Published October 29, 2012 - 12:25pm
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The SEC’s streak of six national championships in a row is at stake this weekend in the coveted matchup between #1 Alabama and #5 LSU. If a one-loss LSU pulls the upset at home, it would likely shatter the SEC’s chances at getting to and winning a national championship, something the rest of the country would crawl over glass for.
Alabama, for all intents and purposes, should take care of business at Tiger Stadium, but LSU has the best shot remaining to upset Alabama.
With LSU sitting at #5 as the highest ranked one-loss team, three undefeated teams still remain in Kansas State, Notre Dame and Oregon. KSU and UND should run the table and finish undefeated, and Oregon could jump at least Notre Dame if they win out, too. It could get very messy.
Here are the remaining schedules for each of those teams:
#2 Kansas State (8-0)
Nov. 3: #24 Oklahoma State
Nov. 10: at TCU
Nov. 17: at Baylor
Dec. 1: #23 Texas
Buzz: Kansas State looks like the team to beat, aside from Alabama. Led by Heisman hopeful Colin Klein, the Wildcats should win all four of their remaining games, emerging as the undefeated Big 12 champion. But let’s not forget what happened in Ames, Iowa, last season when Oklahoma State was upset by Iowa State. I don’t see that happening to Kansas State, especially since their two toughest games are at home.
#3 Notre Dame (8-0)
Nov. 3: Pittsburgh
Nov. 10: at Boston College
Nov. 17: Wake Forest
Nov. 24: at #17 USC
Buzz: The Irish can sleepwalk through the next three games, with the toughest game obviously on the road at USC. But the defense that showed up for UND on Saturday beats USC on the road. Since Notre Dame is independent, they have no conference championship game riding on it either. This is a very good football team.
#4 Oregon (8-0)
Nov. 3: at #17 USC
Nov. 10: at California
Nov. 17: #14 Stanford
Dec. 24: at #11 Oregon State
Buzz: Oregon has the best shot of the three to lose at least one game, eliminating them from contention. With three ranked conference games and a conference championship, the Ducks will get all the respect they deserve if they run that table.
So, if you thought this year’s Alabama-LSU game would be a snoozer with not as much on the line, think again. Everything is on the line. The entire country will be pulling for LSU to upset Alabama just so the SEC gets shut out of the national championship game.
The SEC’s domination of the BCS could come to an end Saturday night in Baton Rouge.
Oregon obviously has the hardest road to the championship at this point (being ranked 4th and having 3 top 20 teams left, along with Cal at Cal).
Notre Dame can easily go undefeated if anyone is left to claim that they aren’t legit…just…shut it. They have proven themselves, over and over again.
I see Kansas State losing a game. I don’t know why, but I got a feeling in my gut. I think the poetic justice would be Oklahoma State. But I really I could see TCU or Baylor playing spoiler.
I Agree…my question is this: ND and K-State not playing conference title games may seem like an advantage…But does an impressive victory by Oregon or a one Loss SEC Champ that weekend catapult them into the #2 spot? or what about if Bama gets beat by a field goal saturday but then Romps every one else (like last year) would they get the bid over a 1 loss sec champ (LSU/UF/UGA) I certainly hope not. Good luck with all those Bowl projections next week if Bama does go down saturday. BCS Bedlam is likely upon us either way.
Be nice if they just implemented the 4 team playoff this year huh?
Yeah, but it usually plays its way out just in time for the BCS selections.
true…guess time will tell
How would LSU beat Alabama and then win the SECCG against Florida or Georgia, a top ten team, and then Alabama get the title shot? No way does that happen, LSU’s one loss would have been to a top ten ranked Florida team, and would have the win over Alabama, and one additional win over Alabama. That would make absolutely no sense and would not happen.
Lets say all four teams run the Gauntlet…I think Oregon would be the best matchup for Bama. They are just more balanced on Offense than ND. But we all know who would get the bid because the ESPN hype wagon will be goin berserk over a possible ND/Bama title game. All the history…all the glory…all the titles…and all asterisks beside them. Haha easy Bammers Just Kiddin!
More Explosive..not more balanced
I think a physical team needs to play Alabama and that’s likely either KState or Notre Dame. I think Oregon would get embarrassed. Notre Dame and KState would struggle to move the ball, but at least they can match up physically to an extent.
Have you seen Oregon play this year? This is not the same Oregon team that LSU manhandled at the beginning of last season. You can tell that Kelly has worked hard on building them boys up. Those DBs arent 180 lbs any more…theyre 200 lbs and bringing the wood when they tackle. They are bigger up front too…and have some really good pass rushers on the edges. They knew they had to be more than just speed to compete with the SEC, and you can tell they have done something about it.