College football bowl month is truly the best month of the sports year, as you are practically guaranteed to have something to watch every day of the week for a few weeks straight. Wednesday night? Turn on the Florida State -- UCLA game! (That happened last year, and Florida State won 44-27.) But the Bowl Championship Series still has it wrong when it comes to determining the contenders for the National Championship game. This is my annual plug for a College Football Final Four, for Division I-A, spurred on by this weekend's great games and a roommate's recommendation.
(Note: They might as well scrap the Bowl Championship Subdivision nonsense, because absolutely zero people refer to it as such.)
If the BCS allows this plan to work, it will have tremendous results for the sport as well as for millions of fans nationwide. Considering last year's bowl schedule, which disappointed many fans because the national title game was on a Monday night, a Final Four schedule would please the television audiences as well as fix the controversy that arises every year in picking two teams to square off for the championship. This year, Saturday, Dec. 29 can be the date for the two Final Four games (to be played in neutral locations), and Saturday, Jan. 5 will be the National Championship game. This way, not only are the big games played on the weekend, but the bowl season won't drag out into mid-January.
The Final Four that I have predicted for this year actually works perfectly for the above system, because it has one team from each of four power conferences: Pac-10, SEC, Big 12 and Big East. I'm not saying that there has to be a one-team limit for each conference if a Final Four system is initiated, but it probably will work out that way, as two powers in the same conference usually play each other in the regular season anyway. With the amount of parity in college football these days, only a handful of teams will end the year undefeated, compared to the greater numbers from years past.
The four best teams in the nation at the end of the season will be USC (Southern Cal, not South Carolina, which somehow claims to be USC as well), LSU, Oklahoma and West Virginia. Here's why:
1) Southern Cal is the best team in the nation right now and is deserving of its current No. 1 ranking. They rolled over previous No. 14 Nebraska on the road in what is arguably one of the toughest settings to play in all of college football. John David Booty is by no means the best QB in the nation, but he is having the solid season that most preview magazines predicted, completing 64.5 percent of his passes through two games for five touchdowns. And, as any college football fanatic knows, it's the USC running game that has opposing defenses running for their lives. With a depth chart that literally has double digit numbers in the backfield, it came as no surprise that the Trojans ran into the endzone five times against the Cornhuskers. Lastly, the USC defense is arguably one of the best in all of college football during the last five-plus years, especially the linebacker corps of Brian Cushing, Rey Maualuga, and Keith Rivers. All are on some sort of award-watch list and all give offensive coordinators problems on their own; putting the three of them on the field at the same time induces nightmares. The Trojans will end the season undefeated and boast a win over California, who some claim is the best team in the Pac-10. I don't know how they believe that, but alas, they do.
2) Louisiana State dominated then-No. 9 Virginia Tech by a 48-7 score two weeks ago and this weekend shut out a Middle Tennessee State team that scored 42 points the previous week against then-No.8 Louisville. In other words, current No. 2 LSU's offense is a wrecking crew, and the defense is equally formidable. They will win the SEC and earn this ranking because they will beat current No. 3 Florida when the two teams square off Oct. 6 in Baton Rouge. Even though Tim Tebow is quieting any doubters of his ability to lead the Gators' offense, the Tigers are simply too powerful on both sides of the ball to lose a game this season.
3) Oklahoma has scored 79, 51 and 54 points in their first three games this season, compared to allowing a total of 26 points. Can you say 'dominant'? And, after Texas' unconvincing 35-32 win over an unheralded University of Central Florida team this weekend, I believe the current No. 3 Sooners will run up the score over the Longhorns when the two Big 12 powers meet Oct. 6 in Texas. (That seems to be a great day for college football, doesn't it?) Oklahoma will win every game this season, probably by an average margin of 30 points per game.
4) West Virginia is a great team, but it makes this Final Four primarily because by the end of the season, California, Florida and Texas will all have one loss from each of the aforementioned three teams. Right now, the Mountaineers have earned their current No. 5 ranking by spanking Western Michigan, Marshall and Maryland, thanks to the teamwork of QB Pat White and RBs Steve Slaton and Noel Devine. White and Slaton are Heisman candidates, but Devine is a truly exciting freshman runner who torched Maryland for 136 yards on only five carries. The offensive firepower will be just enough to edge out current No. 11 Rutgers when the two Big East powers meet in late October in New Jersey. (Louisville is a non-factor at this point after falling to Kentucky this weekend; West Virginia will roll over them and end the year undefeated.)
So, if you are a college football fan, you are probably as excited as I am in envisioning the potential Final Four matchups: USC's defense against West Virginia's running game and the outright slugfest between LSU and Oklahoma. While I think USC would edge out LSU in the eventual title game, "Final Four Saturday" would be the best way possible to ring in the end of the calendar year. It just could be the best day of the year in general.
In closing, BCS Committee: Make this work! Thanks, Eric.
Read More
With much-needed win over Miami, men’s basketball ends road losing streak
By Emory Huffman | 10 hours agoIt was another battle of the bottom, and Virginia proved it is at least above the conference's floor.
Men’s and women’s squash find success at CSA Individual Championships
By Peter Kratz | 11 hours agoIn individual competition, the Cavaliers excelled.
Virginia baseball has an ace up its sleeve and in its bullpen — Dean Kampschror
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayThe senior pitcher is exactly what the Cavaliers need to succeed in 2025.
