Big Ten Rules

The college football game of the year is coming up next weekend: OSU v Michigan. They are without question the two best teams in the nation this year. Neither one has even had a close game. The rest of the top ten keeps losing. Auburn lost. Louisville lost. Cal lost. Texas is getting killed. Florida managed to win by one point at home against a 4-5 S Carolina team, but did so only by blocking two field goals and an extra point. Who's left? Rutgers and Boise State??

Either Michigan or OSU will lose next weekend. But who could argue that there is another team that better desrves to play for the natioanl championship?

Whoever wins next weekend, viva the rematch!

UPDATE (Sunday Morning): Well, Texas did lose. Which means that 4 of the teams ranked 3-7 last week lost and the fifth's (Florida's) win at home against a 4-5 team was so narrow as to hardly count as a win. There is going to be a big shake-up in the rankings tomorrow. Pigskin Bill's predictions:

Given its solid win over a ranked Oregon, and the poor performance of those ahead of it, USC will jump to 3rd. Arkansas, whose only loss was it's opener to USC and who thumped Tennessee will move up to 5. Floridas will drop to 6, and Rutgers, Louisville, West Virginia and LSU will round out the rest of the top ten, with Rutgers higher that Loisuville, which it beat, and Louisville higher than West Virginia, which it beat. The only uncertainty is where in this mix LSU will fall. I tend to think it will bring up the rear, since alone out of these teams it has 2 losses. So, here is my projection for tomorrow's BCS rankings:

1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. USC
4. Notre Dame
5. Arkansas
6. Florida
7. Rutgers
8. Louisville
9. West Virginia
10. LSU

Now, the interesting thing is to try to figure out who will be the other team in the National Championship Game. I think it will come down to 4 teams: USC, Notre Dame, Rutgers and the loser of the OSU-Michigan Game. The other possibility of course is Florida, but it's hard to see how they could end up being ranked ahead of the loser of the OSU-Michigan game after their performenace at home against a 4-5 S Carolina team and with no ranked opponents remaining on their schedule. So, I rule out Florida.

Of the remianing 4 teams, USC has by far the toughest schedule, since it still has to play both Cal and Notre Dame. Thus, if USC wins out, it will probably get the nod. However, if USC loses to either Cal or Notre Dame, they will be out of it. Notre Dame must beat USC to have a chance, but even if it does, it would be hard to pick ND over Michigan, since Michigan beat them. I think Notre Dame needs two things to have a chance: a victory over USC and a victory by Michigan over OSU. Then there is Rutgers. If USC and Notre Dame both lose another game and Rutgers beats West Virginia and remains undefeated, it will be hard to deny Rutgers a shot. But if USC, Notre Dame and Rutgers all lose a game (or if USC and Rutgers lose a game and OSU beats Michigan), I can't see how a rematch between OSU and Michigan can be avoided, especially if the OSU-Michigan game is close.

Nez-Pas?

Ooops: Forgot about Arkansas. If USC and Notre Dame both lose another game, and Rutgers and Arkansas both win out, (with Rutgers beating W. Va. and Arkansas beating LSU), then the choice will between two one-loss Big Ten and SEC Teams (the loser of the OSU Michigan game and Arkansas) and an undefeated Big East Team (Rutgers). That will be a toughie.