Iowa Hawkeyes (10-2) vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-2)

Many might take this matchup between the ACC champion Yellow Jackets and the Big 10 runner-up Iowa Hawkeyes as the forgotten BCS bowl, but there is certainly a lot to be interested about in this match up.

For a while there, it looked like Iowa was the class of the Big 10, as the Hawkeyes crept into the BCS top-five during a string of close victories earlier in the season. However, the Hawkeyes were unable to complete an undefeated season, falling to Northwestern and Ohio State down the stretch to finish second in the conference.

The Hawkeyes also had lost their quarterback Ricky Stanzi along the way, but he will return for the bowl.

For the Yellow Jackets, the ACC seemed a cinch after losing to Miami to open their ACC schedule, and after holding off a scare from Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, Georgia Tech claimed the conference’s automatic BCS bowl bid.

Offense: Yellow Jacket quarterback Josh Nesbitt runs the triple option unlike any other quarterback in the nation, and the confusing offense scheme has done wonders for the Tech offense this season, as they finished the season with the 11th best scoring offense in the nation. Running back Jonathan Dwyer, who rushed for 1,346 yards on the season, also contributes to the offensive firepower that the ACC had to deal with this season.

The Iowa offense, although not nearly as flashy as the Yellow Jacket attack, was still very productive on the season, and was especially good at driving late in games under the watch of Stanzi for game winning drives. The Hawkeyes never really plastered any opponent this season, but in their victories Stanzi and the offense did just enough to pull out wins.

Defense: Iowa’s main task here will be how they can react to the Georgia Tech triple-option. So far this season when its working, the triple option has been nearly unstoppable as Paul Johnson’s scheme has been run to perfection at times under the watch of Nesbitt. However, the Iowa defense was tenth nationally in scoring defense, giving up just 10.5 points per game, which the Yellow Jackets cannot hope to score if they want to win this game.

Georgia Tech’s defense will have the opportunity to take advantage of the sometimes reckless Stanzi, who threw plenty of interceptions to go along with his game-winning drives this season. Iowa wide receivers Marvin McNutt and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos must be stopped if the Yellow Jackets hope to contain the Hawkeye offense. Both receivers had more than 650 yards on the season and both are capable of breaking big plays down the field.

Prediction: Georgia Tech 33 vs. Iowa 17. Iowa’s offense always needed extra help from their defense in order to win earlier this season, and this time the defense is faced with a completely foreign offensive package that even an entire month of preparation can not completely prepare for. Nesbitt and the Yellow Jackets will run away with this one early, and forced to throw the rest of the game, the rusty Stanzi will likely make mistakes.

Cincinnati Bearcats (12-0) vs. Florida Gators (12-1)

A couple of votes here or there earlier in the season, or more help from the computers, and we could have easily been talking about Cincinnati playing in the National Championship Game. But the BCS conspired against those hopes for the undefeated Bearcats and the Big East champs were instead rewarded with a Sugar Bowl bid against an equally disappointed Florida Gators squad.

On a 22-game winning streak, the Gators faltered in the most important game of their season — the SEC Championship Game — and were unable to continue their run at back-to-back championships. However, Tim Tebow and the senior class will want to end their season on a high note in New Orleans.

The Big East isn’t supposed to be a power conference, but the Bearcats were about as powerful as they came this season in terms of offensive output, and a victory here might do wonders for the Big East moving forward. Lets get into the meat of the preview:

Offense: The quarterback duo of Zach Collaros and Tony Pike together headed the Big East’s most productive offense — their output was so prolific that many suggested the two be entered for Heisman contention as on entity, saying that Collaros and Pike together were more productive than any other quarterback in the nation, which isn’t far from the truth. Cincinnati can strike at any time, at any place on the field, and that quick-strike ability helped them avoid an upset on the final day of the season when they had to come back from a six-point deficit with time running out. Wide receiver/kick returner Mardy Gilyard contributes to firepower of the offense, in the mold of former Gator Percy Harvin.

Without Harvin, the Gator offense struggled a bit this season, but once again senior quarterback Tim Tebow led one of the SEC’s most prolific offensive teams. scoring less than 20 only twice. Tebow broke a bevy of SEC records in his final season including the career rushing touchdown mark. Tebow’s favorite mark, tight-end Aaron Hernandez, also helped lead the team’s offense, which averaged 442 yards per game.

Defense: Florida prides itself on its defense, led by coordinator Charlie Strong. Strong’s apparent ascension to the head coaching spot at Louisville may be a distraction for a squad that let up more than 20 points just once — in that SEC Championship Game to Alabama’s offense. Defensive end Carlos Dunlap, who was last season’s BCS National Title Game defensive MVP was suspended for that game, and his status for the Sugar Bowl remains to be seen. The Gators certainly missed his presence against Mark Ingram, Greg McElroy and the Tide offense last weekend.

Defensive was certainly a weak spot for the Bearcats in their final regular season game, where they let freshman Pitt running back Dion Lewis run all over them as they were seemingly unable to stop the Panthers at any point during the game. In their last four games, the Bearcats have given up 44, 36, 41 and 45 points to their opponents, something they cannot do against Florida and still hope to win.

Prediction: Florida 42 vs. Cincinnati 21. Despite the fact that the Gators will be disappointed to be at the Sugar Bowl and not in the National Championship Game, coach Urban Meyer will have them fired up to face his alma mater. Tim Tebow and the Gator offense will tear up the Bearcat D, and Tony Pike’s offensive efficiency will not be enough to match the Gators score for score.

Oregon Ducks (10-2) vs. Ohio State (10-2)

If you want to talk about up and down seasons, the Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes might be your exhibit 1 and 1A.

Both teams had high hopes coming into the season, but both faltered at some point in the season.

For the Ducks, the Byron Hout-LeGarrette Blount incident speaks for itself in terms of the media and team firestorm it created.

For the Buckeyes, midway through the season, the team was at risk of not winning the Big 10 for the first time since 2004 after loses to USC and Purdue.

Yet both teams, led by athletic and dynamic quarterbacks, turned their seasons around and won their respective conferences. As a reward for their resiliency, the teams received bids to the “Granddaddy of Them All”, the Rose Bowl, in what promises to be among the best bowl matchups of the bowl season.

Offenses: Both offenses start with their quarterbacks, Jeremiah Masoli and Terrelle Pryor, both of whom have set the tone for the offenses all season. As Pryor has gone, so too have the Buckeyes, and his inconsistency has been a problem all season. Masoli runs the spread option to perfection for the Ducks, but when the run has been bottled up by the opposition, the Ducks have struggled to win with a one-sided attack.

Ohio State also features a strong running attack, having averaged 199 yards per game this season using a power running game under coach Jim Tressel’s proven system.

Defenses: This discussion has to start with Ohio State’s defense, which held its opponents to a mere 12.8 points per game, including three shutouts and two Big 10 conference games in which they let their opponents score just seven points. Many times this season, it’s been the defense that has carried the Buckeyes, especially in light of their 33 takeaways — good enough for third in the nation in that category. Against the Duck rush attack, a unit which surrendered less than 90 yards per game on the ground is sure to be tested.

The Ducks image may be all about their offense, but their defense isn’t half bad, only allowing 329 yards per game to opponents this season, which came most against the fiery Pac-10 offenses this season. That was good enough to rank in the top 40 in the nation, but the Ducks were hit hard multiple times this season, most notably against Stanford, where they surrendered 51 points to the Cardinal.

Prediction: Oregon 35 vs. Ohio State 27. The bottom line will be about Oregon’s offense vs. Ohio State defense, a matchup which Masoli and the Ducks can certainly win, and if they do, the uneven Buckeye offense will not be enough to make up the difference.

We’ve been waiting all year for this weekend, and finally after thirteen compelling weeks of college football action, its finally here.

Four games will decide conference champions, and many others will be important in bowl positioning for a variety of teams.

Obviously most important is the matchup that’s been anticipated basically since day one of the college football season, Alabama vs. Florida for the SEC Championship.

The winner of this game not only gets an automatic bid to the BCS as the SEC Champion, will also get a bid to the national title game. The loser won’t fare all that bad, as they will likely receive one of the at-large BCS bids to the Sugar Bowl.

Three other games will decide conference champions.

The ACC Championship Game will feature Georgia Tech and Clemson. Depending on who might or might not lose in the rest of the country on Saturday, this is likely the decider for the only BCS bid the ACC will receive.

The Big 12 Championship Game will feature Nebraska and Texas. Texas has spent the entire season with the knowledge that a perfect season would mean a berth in the national title game, and they are one win from that. A Cornhusker victory would open up a huge can of worms, but the Longhorns would likely receive an at-large bid if Nebraska shocks them.

A de facto Big East Championship will take place on Saturday between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Its also likely that a loss for either team would relegate them to non-BCS land, but a Bearcat victory combined with a Longhorn loss would make things a little interesting.

Cincinnati has crept very close to No. 4 TCU in weeks past, and if Texas loses, there is a possibility that a team that finishes its BCS conference schedule undefeated could jump the idle Horned Frogs.

Even less likely, but still possible, is the idea that the BCS National Title Game could be an SEC Championship Game rematch. This would require Pittsburgh and Nebraska to win, and the human polls to show absolutely no confidence in the Horned Frogs, keeping the Tide/Gators ahead of TCU in the polls and the BCS.

Undefeated No. 6 Boise State is likely to feel disappointed after this weekend if they can complete a perfect schedule with a victory over New Mexico State. Even a huge victory over the Lobos (3-9) would not equal a national title berth for the Broncos, but they need to win to hold hope for a BCS bowl bid, for which TCU virtually locked in for.

With Oregon and Ohio State already sitting pretty with BCS bowl bids clinched, this weekend will be all about matching the Ducks and Buckeyes, and is sure to be exciting throughout.

The BCS rankings and bowl matchups will be released Sunday at 8 PM eastern and will make everything official. Until that time stay tuned to BCS Know How for all the latest BCS news.

Ah rivalry week.

Such possibility, such excitement.

But if the past few weeks have been any indication, this might just be the most boring rivalry week in the history of college football.

The season has been just bereft of upsets, and there’s no good reason to think that this weekend will be different, but we can still hold out the smallest bit of hope.

This year’s Thanksgiving Day game, Texas-Texas A&M could either be a great sign or a sign of the same old same old for this year.

In beating the Aggies by 10, the Longhorns clinched an undefeated regular season, but had a bunch of trouble doing it.

Maybe this means that other favorite will have more trouble and falter down the stretch, namely this weekend.

On the other hand, the Longhorns won.

And so, maybe this rivalry weekend will just be another in a long line of upset-free weekends, but three are certainly chances scattered around the college football scene this weekend.

No. 2 Alabama travels to Auburn for the Iron Bowl, which is always a good chance for one team to make their season with just one victory, this year that would be the result of a Tiger victory over the Tide.

No. 1 Florida welcomes Florida State in a toned-down version of this instate rivalry, seeing as the recent misfortunes of the Seminoles have the teams going in very different directions this season.

BCS hopefuls No. 7 Georgia Tech and No. 12 Oklahoma State face off against instate rivals as well, Georgia and Oklahoma respectively, and could falter here late in the season.

The Big East – suddenly the best conference race in the country other than the Pac-10 – all three of its top teams in action on Friday, including West Virginia and Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl.

Overall this rivalry week’s got some potential, and by this point in the season, we’d take just about anything to get some excitement with this season already.

Enjoy.

Maybe Oklahoma State needing its third-string QB to make sure Colorado didn’t pull the upset late Thursday night was a good sign.

At least, that’s what we’re hoping for.

Truth be told, this season has been full of close upset possibilities around the country. Top teams down late or in close games with unranked opponents. But rarely have any of these close contests panned out into full-blown upsets.

In fact, the top three teams in the country: Texas, Alabama and Florida, were all considered top-five teams at the beginning of the season, definitely a rare occurrence during these past few years.

Furthermore, this weekend doesn’t shape up to be a nail-bitter filled slate of Saturday games. But maybe, just maybe, the fact that a 3-8 team nearly beat a BCS bowl eligible Cowboys squad is a good sign for the underdog – and they’re definitely going to need all the help they can get.

Non of the top three teams are playing a ranked opponent this weekend, actually only Texas is playing a FBS school without a sub-.500 record in Kansas (5-5). Alabama takes the weekend off with FCS Chattanooga and Florida welcomes 3-7 Florida International to the Swamp.

Doesn’t look too good for a major upset, huh?

How about traditional rivalries? They always seem to hold a good chance of a big upset.

Ohio State – Michigan is this weekend, but from the looks of things, people aren’t paying much attention or looking for an upset.

Usually the long standing rivalry creates more of a buzz in the college football world, but this weekend, with Michigan needing a win just to get bowl eligible and Ohio State already locked into the Rose Bowl, it just doesn’t hold a lot of importance, and the upset potential is quite low.

No. 4 TCU might be the best chance for a top-four upset this weekend, but their trip to Wyoming for a conference matchup against a 5-5 team still doesn’t look too promising.

TCU and Texas have combined to go 20-0 this year, a revelation for Texas football, but with all the winning going on by the top teams, its unlikely that the BCS National title game will feature a Texas football dream – an all-Texas BCS National Title game – as TCU is likely to be left out if the favorites keep winning.

If the Horned Frogs have any hope at all, they’re going to have to start wishing for losses, and soon. Like starting tomorrow.

Overall, there are a few important matchups that you can find in the schedule this weekend that have some sort of BCS or bowl implications, but with no good chance of a huge upset anywhere on the scoreboard, it looks like just another ordinary weekend of college football in this kind of ordinary college football season.

But we can always hope, right?

As far as bowl games go, the Armed Forces Bowl isn’t half bad.

Good name, late in the bowl season (December 31^st), ESPN coverage and two solid conference ties, the C-USA and Mountain West Conference.

Usually, the winner of the MWC would be headed to Forth Worth to play in this very worthy bowl game, but this year its just a little different for the non-BCS conference schools.

See this year, both TCU and Boise State (of the WAC) have good shots at making a BCS bowl, and for TCU to avoid a date in Texas on New Year’s Eve and head to a BCS bowl, this weekend’s match up with Utah is of the utmost importance.

The Horned Frogs have climbed all the way up the BCS standings in the last four weeks to No. 4, the highest ranked non-BCS school in the country. Where they sit now, TCU would be assured of a BCS bowl bid, but the Utes stand in their way.

A victory by Utah would likely give them the MWC conference title, and send them to either the aforementioned Armed Forces Bowl or the Humanitarian Bowl, but this week all they’re focused on is the Horned Frogs.

The Utes have been in just this situation in the past. In fact, last year an undefeated Utes team faced a game Horned Frogs squad with the chance for a BCS bowl bid for Utah on the line, and Utah prevailed, making its way to the Sugar Bowl. The Utes hope the favor is not returned to TCU.

This MWC showdown highlights a weekend of very important conference matchups.

As we come down the stretch of the college football season, for the teams not vying for BCS glory, these weeks will decide whether they go to a bowl, or sit at home and watch 68 other teams play one final game in one of the 34 bowls this season.

Also at stake this weekend is a Rose Bowl bid from the Big 10. Iowa, who had been coasting to the Big 10 conference title and a shot at the Roses, experienced their first loss last weekend. Now they face Ohio State, the winner likely to win the conference and a date in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.

The triumvirate ruling over college football this season – Texas, Alabama and Florida – all go on the road this weekend to weaker in conference opponents, looking to avoid upsets and put dampers on both their opponents in-conference and overall records.

The season winds down and bowl games begin to fill, crunch time for the nation’s best is approaching. This is when college football is at its finest, with the postseason on the line, and as much as you think you know about the season thus far may have absolutely nothing to do with what we could see in the coming weeks.

Those weeks start now.

Enjoy.

No matter how set in stone the national title picture might seem, it’s never truly over until the last BCS standings are released. The past few years certainly taught us that much.

As the analysts continue to believe, the winner of the Alabama-Florida SEC Championship Game will meet Texas on Jan. 7, 2010 for the national title.

But be wary—the BCS is a wild ride, and we’re nowhere near the end.

And LSU is going to have something to say about it by the end, and they get their first crack on Saturday.

The Tigers will travel to Tuscaloosa to face the Crimson Tide and Mark Ingram, knowing that a victory over Alabama would likely give them another chance to face the Gators, this time at a neutral site for the SEC Championship Game.

Don’t look now, but a victory there could very well get the Tigers to the BCS Championship Game, but we’ll cross that bridge if we get there.

Other than that ranked matchup in the SEC, the weekend doesn’t bear much possibility of a BCS-influencing game, but, then again, you never know with the BCS.

Ohio State versus Penn State will be very good game, but neither team is realistically in the national title picture.

They can still compete for a BCS bowl bid if Iowa, on the edge of losing for weeks, finally falters.

At this point in the season, strong displays of skill from top teams might affect poll votes, but it won’t be much. Usually, the media and coaches don’t like changing team rankings without a significant reason.

Look out for changes on the computer, if we want any real change next week other than the precipitous drop from whichever team loses in that SEC battle.

Alabama—with a victory—would get a big boost from the victory over an opponent with the strength of LSU, and could jump Texas (facing a very computer-mediocre UCF) again, as the two teams battle for the No. 2 ranking in the BCS.

The TCU-Boise State computer showdown will continue to make noise this week if both win.

Boise goes up against Louisiana Tech, while the Horned Frogs face San Diego State. Neither will see much gained from victories, but as we all know, a loss would be devastating.

So while this weekend doesn’t seem like the most interesting one of the year, every once in a while, it’s these kinds of weekends that bring the most shocking changes to the college football landscape. All you have to do is stay tuned.

Enjoy.

The first BCS standings are nearly a week old. Teams now know the climb that faces them over the next seven weeks if they are to make it to the national title game.

That climb starts tomorrow.

Almost every single team ranked in the top 25 will face a tough in-conference match up this weekend, highlighted by four of the top five BCS teams facing tough road games in hostile environments.

No. 1 Florida will travel to Mississippi State, to face a Bulldog team that will be no pushover. And from the looks of the past few Gator SEC games, a few mistakes may send Florida tumbling down the BCS rankings if they aren’t careful.

No. 4 Boise State risks its undefeated record at Hawaii, never an easy place to claim victory, against the Rainbow Warriors in a tough WAC matchup.

No. 5 Cincinnati travels to Louisville to take on a Cardinal team looking for any sort of redemption, trying to reclaim the Big East glory that has become all Cincinnati’s in the past two years.

But the real test of the weekend will be the No. 3 Texas Longhorns, already with doubts cast about them already due to poor showings against Oklahoma and Colorado in two of their opening Big 12 conference games.

No. 2 Alabama, playing at home, doesn’t come up all roses, facing a Tennessee team looking for a way to make some national noise in coach Lane Kiffin’s first year.

But the game of the weekend would find itself in the most unlikely of places, Provo, Utah. BYU and TCU will face off in a battle of two of the three BCS busting hopes of the nation (the other being Boise’s bid). For TCU, a victory could spell increased support from both the computers and the human element. For BYU, a return to the top ten could be in order after falling following a loss to Florida State.

This week following the initial release of the BCS standings always presents intriguing storylines. How will teams that felt they have been slighted by the computers in the first iteration of the BCS iteration react?

Something to look for in the coming weeks is the effect of conference scheduling on the computer rankings. For those conferences with multiple teams in the top 15 (Pac 10, SEC, Big 12) the conference portion of those highly ranked teams may provide a boost in the computers.

For those conferences with lower turnout in the BCS rankings (Big 10, Big East, ACC, BCS buster conferences), the coming weeks may kick out the stool from under their high rankings, as many will take a shot from the computers, and see their averages decline.

But that’s all discussion for the future, for now, lets enjoy a weekend in which 24 of the top 25 AP teams are in action, and see just what the BCS standings look like on Sunday.

Maybe we’ll see something completely different.