An entire season passed us by we waited for an upset, some kind of drama.

Finally we got a dramatic weekend, and an upset of the No. 1 team in the nation in the final weekend of the season, and the BCS bowls were finally announced after weeks of prognostication.

After upsetting the Florida Gators in the SEC Championship Game, the Alabama Crimson Tide secured a berth in the BCS National Title game, where they will meet the Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns needed a last-second field goal to clinch the Big 12 title and spot in the National Title game.

The two teams finish a convincing 1-2 in the final BCS rankings, with Cincinnati finishing third, but outside of striking distance.

The rest of the BCS bowl bids were filled rather predictably, in fact the ten teams that received BCS bowl bids were the teams that finished 1-10 in the final BCS rankings.

Falling to No. 5 after their loss in the SEC Championship Game, the Florida Gators were rewarded for an undefeated regular season with a Sugar Bowl bid where they will meet those Bearcats.

No. 4 TCU and No. 6 Boise State will meet in the Fiesta Bowl, a first for the non-BCS conferences – not only to play each other in a BCS bowl game – but also the first time ever that more than one non-BCS school was invited to the BCS party.

No. 7 Oregon and No. 8 Ohio State have known their fates for quite some time, and when the BCS rankings were released, it mattered little where they finished – the Rose Bowl will likely provide one of the best matchups of the bowl season.

No. 9 Georgia Tech will find themselves rewarded for their ACC Championship with a matchup with Big 10 resurgent Iowa, who finish tenth in the final BCS standings.

So the regular season is done, and now we enter what ESPN calls the most wonderful time of the year. Stay tuned to BCS Know How as we will provide previews and analysis in the coming days for all the bowl games.

Final BCS Rankings – December 6th

Projected 2010 BCS Bowls

	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California. January 1st
	Ohio State Buckeyes
vs.
	Oregon Ducks
	Comment: Oregon made this matchup official on Thursday by clinching the Pac-10 Championship by defeated Oregon State. Ohio State clinched a spot in the Rose Bowl weeks ago, and now will prepare for the talented Duck attack
	Sugar Bowl New Orleans, Louisiana. January 1st
	Florida Gators
vs.
	TCU Horned Frogs
	Comment: TCU is assured a BCS bowl with their final BCS ranking as the highest ranked non-BCS school. Florida, after losing the SEC Championship Game will likely still receive a BCS bowl bid, and the Sugar Bowl will be happy to take a replacement SEC team after losing Alabama to the National Championship Game.
	Fiesta Bowl Glendale, Arizona. January 4th
	Boise State Broncos
vs.
	Iowa Hawkeyes
	Comment: Boise State continues to be the most attractive candidate for a BCS at-large selection that hasn’t already been assumed, and the Fiesta Bowl, after losing Big 12 Champ Texas to the National Title game, will want an attractive game. Boise State put together one of the greatest games in college football history at the Fiesta Bowl just a few years ago, and the Fiesta Bowl remembers it and will want more excitement. The Hawkeyes are the next most attractive candidates for at-large selection, and will likely land here.
	Orange Bowl Miami, Florida. January 5th
	Cincinnati Bearcats
vs.
	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
	Comment: Both teams need late comeback victories to clinch their respective conference championships, but pulled out victories late. The ACC and Big East Champs have met here many times before, and could easily be doing it again this year. Georgia Tech is assured of this bid as the ACC Champion.
	2009 Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game Pasadena, California. January 7th
	Alabama Crimson Tide
vs.
	Texas Longhorns
	Comment: While its not what we expected, this Alabama vs. Texas matchup has been in the cards for quite some time. After Alabama clinched the SEC championship earlier in the day, they replaced the Gators in this slot. The Longhorns followed suit in the Big 12, although had a bit more trouble, but won all the same. Therefore this matchup is basically in the books. Its gonna be a good one.

We’ve been waiting the entire length of the college football season for a huge upset, but haven’t gotten one.

For all the boredom that that brings to the college football scene, the week seven BCS standings finally point to a final weekend of the season that could be supremely exciting.

Florida, Alabama and Texas occupy the top three spots as they have all season, and are set to play in season deciding games.

Florida and Alabama have known for quite some time that winning out during the regular season would allow for a national semifinal in the SEC Championship Game, and that’s exactly what we’re going to get, as a loss by either team would knock it out of the national title spots. A victory would send either team to the BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, Calif.

Texas only needs to beat No. 22 Nebraska in order to punch their ticket to Pasadena for the title game, but after the Longhorns had some trouble with Texas A&M anything is still possible.

After that, things get a little more interesting.

Say, for instance, that Texas is shocked in the Big 12 Championship Game. Who would fill their spot?

No. 4 TCU and No. 5 Cincinnati have sat in the two spots directly behind the Longhorns for a few weeks now, but the Bearcats have slowly but surely crept closer and closer to the Horned Frogs during these weeks.

TCU has basically locked up a BCS bowl spot, but could they take the spot of the Longhorns should they falter? Or, should they beat Pitt on Saturday, will the BCS be untrusting of a non-BCS team in the national title game and jump the Bearcats over TCU and leave the state of Texas completely out of the national title game?

At No. 6 Boise State must feel left out in all of this, even as an undefeated team. There is no chance for them to make the national title game, and it still seems like a 50-50 proposition for a BCS bowl bid.

No year has come where two non-BCS schools have participated in the BCS, but this could be that year.

After Oklahoma State lost on Saturday, which certainly helped the Broncos cause, but there remains the strong possibility of another BCS conference team being taken ahead of the Broncos with an at-large selection

No. 7 Oregon will face No. 16 Oregon State for the Pac-10’s Rose Bowl bid and conference championship, playing for the rights to face No. 8 Ohio State.

No. 9 Iowa and No. 11 Penn State will likely also be battling it out in the press for a BCS at-large selection, as both are attractive candidates for the bowls with large national followings.

No. 10 Georgia Tech lost on Saturday to instate rival Georiga, but still can make a BCS bowl if they can beat Clemson in the ACC Championship Game next Saturday.

Until that time it’s sure to be a hectic projection-filled week as we approach the final weekend of the college football season.

You’ll want to stay tuned.

BCS Rankings – November 29th

Find FINAL Projected BCS Bowls (Dec. 6th) HERE

—–

Projected 2010 BCS Bowls

	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California. January 1st
	Ohio State Buckeyes
vs.
	Oregon Ducks
	Comment: Oregon will get the chance to make this matchup official on Thursday when they face off against Oregon State in their “Civil War” to decide the Pac-10 Champ, who will play in Pasadena on January 1st. BCS Know How projects the Ducks will be victorious at home.
	Sugar Bowl New Orleans, Louisiana. January 1st
	Alabama Crimson Tide
vs.
	TCU Horned Frogs
	Comment: TCU is all but assured of a BCS bowl bid, and the Sugar Bowl is as likely as any to take the Horned Frogs, as last year’s BCS buster team, Utah, had great success against the Crimson Tide in New Orleans. Alabama will have a shot at the national title and could be replaced here by Florida, but BCS Know How projects the Gators will win the SEC Championship Game this year.
	Fiesta Bowl Glendale, Arizona. January 4th
	Boise State Broncos
vs.
	Iowa Hawkeyes
	Comment: With Oklahoma State’s loss, Boise State’s BCS bowl bid hopes are great helped. Now the only thing the Broncos will need to hope against will be either Texas or Georgia Tech losing in their conference championship games, which would make either of them likely BCS at-large candidates.
	Orange Bowl Miami, Florida. January 5th
	Cincinnati Bearcats
vs.
	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
	Comment: Georgia Tech goes in stumbling to the ACC Championship Game, but so do the Clemson Tigers, and BCS Know How projects the Yellow Jackets will pull the victory out at the ACC Championship Game, giving the Jackets a BCS bowl bid, likely to be the Orange Bowl bid. Cincinnati will face Pitt for the Big East crown and is projected to take the victory.
	2009 Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game Pasadena, California. January 7th
	Florida Gators
vs.
	Texas Longhorns
	Comment: What we’ve expected all along, and if both can win out, this is the matchup the country has been waiting to see. Florida and Texas were supposed to get here, and with just one more victory each, that’s exactly what we’re going to get. Hold on to your hats.

Sure, Thanksgiving isn’t until next week, but given the opportunity, the nation’s best teams feasted on much weaker opponents on Saturday – meaning yet another week will pass without any change at the top of the BCS.

The top four of the BCS took on four teams on Saturday with a combined 19 wins.

The team with the most wins of the four was an FCS team.

And Florida, Alabama, Texas and TCU reacted appropriately, pasting their opponents in all four games and keeping all of their hopes alive for a national title chance.

Little BCS noise was made at all this weekend, with the top team to lose being the LSU Tigers, who were already counted out of the BCS this year, seeing as though they would be a third SEC team at the party that could only allow two SEC teams in.

In fact, the most important news when it comes to the BCS this weekend came from Clemson and Kansas State – two teams not even ranked in the top 20 – who were both able to secure spots in their respective conference championship games.

Texas also clinched their spot in the Big 12 Championship Game against Kansas State with their win over Kansas, but that spot was long assumed to be going to the Longhorns anyways.

The Pac-10 title picture is now clear, as Oregon State and Oregon are the only teams with chances left to make it to the Rose Bowl after Oregon defeated Arizona and Cal beat Stanford to knock both teams out of contention.

With very little change at the top, the BCS again is going to look pretty familiar tomorrow, but there will be change at the No. 8 position, as the shaky LSU team finally lost.

Without any polling information, here is a quick stab at what the BCS top 8 might look like when released after the first slate of NFL games are complete tomorrow:

Projected BCS Standings November 22nd

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?

To call this season of college football boring would be a terrible, terrible mistake.

To call this past weekend’s serving of college football boring – well that might be a pretty good assessment.

Another weekend goes by, and nothing seems to change in college football. In fact, this weekend, only one top ten team lost to an unranked opponent, No. 9 USC’s shocking home loss to Stanford.

Other than the Trojan egg laying at the LA Coliseum, favorites won out.

The most interesting storyline to come out of the weekend was probably that Ohio State claimed the first BCS bowl bid with their 27-24 overtime victory over Iowa. In clinching at least a share of the Big 10 conference title, the Buckeyes also hold the BCS bid tiebreaker, and will likely head to the Rose Bowl.

The weekend was supposed to be about a threat to TCU’s ascension to BCS glory. That didn’t exactly pan out.

Instead what we got was a really entertaining show from the Horned Frogs, enough that many might call for TCU to jump at least Texas in the next BCS standings. Will it happen?

Likely not, but expect the Horned Frogs to inch closer to the Longhorns in tomorrow’s BCS standings.

We’re inching closer to other BCS bowl bids filling up, especially in the ACC, where Georgia Tech clinched the ACC Coastal Division and a chance to win the conference’s bid for a likely Orange Bowl berth. Clemson is a step away from that game as well after CJ Spiller helped the Tigers win on Saturday.

In the Big East, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh both won, setting up an ultimate showdown on the regular season’s final weekend for the conference’s BCS bowl bid, if the two teams can make it there without a conference loss.

Texas, Alabama and Florida all continued their respective marches to their conference title games as well.

So the entire top eight won on Saturday, so tomorrow’s BCS will look mighty familiar to us all, except probably at the eighth spot, where Ohio State is likely to take over for LSU, who was pretty darn close to losing to Louisiana Tech on Saturday, and won’t find any help from the human element or the computer element for that surprisingly close result.

The Buckeyes on the other hand will get help in both areas for beating a previously adored Hawkeye team, especially in the computers.

Without any polling information, here is a quick stab at what the BCS top 8 might look like when released after the end of NFL action on FOX Sunday evening:

Projected BCS Standings November 15th

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.

It’s a wonder how such huge losses last Saturday could have such little impact on the upcoming weeks of college football.

In this week’s BCS standings, Alabama (as expected) retook the No. 2 ranking from Texas, who fell to third.

Let’s examine how little this actually means:

With their win over LSU on Saturday, Alabama clinched the SEC West crown, punching their ticket to the SEC Championship Game.

If the Tide and the Florida Gators meet undefeated, the winner will play in the BCS National Title game, regardless of where in the losing team falls in the rankings.

The hardest remaining game for Florida is its trip to South Carolina, while Alabama still must play at Auburn, however both of these opponents are unranked.

The undefeated Texas Longhorns should also finish strong against a depleted Big 12, and will likely meet a four-loss underdog in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Win out and Texas is in the BCS National Title game too.

So three top 10 teams lose on Saturday, and the national title picture hasn’t changed in the slightest.

The interesting part of the BCS actually starts at No. 4.

This week TCU jumped up to claim that spot from Iowa, giving them a good shot at an at-large BCS bowl bid.

No. 5 Cincinnati needed a near-perfect performance from QB Zach Collaros to stay undefeated, and is now the top-ranked team from a BCS conference outside of the Big 12 and the SEC.

No. 6 Boise State should be thanking its lucky stars that No. 10 Iowa lost on Saturday.

Now it’s unlikely that the Big 10 will get more than one BCS bowl bid, which opens the door for non-BCS conference teams like the Broncos.

No. 7 Georgia Tech gained the most from the weekend losses by jumping up three spots. The Yellow Jackets should be Orange Bowl-bound.

There is a huge gap between No. 7 and No. 8, but after their loss, LSU should be pleasantly surprised.

The No. 9 USC Trojans find themselves back in the BCS top 10 this weekend, after just one week outside, but have no chance at a national title.

No. 11 Ohio State and No. 12 Pittsburgh round out the top 12, with the Panthers giving the Big East two top-12 teams for the first time this season.

BCS Rankings – November 8th