Top of BCS looking very familiar after non-eventful week
The lack of challenging games produced a lack of upsets, leaving the BCS standings nearly stationary this week. Nobody in the top seven broke a sweat. Cincinnati and Georgia Tech had bye weeks, so they probably worked just a little harder than the five who played. Those teams won by a combined score of 255-53. That means it was a week of settling conference scores.
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Dodds and EndsIn the ACC, Clemson clinched the Atlantic division title during pregame warm-ups. That is when North Carolina finished off a 31-13 win at Boston College, eliminating the Eagles. The Tigers did finish the job properly though, beating Virginia 34-21. Clemson will face Georgia Tech for the ACC title.
The Big 12 North was decided when Nebraska beat Kansas State 17-3. The loss was especially painful for the Wildcats. Their season is over because the loss means they will not be bowl eligible. Nebraska is still unrated in the BCS.
The Cornhuskers will face Texas in the Big 12 championship game. The Longhorns pounded Kansas 51-20 to clinch the South Division. The Longhorns remain third in the BCS standings this week and still control their own destiny for the national championship game.
The Big Ten's BCS berth was settled a week ago, but the league finished conference play this week with two important games in the race for at-large spots.
Iowa shut out Minnesota 12-0 to retain Floyd of Rosedale and ensure a spot in the BCS at-large pool. The Hawkeyes moved up to 11th this week in the rankings, jumping Oklahoma State, which beat Colorado on Thursday.
The team Iowa is competing with for a BCS spot is Penn State, which played its best game of the year in a 42-14 win at Michigan State. The Nittany Lions are now 13th in the BCS. They will also be in the at-large pool at the end of the season, but BCS rules prevent both Iowa and Penn State from going to BCS games.
The Pac-10 conference race provided the most excitement this week. Oregon came back, with Arizona students out of the stands and surrounding the field ready to storm, and beat the Wildcats 44-41 in double overtime.
Oregon State had a much easier time of things. The Beavers beat Washington State 42-10, setting up a Civil War with a unique prize -- a spot in the Rose Bowl.
Houston is back in the Conference USA race. The Cougars whipped Memphis 55-14, and got some help later in the day when Marshall beat SMU 34-31. That dropped the Mustangs back into a tie with Houston in the West division, and the Cougars hold the tiebreaker.
LSU, ranked eighth last week, was the highest rated team to lose. The Tigers fell to Mississippi 25-23 in Oxford, but they only dropped to 15th in the rankings. This means they could still get back into the top 14 and be in the pool of teams able to be selected for an at-large spot, but there is now no chance they'll get picked instead of the SEC title game loser.
So as things stand right now, barring upsets, the at-large picture is pretty clear. The four spots are going to a team from the SEC, one from the Big Ten, TCU and either Boise State or Oklahoma State. With the BCS though, you never want to think things are very clear.
