And then there were three…
With all the worries about the Bowl Championship Series having so many undefeated teams, fate sorted out the pretenders as no big shock to most avid college football watchers.
The most obvious came as Philip Rivers and N.C. State fell back with the rest of the pack with a conference loss to Georgia Tech.
After spending all season beating up on perennial “powerhouses” like East Tennessee State, New Mexico, Navy and Massachusetts, the Wolfpack finally fell to where they belong – behind Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Did anyone really think N.C. State would end the year undefeated? My bet is they’ll lose to both Maryland and FSU.
Another easy choice for a team that would lose was Georgia. Much like LSU, how could Georgia keep winning as their starters continued to drop with injuries?
As bad as the Gators have played, you just knew they would redeem themselves and possibly head coach Ron Zook’s job.
Don’t be fooled by Georgia’s performance. While the Bulldogs’ national title hopes have been dashed, they will win the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division and reach a BCS bowl game.
Virginia Tech’s loss did come as a shock. I didn’t envision the Hokies finishing undefeated on the season, but that was mainly because of their Pearl Harbor Day match with top-ranked Miami.
Somehow Pitt’s defense held the impressive Virginia Tech rushing attack to 130 yards on a 2.9 average. Kevin Jones, one-half of the Hokie dynamic duo “The Untouchables,” left the game with a hamstring injury after only two rushes.
Then we come to the best game of the weekend – Notre Dame. My favorite team in college football is the team that plays against the Irish.
Once everyone had agreed Notre Dame was a true contender following its defeat of Florida State, history repeated itself and Boston College dashed the Irish hopes of an undefeated season.
Notre Dame’s defense proved its worth once again but as usual the offense was lacking. The Eagles used the Irish strategy of forcing turnovers against them as B.C.’s two scores came from a fumble and an interception. How sweet it is.
So that leaves three teams to sort out the mess of the BCS and each is a worthy contender. Obviously, I’m not mentioning Bowling Green as undefeated.
Ohio State continues to ride the young legs of true freshman Maurice Clarett while boasting a punishing defense.
The most points a team has scored against the Buckeyes came in the opening week against Texas Tech with 21. Ohio State has given up 12.8 points per game while scoring an average of 33.2 per contest.
With the omission of No. 6 Iowa from the Big Ten schedule, the Buckeyes only big test remaining is Michigan.
Although Miami still holds the top spot in the polls, the ‘Canes have shown vulnerability in recent weeks. Miami should have lost to the Seminoles if not for the wide-something curse and found itself down 17-14 at the half to the deplorable Rutgers on Saturday.
With upcoming games against Tennessee and Virginia Tech, I expect Miami to lose at least one.
Oklahoma has smashed every team it has faced – that includes Texas, Alabama, Iowa State and, most recently, Colorado. With a patsy schedule the rest of the way, there’s no question the Sooners will finish undefeated.
The national championship game will pit Oklahoma against Ohio State, and the Sooners will crush the Buckeyes en route to their second national title in three years.