I love to see all of this shakin and bakin happening in the BCS ranks. It's too bad that your top 3 have not been very challenged schedulewise (excluding 'Bama) but Boise would also fit that category.
Yes and no. Just from a pure resources standpoint (recruits, coaching, $), teams like Arkansas, Ole Miss, LSU make for a pretty tough schedule for Florida and Bama and teams like OU, Ok State, Texas Tech do the same for UT. The same can be said of the west coast. Washington, Cal, UCLA, and Arizona State might not be national title contenders this year but if you look past them on any night and they take you out of the national title picture.
Iowa's loss does not surprise me. They will wind up with 2 losses anyway, maybe even 3?
Ya know, I agree with this now. Last week, after the Indiana loss, I thought "Indiana shows up for big games and they're underrated." But now I see there are some large gaps in Iowa's game on both sides of the ball.
The Pac-10 is spread thick with good teams and now the conference champ is almost completely up in the air. A dark horse like Oregon St. or Arizona might even end up on top. Next week the Ducks @Arizona. It's entirely possible that they could be playing for the Rose Bowl. USC (if they survive) will probably get Boise St. in the Fiesta Bowl.
I know, it's sick. I really hope we see Oregon play in the Rose Bowl because they, IMO, are the best team in the Pac. Here is my order in the Pac:
1. Oregon
2. USC
3. Stanford
4. Arizona
5. Oregon State
6. Cal
7. Washington
8. Arizona State
9. UCLA
10. Wazzu
I can't see a B-12 or B-10 team get a 2nd BCS bowl berth this year, especially after Iowa loses another game. When you look at the new BCS standings, it will be impossible to deny both Boise and TCU from BCS berths in the bowls. That will be a first.
Agreed on both accounts. If somehow Nebraska can win out and beat Texas in the B12 game, Texas and Nebraska could get 2, but otherwise, yeah, I don't see the big push for Oklahoma State. Likewise, I think Iowa falls to the Bucks hard and only the trees make it to Pasadena.
I say it every year, but how good would an eight team play-off be this year?