The Playoffs Have Begun

With the college football regular season ending in four weeks, I thought it was time for a column about the key matchups that will form the Bowl Championship Series Bowl games and the National Championship.  There are a total of 10 matchups that will undoubtedly decide conference championships and at-large berths as well as teams vying for a national championship.  Get ready!
#3 Louisville @ #15 Rutgers Thursday November 9
With Louisville dominating a very good West Virginia team, everyone has put them in the race for a national championship.  This game however could end their run.  The Rutgers have the second ranked scoring defense in the nation, ranking only behind Ohio State.  In spite of this I still don’t believe Rutgers is good enough to beat a mighty Louisville offense.  This will be a highly watched game this Thursday on ESPN.  I expect it to be close but I see Louisville winning 42-28.

#13 Tennessee @ #12 Arkansas Saturday November 11
This game means a whole lot more to Arkansas then it does for Tennessee for one reason.  Tennessee is, let’s just say it, out of SEC East contention.  With Florida beating Tennessee earlier in the season they have the tiebreak, but they will not lose against a mediocre South Carolina team.  This game could potentially give Auburn the break it needs to get into the SEC Championship.  Auburn plays two of the worst SEC teams to end the season in Alabama and Georgia, while Arkansas has this game and then they play LSU.  This will be a great game and will end in the last couple minutes of the game.  I just feel Jonathan Crompton will be the difference maker and will lead the Vols to a victory, 24-21.

#21 Oregon @ #7 USC Saturday November 11
This game is the start of a proverbial hell for USC.  They will play three straight weeks against teams in the AP Top 25, with two of those teams being in the Top 10.  This is a game, which USC will win, but it is a game where they are going to have to play the whole 60 minutes.  Oregon is a good team and USC is struggling, but I think USC will notice unless they turn it around quick their streak of BCS Bowls in going down the toilet.  USC and their explosive offense will put up big numbers and the defense won’t allow many points.  The score, 42-24.

#20 Virginia Tech @ #18 Wake Forest Saturday November 18
Virginia Tech fans have already “faced the music” and have had to come face to face with reality.  Why you ask?  They are not a powerhouse in this league right now, and will not be partaking in the ACC Championship game, as Georgia Tech has sewn it up.  But Georgia Tech still has two conference games left, you say.  True, but they play two of the worst team in Division 1A in Duke and North Carolina.  All they need to do is win one of those games to be in the championship game, because they have the tiebreaker against Virginia Tech.  The only reason I have this game is because if Wake Forest wins then they would play Maryland the next week to see who wins the ACC Atlantic (pending a Maryland win.) Despite the fact that Tech will not win the championship this year, I see Tech winning the game, 27-17.

#23 Maryland @ #16 Boston College Saturday November 18
With all the great games today, I think this game is worthy of being mentioned.  With a Wake Forest lost, Maryland has the chance to take the lead in the ACC Atlantic.  But standing in front of them is a very, very good Boston College team, who many analysts believe is their year.  Boston College could not take the lead in the Atlantic because they lost to Wake Forest earlier, but they can tie.  Ralph Friedgen and Co. have had a great year, but Boston College will dominate this game, 47-24.

#8 California @ #7 USC Saturday November 18
Like I said, the short but tough road for USC continues for the second straight week.  They play one of the best teams in the country, California at home.  If this was at California’s stadium it would be unanimous.  But since it is in LA, this game will be a little harder to pick.  It seems everyone in the country right now loves California, while that many people believe USC is pretending.  USC has a great set of players and a good coaching staff, but it doesn’t look like they are on the same page, as proved by the Oregon State loss last week.  Also, if Cal wins this game then the Pac 10 Championship will be theirs because they will only be able to lose one game and the closet to them would be USC with two losses.  This will be a close game but USC will be tired, and they will play like it.  Cal wins a shootout, 48-42.

#2 Michigan @ #1 OSU Saturday November 18
Well, this is the game everyone has been waiting for.  I have never seen or heard more people discuss this game.  #1 vs. #2 part two.  OSU won the first one vs. two against Texas earlier this season and most people including myself believe it has the potential to be like that.  Why?  There is one thing that separates these two teams.  Troy Smith.  The leading heisman candidate and best quarterback in the NCAA.  He will be huge in this game; just like has been in every other OSU, Michigan game he has played in.  The winner goes to the national championship, and the team will be Ohio State.  OSU wins a blockbuster 35-17.

#12 LSU @ #11 Arkansas Friday November 24
This game is huge for Arkansas because it will decide if they go to the SEC Championship.  Since Arkansas already lost to Tennessee they are tied with Auburn for the SEC West lead.  If Arkansas wins, then they are in the game.  If they lose, Auburn will advance.  I think this is just another great college football game, and will once again come down to the last minutes.  Jamarcus Russell proved last week he can win a big game and I do not think the will disappoint in this game either.  Arkansas has been a great story this year, but it is all over now.  LSU wins 27-21.

#18 Wake Forest @ #23 Maryland Saturday November 25
Maryland, by virtue of their loss to Boston College, will not advance to the ACC Championship even if they win, because of the tiebreak to Boston College.  Wake Forest on the other hand beat Boston College and can secure a berth in the ACC Championship with a win.  I think this game will be the closest “big game” this year.  With Maryland being able to stop Wake Forest and vice versa it will be a low scoring game.  Because Wake Forest has implications on this game and Maryland does not, I feel Wake Forest will win the game.  But like i said, it is very close, so close there is an overtime.  Wake Forest secures a berth in the ACC championship game by defeating Maryland 23-17.

#9 Notre Dame @ #7 USC Saturday November 25
Since USC has come to terms with the reality that there will be a new Pac 10 champion, I think they will give everything they have to defeat their bitter rivals, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.  This game will not give USC anything, not even an at-large BCS berth, but they can also do the same to Notre Dame if they win the game.  By giving Notre Dame a second loss and making it at the end of the season, Notre Dame will not be able to be picked as an at-large team for a BCS bowl game this year.  The offenses are great, but USC has a better defense that will shut down Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, and the rest of the Notre Dame offense.  I look for this game to be a rout.  USC wins big 35-20.

After reading this I am sure you can now see the champions in each of the divisions but if not I will list them for you to see now.

ACC Atlantic- Wake Forest
ACC Coastal- Georgia Tech
Big East- Louisville
Big Ten- Ohio State (BCS Championship Contender)
Big 12 North- Nebraska
Big 12 South- Texas
Pac 10- California
SEC East- Florida
SEC West- Auburn

Now here is how I see the BCS bowls.

Fiesta- Texas vs. Boise State (at-large)
Orange- Georgia Tech vs. Louisville
Sugar- Auburn (at-large) vs. West Virginia (at-large)
Rose- California vs. Michigan (at-large)
BCS Championship- Ohio St. vs. Florida

So for the next four weeks there will be some great college football on.  And like I previously said, there are more than those 10 game featuring ranked teams facing each other.  Also, in December the conference championship games start.  Happy TVing.