faltered since the Noles have lost their last 2 games against Duke and Miami FL.  Then there are teams like Kansas and Mizzou that are jockeying for position not only in their conference but also in the national rankings for a possible number 1 seed in the tournament as the final games to these two teams are very crucial in order to maintain good position in the rankings heading into conference tournament time.  Then there are the sleepers who never seem to disappoint as there is always a cinderella story to be made of March Madness.  Teams like the Miami FL Hurricanes who as of recently were on Joe Lunardi’s first 4 teams OUT of the tournament and now with some late quality wins under their belt have fallen back into his good graces and are definitely in the Bubble Watch fighting for a at large spot in the tournament. 

Who knows what will come out of March Madness this year, all that can be said is there will be mayhem.  Another unwritten story will be told and another champion will be crowned.  We as fans can only watch the excitement that comes with this favorite time of year for a lot of fans so sit back and enjoy the ride and buckle your seatbelts because ladies and gentlemen it is going to be a blast.

The final scheduled Boarder War showdown again lived up to hype, as the two seemingly evenly matched teams of Mizzou and Kansas battle for one last time (as of now) in AFH.

The two squads traded baskets early, and the first 14 or so minutes of the first half was virtually deadlocked. Then, Mizzou went on a 16-2 run with Jeff Withey and Thomas Robinson strapped with two fouls each.

Now with a comfortable lead and momentum, Mizzou raced out to another run early in the second half and was able to briefly push the lead to 19 after a Marcus Denmon three. However for Mizzou that point in the game was their apex.

After the three Bill Self substituted in Kevin Young and Conner Tehan and with the help those two bench players, Kansas began to chip at the lead. A Tehan three, a Kevin Young dunk, a Tehan three, a Kevin Young hustle rebound; plays were starting to be made and the home crowd started to again roar at a feverish pitch.

A helpful facet to the Kansas run was the inability for Mizzou to score a field goal for about seven minutes. Now in foul trouble themselves, the seemingly once dominant MIzzou Tigers were now becoming less aggressive to the rim and settling for ill-advised threes.

Despite the run, Mizzou was still in great position to win the game. Up three with the ball  and a minute left in regulation a good possession in all likely hood ends any chance of a Kansas win. However the Tigers were unable to once again get to the bucket and settled for another bad shot.

On the next possession Kansas was able to execute and got an “and 1” from Thomas Robinson. The final Mizzou possession ended in a block by Robinson of guard Flip Pressey as time ran out.

NPOY canidate Thomas Robinson driving on Mizzou defender Matt Pressey

In the overtime period Kansas jumped to a 5 point lead and the Tigers were now the ones on their heels. Despondent but not discouraged, Denmon singlehandedly kept Mizzou from crumbling under the pressure by hitting two crucial answer shots that actually gave the Tigers the lead going into Kansas final possession.

After a Denmon one-handed fade away over Thomas Robinson, Tyshawn Taylor was able to race down the court and draw a foul (albeit very suspect) call on Flip Pressey with about 8 seconds left. After two clutch free throws Mizzou’s Michael Dixon “mis-ran” a play and Mizzou was unable to get the final shot off in time.

In perhaps the greatest Boarder War game in the history of the storied rivalry, Kansas was able to valiantly fight back. The game featured clutch play after clutch play and by far set itself apart from any other game that day, maybe this year for that matter. It is a shame that this might be the last time we see these two teams in AFH or Mizzou arena and it is a shame that this game couldn’t be played every night.

Here’s for a Boarder War rubber match in KC.

As the college basketball season moves closer and closer towards the NCAA Tournament, Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans continue to look more and more like a Final Four contender.  After a disappointing season a year ago, when the Spartans failed to live up to their preseason #2 ranking, this year’s squad has bought into the philosophy of their head coach.  Leading the way is their senior leader Draymond Green.

MSU's Leaders

Green is coming off his second straight Big Ten Player of the Week award after a 20 point, 10 rebound and 7 assist performance in MSU’s 76-62 win at Purdue on Sunday.  It was Green’s fifth game this season of at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.  No other player in the country has more than two.  Green has become the leader for Big Ten Player of the Year; an award many assumed was Jared Sullinger’s to lose.  His numbers are impressive, but his intangibles are where he is drawing comparisons to some of MSU’s all-time greats.  “Day Day” as he is known is being called the Spartans best leader since Mateen Cleaves led Michigan State to a National Championship in 2000.

Surrounding Green is a relatively young group, who has followed the lead of their senior captain and their head coach.  Coming into the season unranked, MSU has played their way into a top 10 ranking with tough defense, rebounding and a balanced scoring attack.  Michigan State is once again in the top 3 nationally in rebound differential, a staple of Tom Izzo coached teams.  MSU has held its last nine opponents under 70 points and teams are shooting just 37.1% against the Spartans this year.

After their wins over Wisconsin and Purdue last week Michigan State sits atop the Big Ten standings with four games left in the regular season.  MSU has a one game lead on Ohio St and rival Michigan, with a showdown against the Buckeyes in East Lansing looming on the last day of the regular season.  If the Spartans can take care of business down the stretch they will be in the conversation for a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Tom Izzo has said this has been one of his favorite years coaching so far.  Draymond Green said that this team is better than his freshman team that went all the way to the NCAA Title Game before losing to North Carolina.  A season that started with minimal expectations has changed into one where people in East Lansing and across the country are thinking the Spartans are on their way to yet another Final Four appearance.

Michigan State will go as far as Green takes them but he is going to have to keep getting solid contributions from his teammates.  Sophomore point guard Keith Appling has had an up and down season offensively and has struggled with his jump shot as of late.  However Appling has continued to play solid defense and has shown the ability to get to the basket when his jumper isn’t falling.

McDonalds All American Branden Dawson has started to show people why he was so highly touted coming out of high school.  Dawson had an electrifying windmill dunk in the win over Purdue Sunday afternoon and has become a factor on the offensive glass.  Down low the Spartans have a nice rotation with Adrien Payne and Derrick Nix who have provided interior scoring and rebounding along with tough physical defense.

Branden Dawson throws one down on Purdue

Michigan State seems to have the necessary pieces to make another deep NCAA tournament run and that is before you remember that Tom Izzo is one of the best quick turnaround game plan coaches in the history of college basketball.  The Spartans have only lost the second game of a weekend tournament game twice since Izzo took the reins.  Combine that with a tournament tested team that boasts the 3^rd toughest schedule in the NCAA and it’s no surprise that people are thinking the Spartans will be headed to New Orleans.

The season is far from over, and Ohio St will have another shot at the Spartans, who also must travel to Bloomington to take on Izzo protégé Tom Crean and the Hoosiers next week.  However it sure seems like this MSU squad is hungry, and Draymond Green has been playing like a man possessed lately, and I suspect that a Big Ten title means a lot to him.  And I know one thing…never bet against Izzo when the calendar turns to March.

Now that the regular/conference season is finally, mercifully over; we bring you our last power rankings before the national title game. I’m going to go ahead and kill the suspense right now, regardless of what transpires in the bowls we’ll still have the same teams in the top two, just maybe in a different order. And yes, that typifies the monotony of this season. Anyway, for the sake of brevity we’re cutting our rankings down to fifteen so as to avoid the superfluous. You’re undoubtedly devastated, I’m sure.

No time for extended yammering this week, onto the rankings.

1) LSU
This does mean I think they’ll win, and given they’re the first team to ever have a perfect BCS rating means they kind of earn the spot here by default.

2) Alabama
So the BCS picked the two right teams. Based on any metric they’re at least the second best team in the country, but set aside any of that, they simply pass the eye test. I haven’t watched Alabama in any of their games and questioned if they were actually the better team (and that includes the LSU loss), can’t say the same for Oklahoma State.

3) Oregon
The win over UCLA wasn’t exactly impressive, but really their defense is a wash with Oklahoma State’s (I’d probably give a slight edge to the Ducks) and Oregon is simply a more efficient offense. This has been stated here, but I don’t fault a team for injuries and playing a tougher schedule. That’s for seemingly everyone else.

4) Oklahoma State
I admit I undervalued this team, but they’re non-conference schedule and some of their conference wins are entirely too close for me to honestly think they could hang with LSU. If they played them ten times, Oklahoma State might win two of them, where as Bama might win anywhere from 4-6.

5) Boise State
Chris Peterson is right, that the BCS needs a radical overhaul. But it isn’t because his team missed the national title game so much as his team went from the national title game to playing a .500 Pac-12 team on December 22^nd. As if I needed more incentive to root against Virginia Tech. I’m not going to watch the game, mind you (which wouldn’t be the case if Boise made the at-large), but while I’m doing whatever else it is I while be doing while the Sugar Bowl is being played, I’ll totally be hoping for a Michigan blowout.

6) Wisconsin
Yep, still on the bandwagon. Though I’m not exactly optimistic about their chances on New Year’s Day. So I guess we’re off it once the new year starts.

7) Stanford
Staying in Northern/Central California, this team reminds me of the Sacramento Kings from the early aughts, who could destroy a team like the Warriors by 30 in January, but struggled mightily with the better teams in the league (except for one year, 2003, in which they still lost the Western Conference Finals). Stanford is similar, and even in their one reputable win this season (USC), the Cardinal still needed triple overtime and 58 points. The Pac-10 has had a tendency to surprise people in bowl games, and I imagine the same will be true for the Pac-12. But I’d still bet the farm on Oklahoma State to cover.

Arkansas
It’s tough to gain notoriety when you share not only a conference, but a division with the two best teams in the country and play no one of substance outside of it. Still, they’re clearly a good team and if college football’s post-season were formatted the same way as the NBA, the Razorbacks would be a 4 seed that may or may not win a first round series. Instead, they have the privilege of toiling away in the Cotton Bowl, the least prestigious of all the prestigious bowls.

9) South Carolina
Beating Georgia and soundly stomping Clemson a week before they did the same to Virginia Tech are the only real relevant wins on South Carolina’s resume. I mean, every win is relevant, but with the exception of Arkansas no other wins were expected to be losses. So, I guess it was a good season for the Gamecocks, even if it mostly existed in a vacuum.

10) Georgia
Georgia’s season was much like South Carolina’s, with a few brighter spots. One, they also beat their ACC rival. Two, they have a rivalry with Florida that South Carolina simply doesn’t have an equivalent for. Lastly, they actually made the SEC title game and were competitive for a half before turning into fodder for how excellent LSU is. In short, their increased profile is exclusively superficial. Also, this is why people say the SEC is in a “down year”: while Georgia was a heavy favorite last year against MSU, this season they’re basically a coin flip.

11) Kansas State
So this team has two losses (one of which was only by a touchdown to the same team everyone is outraged didn’t get into the national title game) and no Heisman candidates; yet Baylor has three and the Heisman favorite, guess who’s a bigger national story. I’d say they’re about to be trounced in the Cotton Bowl, but I said that for a lot of their games towards the end of the season, and it was only true for one of them.

12) Clemson
So I thought the ACC was having a great year, then Clemson lost to South Carolina and Georgia Tech lost to Georgia, then Clemson managed to crush Virginia Tech for the second time this year. In other words, the ACC is decidedly not having a great year.

13) Baylor
A bowl game against Washington on December 29th seems kind of anticlimactic for the season Robert Griffin has just had, but it’s all relative. A bad Oklahoma season (which Baylor’s current season is) is a great season for the Bears. Not to mention a likely Heisman trophy, which to the best of my knowledge will be the school’s first. They’ll have just as many as Alabama assuming their isn’t a late push for Luck.

14) Michigan
Luckily, Michigan should have a decent shot at beating Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. They’ll certainly travel well, and a BCS win in addition to breaking Ohio State’s losing streak is more than anyone could have expected in the first year under Brady Hoke, even if they’ve been totally trumped by Urban Meyer.

15) Virginia Tech
To give you an idea of how unimpressive most everyone is this season, the Hokies have played three games against ranked teams (two of which were against Clemson) and lost 66% of them (both to Clemson). And the third was against a hot and cold, comparatively talentless Georgia Tech team that they beat by eleven. Their second best win was arguably against Arkansas State, and yet they’re still ranked in the top 15 in most polls. Yeah, mentally we’ve already moved onto collegiate basketball.

We’ve sort of been dancing around this all season, but writing out these rankings has been mostly a drag, if only because the top seed has been self-identified since November 5^th, and even before then it was one of two teams (LSU or Alabama) that were eventually going to play. For the majority of the season, after the top two teams everything has been arbitrary and every team that had an opportunity to keep the title game selections interesting has failed along the way (I speak primarily of Oklahoma State, Oregon, Stanford, Boise State, Wisconsin & Oklahoma).

As a result, we are getting the two actual best teams in the country, but it’s a rematch between two teams separated by no further than five hours along I-59. So while the ratings were high for their 1-2 showdown earlier this month, no one bears much interest in seeing an encore. And yet, as a cherry on top of the ho-hum sundae, there isn’t a better alternative.

After what Oregon did to Stanford and LSU did to Oregon, there isn’t any reason to think Stanford could hang with the Tigers in New Orleans. The only team with a legitimate gripe is Oklahoma State (sorry all one-loss or better mid-majors), and even then no objective observer would suggest Oklahoma State has a better collection of wins or a better loss than Alabama.

So let’s sit back, enjoy “Championship Week” then the subsequent onslaught of interchangeable bowl games and lament the lack of a playoff. It will be just like every other bowl season, but with a relatively disappointing conclusion.

1) LSU
I mean, no explanation needed, right? Here’s hoping they lose to Georgia and still reach the national title game. The best we can hope for in regards to BCS pandemonium at this point would be only one SEC team making it to New Orleans.

2) Alabama
The biggest problem with this college football season was it felt like with the exception of LSU-Alabama and at least one loss from everyone else, every other game was completely irrelevant to the national picture. Alabama’s and LSU’s win on Saturday just personified that.

3) Oregon
Because there isn’t any real justification for whoever you put in this position, but I feel like if they were to play a best of three on a neutral field against any other team in the country, Oregon would walk away triumphant. Mind you, this team is woefully under-developed on defense. And it’s the third best team. In the country.

4) Boise State
I’m looking forward to this team being forced to replace Kellen Moore, then we can all go back to not including them in national title conversations. I’d feel differently if at least once in these last two years they hadn’t disappointed everyone who roots for the BCS looking ridiculous. While it might be cliché, I do consider myself to be amongst the legions.

5) Wisconsin
Yet another team that you never want to be too hopeful for, but no one is all that impressive so they’re still in the top five, just so we can justify our earlier rankings.

6) Stanford
Being Notre Dame at home is impressive and whatnot, but they all played one team all season with any sort of athletic depth (though I may not be doing USC justice), and they were stomped pretty handily. I guess I’m just missing the evidence that if they played any team in front of them that they would actually win.

7) Oklahoma State
I’m actually looking forward to their game next weekend. It will be the first time in awhile anyone outside of Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas or Iowa could say that.

Oklahoma
I guess this means I’m picking them to win, and while I’m looking forward to the game it’s partly because neither team is all that confidence inspiring. And yet they’re ranked 7^th & 8^th here, and higher most everywhere else.

9)Arkansas
Look, no one, including yours truly, actually thought they were one of the three best teams in the country, but with only one loss with a pretty respectable resume, there wasn’t any reason to rank them lower than third with only the one loss to Alabama. And in the offset chance they actually beat LSU, it would be great for generating controversy. It didn’t happen, but still, everyone wanted it too.

10) Georgia
Good luck on Sunday, Bulldogs. No one will be watching outside of the SEC region, of course, because this game has somehow been rendered meaningless, which seems almost impossible given how much has been on the line three years. But you may get some fourth quarter viewers if you can keep it within ten points. There’s a feather in your cap.

11) USC
That whole probation thing is a shame, even more so when you consider that everyone even tangentially responsible for it has left the program. Either way, it will be a great last week of the season when they play Oregon in the Pac-12 championship every year from 2012 on-out. Assuming neither of them are placed on probation (again).

12) Virginia Tech
I didn’t watch enough of Clemson-Virginia Tech to determine if the Hokies will be able to exact any revenge on their loss to the Tigers back in October, or if the Tigers were simply that much better. Either way, this has actually been a quality season in the ACC, about the only conference experiencing an upswing in entertainment value from 2010. Admittedly the bar was set ridiculously low, but it was for the Big East as well, and, uh, Louisville is going to be representing them in the BCS, and they lost to Florida International.

13) South Carolina
And the SEC prevails yet again in one of their out of conference rivalries. At least Florida lost.

14) Michigan State
I fully expect them to lose to Wisconsin in Indianapolis on Saturday (note to Big Ten officials: I know it’s cold by Lake Michigan in early December and Soldier field lacks a dome, but just put the game in Chicago), but I would prefer it if they didn’t. The loser here probably plays Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl, while the winner goes on to play Oregon in the Rose. Both will lose to Oregon, only MSU loses to Arkansas. As a Big Ten supporter by Buckeye association, I’d rather go 1-1 than 2-0. Here’s hoping Michigan doesn’t make the BCS and if they do, they draw Houston. *Now worries the Big Ten losing a BCS game to Houston*

15) Michigan
Wolverines fans have to be somewhat upset after beating Ohio State for the first time since 2003. For starters, OSU hired Urban Meyer two days later, giving us a higher profile coach and hope to not only seal off their recruiting pipeline to Ohio they’ve enjoyed for the past seven months, but also tipped the scale in our favors for at least the next three years. Additionally, OSU basketball is arguably the best in the country (probably third behind Kentucky & Syracuse), and just throttled Duke on Tuesday night. In short, as a Columbus resident, it’s like Saturday’s loss never happened. Kind of like OSU’s win in 2010.

16) Clemson
Wow, this is new for Clemson. I mean, they sort of choked away the season like always, but they still have a shot at the BCS and conference title on Saturday. I, for one, am rooting for them. The stranglehold Virginia Tech has had on the ACC is tiresome. It’s the same reason I root for anyone in the AFC that isn’t the Steelers, Colts, Ravens or Patriots.

17) Kansas State
Their win over Texas displayed a fairly competent defense, but it was two weeks ago and unlike most teams in the country, the Jayhawks managed to get Thanksgiving weekend off. I don’t know if this is an annual practice, but if they take a sabbatical every Thanksgiving, no wonder everyone hates them despite their relative anonymity.

18) Nebraska
To give you an idea of how non-applicable the transitive property is this year in the Big Ten, Nebraska beat Iowa last week 20-7, and the week before Michigan beat Nebraska 45-17, yet back in the first weekend in November, Iowa beat Michigan 24-16. It sounds intriguing but when everyone is so unreliable it’s mostly disappointing.

19) Baylor
It might sound condescending, but a bowl bid, a Heisman finalist & essentially an entire season in the top 25 is an amazing year for a school like Baylor, who’s a perennial bottom feeder in their conference. If they beat Texas on Saturday, like it seems everyone else in their conference has, Baylor might start seeking bids from the SEC. It’s better than anything Texas A&M has done this decade.

20) Houston
Still not buying, this is Georgia trouncing Hawaii in the 2008 (2007 season) Sugar Bowl all over again. They probably won’t play a team nearly as good as Georgia was that year though (see the #15 team on this page).

21) West Virginia
They’re not getting to the BCS, but I’m not putting Louisville or Cincinnati on this list. Unless we’re talking about Justified or George Clooney, that region is just as superfluous as it usually is in college football.

22) TCU
If it wasn’t for those meddling Cougars, TCU would be second in line behind a team they already beat to play in one of the nation’s marquee bowl games. The BCS, ladies and gentlemen.

23) Florida State
We’d like to acknowledge their win over Florida, but it really isn’t that big of a deal. We’ve come a long way from the late 90′s, just ask Oklahoma, USC, LSU, Alabama and damn near every team that we regard as a “top-flight program” now. In fact, just ask the entire SEC this side of Tennessee and Florida.

24) Notre Dame
Did anyone expect them to beat Stanford. I hate penalizing teams from week-to-week for doing exactly what we anticipated. Have fun at whatever bowl you land that you have no business playing in, based on your resume.

25) Northern Illinois
Because between Temple, Ohio, Toledo and the Huskies, the MAC hasn’t been bad this year, and we might as well commemorate all the Tuesday night entertainment with putting the presumed winner of the conference in our top-25.

Right now it’s all but certain that LSU is playing Alabama in the national title game, and really the only thing that can redeem this season is utter the bureaucratic chaos that the BCS embodies. I don’t want to speculate on how that will come about because there are so many scenarios, most of which are highly unlikely to actually come to fruition. But in a year mired in scandal, if there’s anything that can deter the memory of this season from tattoos (really, amazingly trivial tattoos, but still) and sex crimes and disgraced legacies and probationary periods, it would be a BCS blunder that results in more people complaining about the Title match-up than celebrating it. This might be an incredibly cynical perspective to behold, but I need some white noise from potentially Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, Fayetteville, Stillwater, Palo Alto & Boise to distract me from the many, many ills currently plaguing the sport I’ve loved since middle school.

Onto the rankings.

1) LSU
A lot of people have them pegged to lose on Friday for a couple of reasons. One of which is earned. 1) Les Miles, even with more talent than the rest of the country, always manages to lose a couple games he has no business losing. Even in 2007, when they were inarguably the best team in the country, they managed to lose two games (one of which was, yes, you guessed it, to Arkansas). And 2) Since everyone else has lost, it seems that LSU is on borrowed time. The latter is just silly, and this Arkansas team is extremely vulnerable (the team is worse than their current record). LSU always struggles with the Razorbacks (maybe it’s the short week?), and while we want an LSU loss on Friday as much as we’ve ever wanted anything, I’m picking LSU to finish the regular season undefeated.

2) Alabama
It’s been said a million times already this morning, but Alabama is actually in a better position to make the national title game than LSU, simply because they won’t have to play in the SEC title game. Is it worth missing out on the national title game for a chance to win your conference? These are the questions you have to ask yourself with a bowl system.

3) Arkansas
It’s kind of embarrassing that the SEC now has the top three teams in the country, and this is regarded as a “down” year for the conference, but Arkansas really backed into the spot. Right now their best win is against a Marcus Lattimore-less South Carolina. They’ll earn the 3-seed if they win on Friday, with “earn” being the operative word, as they probably won’t move up in the rankings assuming Alabama beats Auburn.

4) Stanford
To give you an idea of how this season has gone, I have a better impression of this Stanford team now than I did before the Oregon loss.

5) Boise State
The resume is too weak and with the loss to a (comparatively speaking to years past, weak) TCU team, I can’t assume they’d be amongst the elite in a BCS conference. They have to be kicking themselves right now, as this was obviously their year to sneak into a national title game.

6) Oregon
Of all the losses these past two weekends, none is more disappointing than Oregon’s. For one, it was against USC, and it’s always disappointing when USC experiences even a moment of happiness. Secondly, it was at home at the vaunted Autzen Field, generally regarded as one of the more intimidating venues in the country. And third, I spent a good chunk of time, both on this website and in my various social circles, claiming Oregon as the unquestionably the third best team in the country. For the record I still think they would beat Boise, Stanford and Arkansas in a best of seven, but football isn’t basketball, and in a one game scenario I’m a little more skeptical.

7) Oklahoma State
Finally, my suspicions were confirmed. What an enjoyable Friday to decide to stay in. That night, we were all Cyclones.

Virginia Tech
Not a lot of impressive wins on the resume, but hey, only one loss. We can only ask for so much from bottom-half of top ten teams this season.

9) Wisconsin
Look who’s backing up into the polls. Apparently OSU looked at their game with the Badgers as their Superbowl and Wisconsin looked at OSU as a sure thing, because both teams have gone in the exact opposite directions since playing that game, and not in the way the result would lead you to believe.

10) Oklahoma
I guess they had to lose to Baylor at some point. While it’s on a shortlist of dream jobs for myself, it’s pending match-ups like there’s with Oklahoma State that make me thankful I’m not a Vegas odds maker. That game, and every single game the Baltimore Ravens play this season.

11) South Carolina
Is there a sound reason why the SEC plays these late-season non-conference games, or is it just an aesthetic preference? Anyway, congrats on the big win over the Citadel in week twelve, Gamecocks. It’s not anticlimactic at all.

12) Georgia
It isn’t the Citadel and a divisional opponent so I can’t give them shit for playing Kentucky at any point in the season. But I can give them shit for only beating them by nine points. Come on, Georgia, we need everyone but Houston to have a loss this year.

13) Michigan State
They should have four losses instead of two, as they were relatively lucky to beat Wisconsin and Ohio State, but they’ve won convincingly over Iowa and Indiana these past two weeks since narrowly beating Minnesota, and while that might not sound terribly impressive, just look at the landscape. Anyway, we’re all looking forward to their pending rematch with Wisconsin, barring they can get by an inconsistent but dangerous Northwestern team.

14) Clemson
If there were ever a team that could lose to NC State by twenty-four points one week, then beat a top-15 team and win its conference the following two weeks, it would be Clemson. Remember, they housed Virginia Tech in Blacksburg back in October. That game feels like it was played five years ago, but no; it was just last month.

15) Baylor
I’ll just go on record right now in saying that Robert Griffin would be my Heisman trophy recipient if, you know, I had any say whatsoever in who receives it. Luck would be second, but I don’t think Baylor has ever lost a game because of Griffin, after the loss to Oregon I can’t say the same about Luck.

16) Nebraska
It’s entirely possible that Michigan State loses to Northwestern, and if that happens Nebraska would move win the division and be sent off to the Big Ten title game. So they have plenty to play for, but like every team in the conference this year, Nebraska has been exceptionally flaky, so it isn’t going to surprise me or anyone else if they lose to Iowa so, no worries. Expectations aren’t very high for you or anyone else in the Big Ten.

17) TCU
I should probably have them higher but parity amongst the BCS teams is so overwhelming, yet still so superior to their mid-major counterparts, that it’s an unavoidable point against them that they don’t play in one. It’s almost, like there are too many teams in the country for us to accurately compare most of them, and the sport in most need of a playoff is the only league without one.

18) Kansas State
They beat Texas, so this season has to be regarded as a success. If they beat Iowa State next week and Oklahoma manages to lose to Oklahoma State, they could find themselves in a BCS bowl, something I don’t think anyone was counting on.

19) Michigan
Another team that could end up in the BCS with their rather stunning route of Nebraska. As an Ohio State fan, I’m legitimately worried we’re going to be waxed by Michigan on Saturday in Ann Arbor, giving the Buckeyes their first loss to the Wolverines since 2003. While the concern is palpable, it’s also the most I’ve looked forward to the Michigan game since 2004 & 2006, funny how that works.

20) Penn State
I think the road win against Ohio State says more about Ohio State than it does about Penn State. Still, I’m sure if was a nice distraction from a scandal that is completely of their own doing.

21) Georgia Tech
Just so we can continue to feign “the SEC is on a down year” arguments, I’m really hoping they beat Georgia this week. But they only managed to beat Duke by seven, so my confidence is a little shaken.

22) Houston
See what I said about TCU? Multiply that times about a million, and the same is true for Houston. While going undefeated is always impressive, they haven’t beaten anyone good enough for me to legitmately think they could hang with any 2-loss or better team in the country. It isn’t necessarily their fault they play in Conference USA, but they do, and there isn’t really anything me or them can do about it.

23) Notre Dame
They only have three losses, two of which were the first two weeks of the season, plus a win against a team set to play in the conference championship game. Considering this is Notre Dame, if they had beaten Michigan or South Florida, they all but certainly be in the top ten.

24) West Virginia
This seems like an appropriate year for teams to ascend in various rankings during bye-weeks. Also, this might be the first year that the Big East is actually as bad as everyone claims it to be.

25) Virginia
Surprisingly, they only have three losses this season, plus two wins against ranked opponents (Florida State, whom they knocked out of the rankings, and Georgia Tech). A win against Virginia Tech next week will simultaneously increase and decrease the ACC’s credibility, in what has been a banner year for the conference.

It’s past 12:30am, so no time for a prologue to the rankings this week, and I’m not going to be the billionth person to write some depressing screed about Penn State’s heinous turmoil. At least not right now.

Onto the rankings.

1. LSU

   Surprisingly, Western Kentucky or whoever they played (it doesn’t really matter) was incapable of catching the Tigers off-guard following their big road win against Alabama. Which is surprising as LSU has looked so vulnerable. Anyway, we have Arkansas the Friday after Thanksgiving, then the SEC title game (probably) against Georgia. I feel like I’m grasping at straws.

2. Alabama

   Someone was a little deflated after being on the losing end last Saturday, struggling with Ole Miss before finally putting them away in the fourth quarter 24-7. They play some 1-AA team next week then close out the season as always against Auburn. Basically, their fate has been taken out of their hands. Whether they win or lose against Auburn they will be in a BCS game, and the only way for them to reach the Title game is if Oklahoma State loses, it also wouldn’t hurt if LSU dropped one of the two aforementioned games, either.

3. Oregon

   We’re starting to lean towards the side of the argument that they are a better one-loss team than the Tide. But given their past two games against SEC teams, while not nearly as bad as everyone seems to state, still ended up in losses. We’ll have to apply a wait-and-see approach with the Ducks, but if they win the Pac-10 I mean twelve, they’ll likely pass Alabama in the BCS.

4. Oklahoma State

   This team has been railroading mediocre conference foes for over a month now, with close wins against Texas and KSU. It’s in Stillwater, but if Oklahoma hadn’t slipped up against Texas Tech, no one would think they’re beating the Sooners at the end of the year.

5. Oklahoma

   They crushed Texas A&M pretty easily on Saturday, because that’s what teams do on the Aggies fairwell tour from the Big XII, as they remind everyone how awful they are. Oklahoma’s season is already pre-determined whether they beat the Cowboys on December 3^rd or not (I’m already giving them the wins over Baylor & Iowa State, though I probably shouldn’t), since no conference is allowed more than two teams in the BCS. Basically, the BCS teams will look like this: ACC winner, Big Ten winner, Big East winner, Stanford, Oregon, Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, & probably Houston (maybe Boise State if Houston slips). And this is why college football as a whole is relatively dull this year, even if we’ve had some fantastic games/moments.

6. Stanford

   Can’t say we were shocked by their loss. You can have the best quarterback in the country, but the thing is, the other 21 starters from scrimmage still count for something. In addition to QB, with the exception of maybe tight end Oregon trumps Stanford at every turn. Anyway, it’s a shame Stanford isn’t in the South division, I would love to watch Oregon reaffirm their dominance in a December title game

7. Boise State

   Sort of unintentionally called their loss to TCU, which is disappointing. I’m still of the mind that Boise is better than probably half the teams in front of them, but track record counts for something. And Boise’s, through mostly no fault of their own, doesn’t measure up to anyone else’s in the top ten.

8. Arkansas

   Much like we expected, we’re just counting the minutes in between their contests with Alabama & LSU.

9. Clemson

   After a 31-28 when over a fang-less Wake Forest squad (who probably only begrudgingly fields a football team), I’m really tempted to drop them below Virginia Tech for at least this week, but the Hokies weren’t exactly convincing in their win either. Then again…

10. Virginia Tech

    …It was against Georgia Tech, probably the third best team in the conference and a team that Clemson failed to even stay competitive with, much less beat by two scores. Either way, whichever one of these two teams loses the ACC title game (they’re both a virtual lock to make it) will almost certainly be the odd man out at the BCS. Sorry, ACC. But a decade of futility costs you in these scenarios.

11. Wisconsin

    The bad news for the Big Ten: You’re the new ACC. At least for this year. The good news: As a result, you’ll only have one BCS team. Between that and the addition of Nebraska, your bowl record will inevitably be improved on what it’s typically been the past few years. Wisconsin is still the best team in the conference, the problem is that since they played absolutely no one of consequence outside of it, they aren’t really separated from the pack.

12. South Carolina

    Solid, mundane win over Florida to keep their record top fifteen worthy, but the season is starting to feel like something of a letdown. Much like Ohio State, Florida State, Florida, and several other teams this season, if they can beat their biggest rival, the season will be considered redeemed. In this case, that rival is Clemson.

13. Georgia

    I’m obviously going to have to allow Georgia to leap frog the Gamecocks at some point, as they’re starting to look like a really formidable opponent. Georgia does this pretty regularly. Everyone will have them in the preseason top ten next season, and they will proceed to dissapoint everyone, culminating in a dramatic Cocktail Party loss. But still, did you see that win at Jordan Hare. My guess is they’re going to crush Georgia Tech.

14. USC

    They’re going to lose to Oregon on Saturday night, of course. But to give you an idea of how much of a recruiting monopoly they have on the rest of their conference: They’re going to win it next season, provided Lane Kiffin isn’t a total fuck-up.

15. TCU

    Welcome back, TCU. The win over Boise completely redeems the loss over Baylor. Now enjoy being in a rankings holding pattern for the remainder of the season. It’s not like your ranking will effect your bowl bid in any way, shape or form.

16. Kansas State

    I’m probably over-ranking this team because I want them to be good, but whatever. They’re 8-2 in what most computer polls have ranked as the best conference in the country. This may be a ranking I vehemently disagree with, but I’ll refer to it when convenient.

17. Georgia Tech

    The ACC would still be the ACC if it weren’t for the Big Ten, who has claimed the conference throne of willfully disappointing its fans and unabashed mediocrity. Hey, speaking of which…

18. Nebraska

    You really need to pummel the Christ out of a program going through the biggest, most horrifying sports scandal in what’s probably human history. Especially after that rioting. What reputable coach would ever want to live and work in that isolated cult-town after that display?

19. Michigan State

    For some reason both polls have MSU ranked in front of Nebraska (and in the AP, immediately in front) despite the fact Nebraska beat them rather effortlessly a couple weeks ago. I guess they’re chalking it up to fatigue on Sparty’s part, as they were coming off wins against Ohio State, Michigan & the epic game against Wisconsin. Either way, seems counter-productive to actually playing the games and putting any value in the results.

20. Houston

    Gameday will be in Houston for their game against SMU this week, because if you can believe it, that’s their toughest opponent to date (the following week’s game against Tulsa is technically a bigger road block). Between that and being in the 11^th in both polls, everyone is drinking the kool-aid, or at least everyone that matters. That means the polls have them ranked in front of, well, a lot of teams with only two losses in parity-ridden, competitive BCS conferences. But if you think Houston would beat the likes of Georgia, USC, MSU, Wisconsin & Nebraska in a best of seven, well, that’s you’re delusion and I guess you’re entitled to it, but I’m still selling.

21. West Virginia

    Handing Cincinnati their first loss is no small feat. At least we can stop pretending with the Bearcats like we do with the Cougars.

22. Florida State

    I hate putting a team back in the top #25 when they started out the season in the top ten, just because they won five straight games against arguably the five worst teams in their conference, but our options are limited.

23. Notre Dame

    Three straight wins against pushovers, a name brand and an exclusive network TV deal gets you back into the rankings. Some have compared Brian Kelly’s turmoil at Notre Dame to Joe Paterno’s and Penn State’s. If Notre Dame had hid the body of the videographer, they may have a point & the scandal spanned decades with university officials atop the power structure involved in what is potentially a massive cover-up, those making the comparison may have a point. But Notre Dame didn’t, so they don’t.

24. Michigan

    This Wolverines squad, while clearly better than anything they’ve produced since 2006, is still about a mile away from where the fanbase expects them to be. As an Ohio State fan, I need one more win in Ann Arbor this year, to extend the OSU win streak to eight straight years, making nine a definitive possibility with 2012 being at home, and bracing myself for a loss in 2013.

25. Southern Miss

    I actually think they will beat Houston should they play in the Conferene USA title game, but they lost to Marshall so no one gives a shit about them. Whatever.