Upset Alert! Championship Week
It’s Championship Week in the NCAA football season and with all the pressure leading up to this one game for many teams, there’s bound to be upset potential all over the place. BCS bowl berths are on the line, as well as conference titles. Who will rise to the occasion? And who may be upset come bowl season? Here are two teams I’ve selected for this week’s Upset Alert! that might be in trouble this week as they try to capture their conference title.
#6 Kansas State
After claiming the No.1 spot in the BCS rankings for the first time in school history two weeks ago, Kansas State dropped its first game of the season, eliminating the school from national title consideration. That week they happened to be on Upset Alert! Sorry K State. Although, they won’t be playing for their first national title, they still have a shot to win the Big 12 title and secure a spot in the Fiesta Bowl with a win this week against Texas.
The Longhorns are coming off a loss as well, to TCU last week, but they still pose a major threat to a K State team, who is dealing with a loss for the first time all year. The Horns have the 33rd ranked passing offense and are 21st in scoring and considering the beating the Wildcat defense took against Baylor, a similarly strong offense, Texas could prove dangerous for the 10-1 Cats.
Of course, Kansas State is 10-1 for a reason. Collin Klein and the Wildcats also have one of the nation’s best offenses and should find plenty of success running the ball against Texas. Expect Kansas State to come out inspired and ready to claim the Big 12 title with a win over the Horns. However, I do think this will be a close game, otherwise, I wouldn’t have included it in Upset Alert this week. Take the Cats to win, but the Horns to cover+11.5. Upset averted.
#12 Nebraska
The Cornhuskers cruised to a 10-2 record during the regular season, but they’ve got one more big test to pass in order to become Big Ten Champions and that’s winning against the Wisconsin Badgers, who although suffered some tough losses last in the season, finished strong enough to win their division with a little help from the fact that Ohio State and Penn State are ineligible this season.
The Badgers have hit their stride at the right time, at least offensively, and Montee Ball is having another Heisman-like season, having rushed for more than 1500 yards and 18 touchdowns. Wisconsin is also the two-time defending Big Ten Champions and will most likely not be prepared to give up the crown.
Wisconsin should put up a good fight, but the powerful Nebraska running game (8th in the nation) will be too much for the Badgers to handle. This one should also be close, but I like the Huskers to cover-3 and narrowly avoid the upset. Sorry folks, no upsets this week!
