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Projected 2013 BCS Bowls — September 16th
Note: These projections are from Sept. 16, 2012. Check out the most recent BCS projections.
One loss should not define a team’s season, especially not one that happens early in the year. Say, one in the third week. But a loss in college football, where the BCS reigns supreme? That might be a different story.
| BCS Bowl Projections | |
|---|---|
| Bowl | Matchup |
| Title Game | Oregon vs. LSU |
| Rose Bowl | USC vs. Michigan |
| Sugar Bowl | Alabama vs. Oklahoma |
| Orange Bowl | Florida St. vs. Louisville |
| Fiesta Bowl | West Virginia vs. Michigan St. |
| Scroll down for more | |
In fact, never in the history of the BCS has a Pac-12 team advanced to the BCS title game after suffering a regular season loss. At any point in the season.
So yep, the bowl picture shuffles. And shuffles severely. Let’s see what happens next week.
–
BCS National Championship Game: LSU Tigers (BCS No. 1) vs. Oregon Ducks (BCS No. 2)
Comment: One USC loss, and suddenly the pack of four teams head and shoulders above the rest of the country is now three. Oregon slides up, and with LSU and Alabama on a collision course for each other, running the table might easily mean a berth in the national title game for the Ducks.
Rose Bowl: USC Trojans (At-large selection) vs. Michigan Wolverines (Big Ten Champion)
Comment: Just three weekends into the college football season and the Big Ten already seems an unsolvable enigma. Michigan comes out in the first week and looks silly against Alabama. Wisconsin is unable to move the ball in a shocking loss to Oregon State. Then Michigan State can’t hang with Notre Dame. So who’s the class of the Big Ten? At least for now, it’s Michigan, who heads to the Rose Bowl on an auto-bid.
A 10-win USC is still strong enough to convince the always game Rose Bowl to call the Trojans into town.
Sugar Bowl: Alabama Crimson Tide (At-large selection) vs. Oklahoma Sooners (At-large selection)
Comment: Alabama ran ramshackle through the Arkansas defense and continues to look every bit the defending national champion. But should they lose to LSU, the Sugar Bowl is a nice, soft landing spot. Oklahoma sat at home, probably watching in awe as the Tide ripped the Razorbacks apart. Would the Sooners like to see the Tide in New Orleans?
Orange Bowl: Florida State Seminoles (ACC Champion) vs. Louisville Cardinals (Big East Champion)
Comment: Whatever monkey Wake Forest had proven Florida State’s back in the past few years was dealt with early on Saturday, and the Seminoles cruised their way to a victory, again looking the part of ACC champs. A showdown with Clemson next weekend will go a long way to proving that.
Louisville survived a fourth-quarter scare from North Carolina, and the Big East is looking a bit reinvigorated these days, with the Cardinals leading the way.
Fiesta Bowl: West Virginia Mountaineers (Big 12 Champion) vs. Michigan State Spartans (At-large selection)
Comment: West Virginia looks every bit the role of Big 12 champion, while Michigan State had a hard time even putting up the three points they scored against Notre Dame. But you can’t simply forget the first two weeks of the season, where the Spartans looked strong. A 10-2 or even a 9-3 Michigan State squad might be a strong at-large contender.
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Projected 2013 BCS Bowls — September 23rd →
2 Comm
2012-09-20
13:28:22
USC can't be 10-2 under the above scenario. They have to lose 2x to Oregon for Oregon to be undefeated and go to the title game (once in regular season and once in the Pac-12 title game). USC can only be 10-2 if they beat Oregon in the regular season and lose in the title game or vice versa. In either case Oregon most likely would not go to the title game. Then the questions are, is a 3 loss USC Team eligible to go to a BCS bowl, most likely not and whether they would go over a one loss Stanford team since Stanford would only play Oregon once if they lose in the regular season.
2012-09-20
13:44:47
Theoretically USC can finish 10-2 — if any Pac-12 South team finishes with one Pac-12 loss, and qualifies for the championship game ahead of USC. UCLA misses Oregon, for instance. But you are absolutely right, in the case as projected here, USC would finish 10-3, not 10-2. Thanks for the catch.