Sep 08 2009
BCS Game Projections for Sept. 8
Oklahoma lost a lot Saturday. Its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback. The game to Brigham Young. Its top-five ranking. There’s time to recover but the Sooners showed there may not be the ability to rebound. Ohio State must play better if it hopes to beat USC Saturday night.
Southeastern: #1 Florida (1-0)
Who didn’t see a massive win against Charleston Southern (0-1) coming? The Gators won, 62-3, and really could have named their final score. Troy (0-1) is at least a Division I-A team. The Trojans are usually solid in the Sun Belt Conference but a 31-14 loss at Bowling Green to open the season doesn’t bode well. Florida is likely to be both undefeated and untested heading into the annual September clash with Tennessee.
Florida’s remaining schedule
Sept. 12: Home vs. Troy
Sept. 19: Home vs. Tennessee
Sept. 26: At Kentucky
Oct. 10: At Louisiana State
Oct. 17: Home vs. Arkansas
Oct. 24: At Mississippi State
Oct. 31: Vs. Georgia in Jacksonville
Nov. 7: Home vs. Vanderbilt
Nov. 14: At South Carolina
Nov. 21: Home vs. Florida International
Nov. 28: Home vs. Florida State
Big 12: #2 Texas (1-0)
The Longhorns thumped Louisiana-Monroe (0-1), 59-20, Saturday. Texas makes one trip outside the state in the first half of season, this weekend to Laramie to face Wyoming (1-0). The Cowboys squeeked past I-AA Weber State, 29-22, last week. Therefore, Texas isn’t likely to be challenged.
Texas’ remaining schedule
Sept. 12: At Wyoming
Sept. 19: Home vs. Texas Tech
Sept. 26: Home vs. Texas-El Paso
Oct. 10: Home vs. Colorado
Oct. 17: Vs. Oklahoma in Dallas
Oct. 24: At Missouri
Oct. 31: At Oklahoma State
Nov. 7: Home vs. Central Florida
Nov. 14: At Baylor
Nov. 21: Home vs. Kansas
Nov. 26: At Texas A&M
Pacific-10: #3 USC (1-0)
The Trojans–more specifically, quarterback Matt Barkley–needed a quarter to get going against San Jose State (0-1). By the second period though, USC was rolling. The Trojans crushed the Spartans, 56-3. That game has been forgotten considering Ohio State looms Saturday. USC gained a spot in the AP poll after Oklahoma’s loss. The Trojans might gain more ground if they win in Columbus this weekend.
USC’s remaining schedule
Sept. 12: At Ohio State
Sept. 19: At Washington
Sept. 26: Home vs. Washington State
Oct. 3: At California
Oct. 17: At Notre Dame
Oct. 24: Home vs. Oregon State
Oct. 31: At Oregon
Nov. 7: At Arizona State
Nov. 14: Home vs. Stanford
Nov. 28: Home vs. UCLA
Dec. 5: Home vs. Arizona
Automatic At-Large: #4 Alabama (1-0)
The Crimson Tide outlasted #14 Virginia Tech, 34-24, in Saturday’s marquee matchup. Alabama slides into the top four this week. Since there are no at-large teams ahead of the Tide, it claims an automatic BCS berth. Considering the next game is in Tuscaloosa against Florida International, Alabama probably won’t lose its postion. FIU didn’t play last week and will be rested Saturday.
Alabama’s remaining schedule
Sept. 12: Home vs. Florida International
Sept. 19: Home vs. North Texas
Sept. 26: Home vs. Arkansas
Oct. 3: At Kentucky
Oct. 10: At Mississippi
Oct. 17: Home vs. South Carolina
Oct. 24: Home vs. Tennessee
Nov. 7: Home vs. Louisiana State
Nov. 14: At Mississippi State
Nov. 21: Home vs. Chattanooga
Nov. 27: At Auburn
At-Large: #5 Oklahoma State (1-0)
The Cowboys upended #21 Georgia (0-1), 24-10, at home Saturday. OSU spotted Georgia the first touchdown before stiffling the Bulldogs, 24-3, in the last three quarters. The Cowboys figure to handle their next three opponents easily. The game against Missouri next month will be a tester.
Oklahoma State’s remaining schedule
Sept. 12: Home vs. Houston
Sept. 19: Home vs. Rice
Sept. 26: Home vs. Grambling State
Oct. 10: At Texas A&M
Oct. 17: Home vs. Missouri
Oct. 24: At Baylor
Oct. 31: Home vs. Texas
Nov. 7: At Iowa State
Nov. 14: Home vs. Texas Tech
Nov. 19: Home vs. Colorado
Nov. 28: At Oklahoma
Big Ten: #7 Penn State (1-0)
The Nittany Lions handled Akron (0-1), 31-7, to start the season. Greg Paulus, Syracuse’s new starting quarterback who played point guard for Duke the past four years, didn’t play badly in the Orange’s first game against Minnesota. Syracuse lost, 23-20, in overtime and Paulus threw a bad interception in the end zone in the extra session. PSU surely has too much for Syracuse to handle this week.
Penn State’s remaining schedule
Sept. 12: Home vs. Syracuse
Sept. 19: Home vs. Temple
Sept. 26: Home vs. Iowa
Oct. 3: At Illinois
Oct. 10: Home vs. Eastern Illinois
Oct. 17: Home vs. Minnesota
Oct. 24: At Michigan
Oct. 31: At Northwestern
Nov. 7: Home vs. Ohio State
Nov. 14: Home vs. Indiana
Nov. 21: At Michigan State
At-Large: #8 Ohio State (1-0)
Surviving against Navy (0-1), 31-27, in the Horseshoe didn’t impress voters. The Buckeyes dropped two places this week. Penn State moved ahead of OSU, meaning PSU gets the Rose Bowl berth as Big Ten champion this week. The Buckeyes remain an attractive team though and can become very attractive to bowl officials by defeating #3 USC at home Saturday night.
Ohio State’s remaining schedule
Sept. 12: Home vs. USC
Sept. 19: Vs. Toledo in Cleveland
Sept. 26: Home vs. Illinois
Oct. 3: At Indiana
Oct. 10: Home vs. Wisconsin
Oct. 17: At Purdue
Oct. 24: Home vs. Minnesota
Oct. 31: Home vs. New Mexico State
Nov. 7: At Penn State
Nov. 14: Home vs. Iowa
Nov. 21: At Michigan
Mountain West: #9 Brigham Young (1-0)
Bad luck for Boise State. The Broncos trounce Oregon (0-1), 19-8, in the featured game Thursday. Instead of talking about the game, now-suspended Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount becomes the talk of the sports landscape for two days thanks to his post-game meltdown. BSU rises two spots to 12th in this week’s AP poll. However, BYU takes advantage of Sam Bradford’s shoulder injury and a late drive by quarterback Max Hall to stun Oklahoma, 14-13, in Dallas. The Cougars soar 11 places to ninth and seize the lone BCS bid available to non-BCS schools. What’s more is that BYU still has two top-20 teams (Texas Christian and Utah) on the schedule. BSU has no top-25 teams left to play.
Brigham Young’s remaining schedule
Sept. 12: At Tulane
Sept. 19: Home vs. Florida State
Sept. 26: Home vs. Colorado State
Oct. 2: Home vs. Utah State
Oct. 10: At Nevada-Las Vegas
Oct. 17: At San Diego State
Oct. 24: Home vs. Texas Christian
Nov. 7: At Wyoming
Nov. 14: At New Mexico
Nov. 21: Home vs. Air Force
Nov. 28: Home vs. Utah
Atlantic Coast: #14 Virginia Tech (0-1)
Even though the Hokies lost to Alabama, 34-24, in Atlanta last week, pollsters ranked them the best of the conference. Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Miami are close behind VT. The Hokies should rebound this week against Marshall (1-0), which scrapped past I-AA Southern Illinois last week. Games against Nebraska and Miami won’t be easy, even though they’ll in Blacksburg.
Virginia Tech’s 2009 schedule
Sept. 12: Home vs. Marshall
Sept. 19: Home vs. Nebraska
Sept. 26: Home vs. U. of Miami
Oct. 3: At Duke
Oct. 10: Home vs. Boston College
Oct. 17: At Georgia Tech
Oct. 29: Home vs. North Carolina
Nov. 5: At East Carolina
Nov. 14: At Maryland
Nov. 21: Home vs. North Carolina State
Nov. 28: At Virginia
Big East: #23 Cincinnati (1-0)
Voters were apparently impressed with the Bearcats’ 47-15 trouncing at Rutgers (0-1) Monday. Cincinnati is the only conference team in this week’s AP poll and that’s enough to claim the Big East’s BCS spot. Southeast Missouri State (0-1) should be an easy win but visiting Oregon State (1-0) won’t be a cakewalk. Ask USC.
Cincinnati’s remaining schedule
Sept. 12: Home vs. Southeast Missouri State
Sept. 19: At Oregon State
Sept. 26: Home vs. Fresno State
Oct. 3: At Miami U.
Oct. 15: At South Florida
Oct. 24: Home vs. Louisville
Oct. 31: At Syracuse
Nov. 7: Home vs. Connecticut
Nov. 13: Home vs. West Virginia
Nov. 27: Home vs. Illinois
Dec. 5: At Pittsburgh
The other teams in the at-large pool are:
#6 Mississippi (1-0), SEC
#10 California (1-0), Pac-10
#11 Louisiana State (1-0), SEC
#12 Boise State (1-0), Western Athletic
The BCS Championship Game would pit Florida against Texas. USC and Penn State would meet in the Rose Bowl. The Sugar Bowl would choose Alabama to replace Florida. Since two SEC teams would be included, Mississippi and LSU are now ineligible. The Fiesta Bowl would tab Oklahoma State to replace Texas.
The Sugar Bowl would take Ohio State as an at-large. The Orange Bowl would take Cincinnati next, leaving Brigham Young for the Fiesta Bowl. Therefore, the BCS game projections for Sept. 8 are as follows:
BCS Championship: Florida vs. Texas
Rose: USC vs. Penn State
Sugar: Alabama vs. Ohio State
Fiesta: Oklahoma State vs. Brigham Young
Orange: Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati
