Baylor, Oregon Fall Out of BCS Top 5
Even after seeing last week’s No. 4 and No. 5 teams fall on Saturday, it’s hard to say the BCS championship picture is any clearer, but at least we can eliminate two teams from the ongoing title discussion.
The previously unbeaten Baylor Bears had their title hopes dashed in a 49-17 loss to Oklahoma State, while the Oregon Ducks failed to get their offense going in a 42-16 road loss at Arizona, and dropped their second game of the season. Both teams fell out of the top 5 of the BCS Standings, with the Bears sliding to No. 9 and the Ducks plummeting all the way down to No. 13.
Of course, the weekend’s upsets paved the way for two new contenders – the No. 4 Auburn Tigers and the No. 5 Missouri Tigers. Both sets of Tigers now round out a top 5 that is still led by the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide, No. 2 Florida State Seminoles and No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes – all of whom remained undefeated after the weekend’s action.
If all three of the top undefeated teams were to win out, the Tide and the Noles would almost certainly be headed to the title game, with the Bucks ending up out in the cold. However, an upcoming showdown between Bama and Auburn in the Iron Bowl next weekend has the potential to shake things up.
A win for Auburn would not only remove Alabama from the top spot, but, depending on how decisive it was, could launch the Tigers into championship position. Of course, whoever comes out of the Iron Bowl with a win still has the SEC Championship and the Tigers of Missouri to worry about – that is, if Missouri finishes the regular season with a victory against Texas A&M.
Meanwhile, Ohio State will probably need some controlled chaos to reach the championship game and they’ll obviously need to take care of business against Michigan next weekend and then Michigan State in the Big Ten title game. However, for now, pollsters and the computers agree that the Buckeyes are the weakest of the top three undefeated teams.
With a soft remaining schedule, Florida State has the arguably the easiest road to the BCS title game, but its hopes will likely hinge on Jameis Winston’s availability, which could be impacted any day now, as the investigation into a sexual assault case involving the Heisman frontrunner pushes forward this week. If he is charged with a felony, the NCAA will immediately change his status to ineligible, which would undoubtedly put FSU’s championship dream in jeopardy.
As with every season, we should expect a little madness and a lot of fun down the stretch as these top squads continue to jockey for position atop the BCS Standings. However, for now, it would be wise to stick with Bama and FSU as the two championship-bound teams.
