Rivalry week in college football had a profound effect on the BCS National Championship Game contenders. For openers, three teams-Missouri, West Virginia and Hawaii-did it right by winning super important games.
No. 3-ranked Missouri (11-1) stopped No. 2-ranked Kansas' (11-1) unbeaten streak at 11 by beating the Jayhawks 36-28 in a game that was not as close as the score would indicate. Missouri led at the half 14-0 and let Kansas back into the game by giving up 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter, thinking the game was really over.
No matter, I have carped all season long about the weak schedule Kansas played to run up its 11 wins and now am vindicated when they showed poorly against first-class competition.
Kansas entered the game rated 101st in strength of schedule among 119 Division 1A schools and left the game rated 90th after playing No. 3-ranked Missouri. The Jayhawks, who are BCS bowl bound somewhere, simply got found out.
The Missouri Tigers are now the Big 12 North champs and headed for a showdown with No. 10-ranked South champs Oklahoma for the Big 12 title. Missouri's only loss this year was to Oklahoma in an away game, 41-31, after Missouri allowed the Sooners 18 straight 4th quarter points.
Missouri has not won a Big 12 conference title in 38 years. Should they win they will undoubtedly play in the BCS National Championship Game.
Missouri's junior quarterback Chase Daniel, whose hero is legendary Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre (pronounced Farve), is everything he is cracked up to be and then some.
Daniel was unstoppable against Kansas, going 40 for 49 for 361 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions and now has 4,029 total yards, breaking his own school record.
Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel has insiders here in Washington buzzing as Pinkel was part of Don James' successful Husky teams. Pinkel was the Receivers Coach from 1979 to 1983 and the Offensive Coordinator from 1984 to 1990. Pinkel coached many famous Washington players, including Chris Chandler, Mark Brunell, Billy Joe Hobert, Lincoln Kennedy, Greg Lewis, Hugh Millen, Steve Pelleur, Kevin Gogan and Ed Cunningham.
Don James is the heart and soul of Washington football, a two-time National Coach of the Year who won a national championship in 1991, went to 6 Rose Bowls, won an Orange Bowl title, and was 10-5 in 15 bowl appearances in 18 years as head coach. James is the Dawgfather and has the ring to kiss from the 1991 national championship to prove it.
No. 4-ranked West Virginia (10-1) took care of business by coming down like a ton of bricks on No. 20-ranked Connecticut (9-3), 66-21, scoring 7 touchdowns on the Connecticut Huskies.
No. 14-ranked Hawaii, the only Division 1A team left unbeaten at 11-0, outlasted No. 17-ranked Boise State (10-2), 39-27, to capture the Mountain West title with a perfect 8-0 record.
I have also carped all season long about Hawaii's cupcake schedule and now have seen that the Boise State Broncos, who played another cupcake schedule, are not that good either. I watched a good part of the Hawaii-Boise State match-up and think the Warrior's senior quarterback Colt Brennan could play on much better 1A teams.
Four other Top 25 teams lost when they had an opportunity to win and advance.
No. 1-ranked LSU (10-2) blew it big time by letting Arkansas (8-4) beat them 50-48 in overtime. So much for the Tigers national championship game hopes.
No. 7-ranked Arizona State (9-2) was slapped around by No. 11-ranked USC (9-2), 44-24.
No. 9-ranked Oregon (8-3) was shut out by UCLA (6-5), 16-0, and is now folding faster than a cheap K-Mart deck chair since the Ducks lost their superstar quarterback and offensive leader Dennis Dixon with a torn ACL.
No. 13-ranked Texas (9-3) was upended by Texas A&M (7-5), 38-30, in its rivalry.
Fourteen teams did exactly what they were expected to do: win against their in-state rival without having any measurable affect on the BCS title game:
No. 6-ranked Georgia (10-2) put down Georgia Tech (7-5), 31-17, to gain bragging rights but will not play for the SEC championship. Georgia tied Tennessee for the West Conference title at 6-2 but lost to Tennessee 35-14 so Tennessee advances to the SEC title game against LSU.
No. 8-ranked Virginia Tech (10-2) outscored No. 16-ranked Virginia (9-3) 10-0 in the last quarter to erase the Cavaliers, 33-21.
No. 10-ranked Oklahoma (10-2) slammed Oklahoma State 49-17 to win the Big 12 South title at 6-2 and will face Missouri in the Big 12 title game.
No. 12-ranked Florida (9-3) bombed Florida State (7-5), 45-12.
No. 21-ranked Clemson (9-3) barely nipped South Carolina (6-6) 23-21.
No. 23-ranked Brigham Young (9-2) was behind 3-0 at the half but rebounded to beat Utah (8-4), 17-10, and clinch the Mountain West championship with a perfect 7-0 record.
No. 25-ranked Auburn (8-4) stung Alabama (6-6), 17-10. The Crimson Tide's $4 million coach, Nick Saban, was wondering what happened in his first year debut as the highest paid coach in college football. Alabama fans know what happened, and they are not happy campers.
Bowling Green (8-4) whipped Toledo 37-10.
Mississippi State (7-5) beat Mississippi by a field goal, 17-14.
Florida Atlantic (6-5) outran Florida International (0-11), 55-23.
Louisiana-Monroe (6-6) beat Louisiana-Lafayette 17-11.
Ohio (6-6) outlasted Miami of Ohio 38-29.
Washington State (5-7) outscored Washington 14-7 in the last quarter to beat the Huskies 42-35.
North Carolina (4-8) won in overtime against Duke (1-11), 20-14.
By Sunday night (11-25-07) the new BCS Standings had Missouri 1st, West Virginia 2nd, Ohio State 3rd, Georgia 4th, Kansas 5th and Virginia Tech 6th. Nothing else much matters. If you are wondering, Hawaii is 12th in the BCS Standings. The regular seasons are over for Ohio State, Georgia, Kansas and Virginia Tech.
If the BCS National Championship were played today, Missouri and West Virginia would vie for the title, but there is unfinished business. Missouri will have to beat Oklahoma for the Big 12 title, and West Virginia will have to beat Pittsburgh or all bets are off.
Hawaii must remain 12th in the BCS Standings and beat Washington to qualify for 1 of the 5 BCS bowl games. The unbeaten Warriors can forget about playing in the national championship game until they start playing much better competition.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
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