Rose's BCS bowl picks
BY MIKE ROSE
Hi all. I always love picking the BCS bowl games. So here we go.
NOTE: I stand corrected. Only two teams from a conference can earn BCS picks. My bad. I knew that and had a brain freeze. So I subbed out LSU and added Oregon.
BCS National Title Game: Ohio State vs. Missouri, Jan. 8. Yes. I'm jumping on the Missouri bandwagon this season. They'll beat Texas Tech to win the Big 12 title. And I think Ohio State wins the Big 10, gets back to the title game and wins it this time.
Fiesta Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Florida. Jan. 5. Wow, what an offensive show this would be. Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree vs. Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin.
Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. West Virginia, Jan. 2. A rematch of the 2005 game. I think Georgia will end up with at least one loss this season, but they'll capture the SEC title. West Virginia will win the Big East, edging out South Florida.
Orange Bowl: Clemson vs. Oregon, Jan. 1. Clemson doesn't always play up to its potential when the expectations are high. But I think they will this season. Oregon will end up with double-digit wins.
Rose Bowl: USC vs. Wisconsin, Jan. 1. USC should win the Pac-10, but I think they're getting two losses this season -- one to Ohio State and an upset in the Pac-10. I'm going with Wisconsin here as the Big Ten representative. But Illinois or -- yes-- even Penn State could be a 10-win team this season.
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Comments (4)
First off it is Big Ten not Big 10. Second, "It's rare to get three teams from one conference in the BCS bowls. But I think it happens this season."
http://www.bcsfootball.org/bcsfb/eligibility
"No more than two teams from a conference may be selected, regardless of whether they are automatic qualifiers or at-large selections."
Get the facts straight before making such horrible picks next time.
Mike, not that I want t0o knock anyone here, but, I believe it is the "Big 11", but who is counting. Aside from that I am curious, you start with ASU in the 14th spot and Oregon in the mid-20s, yet you put the Mighty Quack-Quacks in a BCS game, not my beloved Sun Devils, am I missing something????? Not that you could not be right on both counts, believe me, the way the system is so screwy, I am sure that if all things were equal, the Bowl people would not be able to get their lips to Nike's tuccus fast enough, but that is besides the point. Or maybe it was exactly your point.
Good comment Paul.
You're right. I'm no big fan of the BCS. I have -- and always will -- support a playoff system in college football.
As far as my top 25, it's a preseason poll so I expect teams to move up, down and out. Right now I like Arizona State better than Oregon. But I like Oregon's schedule better. Arizona State has a tough road, including four of five on the road in October/November. Although, I think the Sun Devils will give Georgia all it can handle.
I think Arizona State is a strong team, yet it seems Oregon is always in the discussion for a BCS bid. Whatever the reason, Oregon has appeal.
We'll see. A BCS berth may come down to that Oct. 25 home game against the Ducks.
But I did factor in absurdity when I made some of my BCS bowl picks.
Take a look at last year. Illinois went 9-3 and got a BCS bowl berth in the Rose Bowl. Missouri beat Kansas and played for the Big 12 title. Kansas did not make the title game despite an 11-1 regular-season record. Why? Because Missouri beat Kansas. So Missouri gets punished for losing to Oklahoma in the title game. And Kansas got the Orange Bowl berth.
So, unfortunately, I think we'll see one or two of these scenarios again this season. And I think it will involve one of the Pac-10 teams.
As embarrassed as I was to include three SEC teams in my original BCS bowl predictions, I don't feel too bad. I wouldn't be surprised if somehow that happened before 2010, when the current BCS rules expire.
Mike, Pac-10 will always take in the shorts, they do not bring in those big names, outside of the LA teams (ie USC). As for Oregon, like I said, they can't wait to kiss Mr. Knight's pinky ring, but I digress. Don't feel bad about the three SEC teams thing, don't think they have not tried to figure out a way to get around it. Hell, I am surprised they have not put it in the rules that ND gets an automatic bid, regardless of record.
As for ASU, they could be a better team than last year, but they have that brutal five game stretch starting with Georgia, and ending with the Oregon schools, six, if you want to include playing at Washington, so their record probably will not show it.