Both No. 1-ranked Missouri and No. 2-ranked West Virginia had to go and lose in the final weekend of this year's regular college football season, throwing the Allstate BCS National Championship Game into a crapshoot in which No. 3-ranked Ohio State and No. 5-ranked LSU won.
Had Missouri beaten Oklahoma for the Big 12 championship, and had West Virginia beaten Pittsburgh, they would be playing in the BCS National Championship Game. Instead, it will be Ohio State (11-1) and LSU (11-2) for all the marbles. LSU will be the first two-loss team to play for the national title since the inception of the BCS in 1998.
No. 9-ranked Oklahoma (11-2), which whipped Missouri 41-31 earlier in the season, humbled Missouri again by 3 touchdowns, 38-17, to end the Tigers national title hopes. By winning again the Sooners won the Big 12 championship and a BCS bowl game berth. They will face West Virginia (10-2) in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
West Virginia lost to Pittsburgh (5-7) 13-9 on its home field in a defensive battle. It was a sad end to the Mountaineers regular season. The Mountaineers continue to vex themselves by having won more games than any other team in major college football without winning a national title.
Pittsburgh Coach Dave Wannstedt, a Pitt grad who played tackle for the Panthers, was a former defensive coordinator for the NFL Dallas Cowboys and also Head Coach for the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins. He has made Pitt a tough opponent despite a 16-19 record since taking over in 2005.
LSU helped its case immensely by turning back Tennessee 21-14 and winning the SEC championship. By staying the course, the Tigers find themselves playing for their 2nd national championship in 5 years. LSU won the title in 2003 by beating Oklahoma 21-14.
The LSU Tigers also benefited by losing both of their only losses to Louisville and Arkansas in triple overtime. They could have just as easily been 12-0 like Hawaii.
Ohio State, which was idle this weekend after beating Michigan 14-3 for the Big 10 title a week earlier, just sat patiently and watched as Missouri and West Virginia blew their chances.
No. 6-ranked Virginia Tech (11-2) slapped Boston College 30-16 to win the Atlantic Coast championship and a BCS bowl game spot in the FedEx Orange Bowl against Kansas (11-1).
No. 8-ranked Southern California (10-2) beat UCLA 24-7 to earn an unprecedented 6th consecutive Pac 10 championship. The Trojans were ranked No. 1 starting the season but suffered a shocking 24-23 loss to 41-point underdog Stanford, and then they were upset by Oregon 24-17 to knock them out of national title contention.
Do not feel too bad for Southern Cal though as the win gets them a BCS bowl game appearance in the Rose Bowl against Illinois (9-3). It also marks the Trojans 6th straight BCS bowl berth and 32nd appearance in the Rose Bowl, commonly referred to as the "Granddaddy of All Bowl Games".
No. 11-ranked Hawaii ended its season with two 4th quarter touchdowns to edge Washington 35-28 and finish as the nation's only undefeated Division 1A team at 12-0.
By winning, Hawaii-the outright Western Athletic Conference champions-earned a BCS bowl game spot in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Georgia (10-2).
Washington stormed to a quick 21-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game on 3 Hawaii turnovers, but the Warriors proved their mettle by coming from behind on the strong and accurate arm of senior Colt Brennan, who completed 42 of 50 passes for 442 yards, 5 touchdowns and no interceptions.
Brennan, who should be playing on Sundays in the NFL, notched a school record 20 straight completions against the pathetic Husky secondary that ranks 99th among 119 Division 1A schools in both Pass Defense and Pass Efficiency Defense. Brennan has thrown for 4.174 yards and 38 touchdowns this season.
Here is some well deserved love for Hawaii: The Warriors may have played a weak schedule (rated 137th among 119 Division 1A teams), and the Washington Huskies may have played the nation's toughest schedule (rated No. 1 nationally), but Hawaii beat Washington straight up 35-28 and is the better team. Period, that's it.
And more Hawaiian love: Like it or not, the Warriors have won a national-best 13 straight games, and 22 of their last 23 games. They have a chance to make it 14 straight wins and continue the streak by beating Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Two teams that were passed over for BCS bowl games were Missouri (11-2) and Arizona State (10-2), each of which could have gotten a bid.
The real winner of that elusive last spot among the 5 BCS bowl games went to Illinois (9-3), which lost to Missouri, Iowa and Michigan during the regular season. The choice of Illinois should be no mystery when you know that Illinois was 2-10 last year and 9-3 this year. Credit Head Coach Ron Zook for the incredible turnaround the Fighting Illini experienced.
Perhaps even more important to advertisers is that Illinois is in the nation's 3rd largest metro market (9 million people) and its opponent-Southern Cal-is in the nation's 2nd largest metro market (12.3 million). These markets dwarf Arizona's largest market (13th at 4 million) and Missouri's largest market (18th at 2.7 million). It is all about people and money and where they are at for advertisers.
Arizona State did beat in-state rival Arizona 20-17 but the win was hardly impressive, not that it mattered. The Sun Devils could have beaten them by 4 touchdowns and the result would probably have been the same: no BCS slot for Arizona State. Both Arizona State and Missouri will play in bowl games, just not the 5 major BCS ones with big payouts.
Here is a complete list of this year's bowl lineup; all game times are listed in EST.
2007-08 College Football Bowl Schedule
Dec. 20 - Thursday
Utah (8-4) vs. Navy (8-4) in the Poinsettia Bowl - ESPN, 9 p.m.
Dec. 21 - Friday
Florida Atlantic (7-5) vs. Memphis (7-5) in the New Orleans Bowl - ESPN2, 8 p.m.
Dec. 22 - Saturday
Cincinnati (9-3) vs. Southern Mississippi in the Papajohns.com Bowl - ESPN2, 1 p.m.
New Mexico (8-4) vs. Nevada (6-6) in the New Mexico Bowl - ESPN, 4:30 p.m.
Brigham Young (10-2) vs. UCLA (6-6) in the Las Vegas Bowl - ESPN, 8 p.m.
Dec. 23 - Sunday
East Carolina (7-5) vs. Boise State (10-2) in the Hawaii Bowl - ESPN, 8 p.m.
Dec. 26 - Wednesday
Purdue (7-5) vs. Central Michigan (8-5) in the Motor City Bowl - ESPN, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 27 - Thursday
Texas (9-3) vs. Arizona State (10-2) in the Holiday Bowl - ESPN, 8 p.m.
Dec. 28 - Friday
Michigan State (7-5) vs. Boston College (10-3) in the Champs Sports Bowl - ESPN, 5 p.m.
Houston (8-4) vs. TCU (7-5) in the Texas Bowl - NFL Network, 8 p.m.
Oregon State (8-4) vs. Maryland (6-6) in the Emerald Bowl - ESPN, 8:30 p.m.
Dec. 29 - Saturday
Wake Forest (8-4) vs. Connecticut (9-3) in the Meineke Car Care Bowl - ESPN, 1 p.m.
Central Florida (10-3) vs. Mississippi State (7-5) in the Liberty Bowl - ESPN, 4:30 p.m.
Texas A&M (7-5) vs. Penn State (8-4) in the Alamo Bowl - ESPN, 8 p.m.
Dec. 30 - Sunday
Alabama (6-6) vs. Colorado (6-6) in the Independence Bowl - ESPN, 8 p.m.
Dec. 31 - Monday - New Year's Eve
Air Force (9-3) vs. California (6-6) in the Armed Forces Bowl - ESPN, 12:30 p.m.
Oregon (8-4) vs. South Florida (9-3) in the Sun Bowl - CBS, 2 p.m.
Georgia Tech (7-5) vs. Fresno State (8-4) in the Humanitarian Bowl - ESPN, 2 p.m.
Kentucky (7-5) vs. Florida State (7-5) in the Music City Bowl - ESPN, 4 p.m.
Indiana (7-5) vs. Oklahoma State (6-6) in the Insight Bowl - NFL Network, 5:30 p.m.
Auburn (8-4) vs. Clemson (9-3) in the Chick-fil-A Bowl - ESPN, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 1 - Tuesday - New Year's Day
Wisconsin (9-3) vs. Tennessee (9-4) in the Outback Bowl - ESPN, 11 a.m.
Missouri (11-2) vs. Arkansas (8-4) in the Cotton Bowl - Fox, 11:30 a.m.
Virginia (9-3) vs. Texas Tech (8-4) in the Gator Bowl - CBS, 1 p.m.
Michigan (8-4) vs. Florida (9-3) in the Capital One Bowl - ABC, 1 p.m.
Illinois (9-3) vs. Southern California (10-2) in the Rose Bowl (a BCS Bowl Game) - ABC, 5 p.m.
Hawaii (12-0) vs. Georgia (10-2) in the Sugar Bowl (a BCS Bowl Game) - Fox, 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 2 - Wednesday
Oklahoma (11-2) vs. West Virginia (10-2) in the Fiesta Bowl (a BCS Bowl Game) - Fox, 8 p.m.
Jan. 3 - Thursday
Virginia Tech (11-2) vs. Kansas (11-1) in the Orange Bowl (a BCS Bowl Game) - Fox, 8 p.m.
Jan. 5 - Saturday
Rutgers (7-5) vs. Ball State (7-5) in the International Bowl in Toronto, Canada - ESPN, Noon.
Jan. 6 - Sunday
Tulsa (9-4) vs. Bowling Green (8-4) in the GMAC Bowl - ESPN, 8 p.m.
Jan. 7 - Monday
Ohio State (11-1) vs. LSU (11-2) in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans - Fox, 8 p.m.
Note: ESPN dominates bowl game broadcasting. ESPN will broadcast 21 of the 32 bowl games, Fox 5, and ABC, CBS and the NFL Network 2 apiece.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
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