Subway Domer is putting together a weekly Notre Dame blog roundtable type post with this being the first such post. Here’s my entry for the week.
1. Of the four presumed national title contenders to go down this past week–USC, Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin–which team has the best chance to get back in the race by the end of the year?
I never thought Wisconsin was a national title contender so definitely not the Badgers. USC won’t have enough chances to make up any style points with their schedule. If they beat the hell out of everyone left on their schedule (let’s hope not since we play them) they will end up with maybe two wins over 25 teams in the final poll. USC had to win out and win impressively. Florida lost to an unranked team so they will have a harder time getting back into the race over some of the other 1 loss teams. They would have to be down right dominant to get back in it. So that brings me to Georgia. The SEC is head and shoulders above the other conferences right now they were the only team of the four to lose to a ranked team. If they were to win out and win the SEC title game, I think there is a good chance they play for the title.
2. But what does this mean for Ohio State? Are they back in?
No. Ohio State blew any chance they had of playing for the title with 1 loss back in January when they laid an egg in the title game for the second straight year. I don’t think it matters though. The way Ohio State has looked they will lose another game this year.
3. Did the week that was open the door for any of the undefeateds out of some of the non-BCS conferences like the Mountain West or the Big East? (Yup, that’s a cheap shot. Thanks, Virginia Tech for not allowing me to make it about the ACC.)
The one team I really like here is South Florida. They have won a couple games closer than I thought they should, but I love the way they play. They play hard and they play fast. Their schedule is very weak the rest of the way which will be a double edged sword for them. It should allow them to have a great chance of going undefeated, but how does someone vote in South Florida over say a one loss team from the Big 12 or SEC? Sorry, I don’t think any of the “BCS Busters” like BYU have a real shot for the same reason. I don’t care if they are undefeated, can anyone say with a straight face that they think BYU is better than Florida, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, or Auburn? I can’t; and that means that at best BYU would be maybe the 6th best team in the SEC.
Sorry this post has such an SEC bias in it. I really don’t like the SEC at all. Not even a little bit. But… I don’t think anyone can deny that this particular conference is at its absolute height in terms of power right now.
Not looking good for Will Yeatman, they are going to charge him for his DUI.
USC & OSU are going to loose again. Florida with Tebow may be back at end of year, which we know he will muster up more than 17 yards rushing in the next few games.
I think this is Nick Saben’s year in the SEC, not sold on Oklahoma for the title.
Non-BCS? I don’t see one in the title game.
We need about three more games to have a better prediction.