5 BOROUGH SPORTS

This week I’m going to go over how each team still alive in the National Title picture can get a shot at the crystal ball in January.

LSU- The path is clear for the Tigers, they win out and they are in. One wrinkle that could come about is if they lose to Arkansas. That would most likely eliminate them from the SEC Championship and that wouldn’t fare well for the Tigers hopes of backing into the NC Game. They would hope to see Oklahoma beat OK State, and Oregon lose to USC this Saturday. (My thoughts: Pretty Damn Likely)

Oklahoma State- For them I think it is even clearer, win you are in, lose to Oklahoma you are out. I just don’t see how they could overcome a loss to Oklahoma at home. (My Thoughts: I’m pretty torn over the Oklahoma game, so 50/50 at worst)

Oregon- The Ducks obviously have to win out, and hope Oklahoma beat Ok State, but also they might need Alabama to lose. They currently trail them by a significant margin for the #3 spot in the BCS, and would need both the human polls to rank them ahead of Bama to move ahead as the computers might not do it. (My thoughts: They certainly have an argument, and might just get in with OK State losing)

Alabama- If Alabama wins the last two that might be enough coupled with an OK State loss. The question is do the human pollsters really want to see a rematch? It’s possible that Alabama and Oregon get passed up just to avoid such a situation. What is even crazier is, what happens if LSU loses the National Championship to that team? Alabama and Oregon would both have legitimate arguments for having the title as well as they were passed up to avoid a rematch. (My thoughts: OK State loses and Bama is right there, they just need Oregon to struggle a bit, and convince people they are better than the 4 missed FG’s)

Oklahoma- The Sooners can beat OK State in three weeks but it may take more. The loss to Texas Tech looks worse with every week and the Sooners going to need people to jump on board with the idea of no rematch. Otherwise they will want Oregon to lose to USC, and Alabama lose to Auburn. (My thoughts: They are alive, but Texas Tech is killing them, in the end its hard to give them enough credit even with an impressive victory over Ok State)

Clemson- The Tigers are a very long shot at this point, but its actually not that complicated. A loss for Oregon to USC, and Oklahoma to Baylor this weekend would be step 1. Then an Alabama loss to Auburn, and Oklahoma beating OK State would actually get it done. Unfortunately the chance of that happening is like 1 in a million, so we won’t talk about this unless somehow Oregon and Oklahoma lose this weekend. The Tigers are certainly kicking themselves over those turnovers against Georgia Tech a few weeks ago, or they would be right there at #3 today. (Tigers fans should be thrilled about the future, just next year’s team, which should be ranked very high preseason with a favorable schedule)

Arkansas- The Hogs need to win out, and have Alabama lose to Auburn. That would put them in the SEC Championship, and a loss for OK State to OU would add some help as well. No guarantee still but it might be enough as the SEC Champ. Problem is the Hogs have to go to LSU and win. Tough task, but I’ve seen more impossible things. (The Hogs have won a lot of games, but I’m not sure they are good enough to beat LSU, let alone have the domino’s fall in place)

Virginia Tech- The Hokies need to go and beat Clemson in a rematch in the ACC Championship, and then hope for just about everyone to lose as well, like I outlined in the Clemson section. The Hokies have had an impressive season, but they haven’t played a National Championship schedule by any means. They are the lowest ranked one-loss team for a reason. (The Hokies should have played someone out of conference, and beat Clemson at home, cause that’s enough to almost mathematically eliminate them)

Stanford- I guess the Cardinal still have a fighting hope, but they need almost everyone to lose. The loss to Oregon was ugly, and many are surprised they are still as high as they are. (My thoughts: Andrew Luck has another year of eligibility, but he ain’t taking it, so Stanford might be slipping back into reality next year)

My Rankings:

1. LSU

2. Alabama

3. Oklahoma State

4. Oklahoma

5. Oregon

6. Clemson

7. Arkansas

8. Virginia Tech

9. Stanford

10. Nebraska

11. Wisconsin

12. Florida State

13. Boise State

14. Houston

15. South Carolina

16. Kansas State

17. Michigan State

18. Georgia 

19. Georgia Tech

20. USC

21. Notre Dame

22. Texas

23. Penn State

24. Arizona State

25. TCU

Predictions:

Virginia Tech 27, UNC 17

Oklahoma State 42, Iowa State 21

Rutgers 24, Cincinnati 21

Wisconsin 35, Illinois 21

Nebraska 24, Michigan 21

Miami FL 24, USF 17

Ohio State 17, Penn State 14

Clemson 31, NC State 24

Notre Dame 28, Boston College 14

Florida State 28, Virginia 13

Boise State 34, San Diego State 17

Kansas State 31, Texas 28

Oklahoma 49, Baylor 24

Oregon 48, USC 31 

This entry was posted on November 17, 2011 at 3:38 pm and is filed under College Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.