Jockeying For Other BCS Bowls Begins

Six conferences, and WAC, fighting for positioning this weekend

Nov. 8, 2007

College Football Preview: Week 11

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> B.J.: Heisman Hosses  |  Amsinger: Weekly Picks  |  Sorenson: 10 Qs  |   Braff: Ducks Should Be No. 2 > Trev: Pac-10 No Disappointment  |  National Title Matchups   |  Palm: Jockeying For Other BCS Bowls > Hart: Woe Is A Missouri Fan  |  Roland: BC Better Beware of Turtle  |  Blackburn: Fiery Perspective > Caparell: Soft Schedule Could Have Hawai'i BCS Bound  |  Crystal Ball: Weekend Predictions

Top 25 Game Previews ----- THURSDAY ----- Louisville at No. 6 West Virginia ----- SATURDAY ----- Louisiana Tech at No. 2 LSU No. 5 Kansas at Oklahoma State Texas A&M at No. 7 Missouri No. 8 Boston College at Maryland No. 18 Auburn at No. 10 Georgia Florida State at No. 11 Virginia Tech No. 12 Southern Cal at No. 24 Cal No. 13 Michigan at Wisconsin No. 17 Florida at South Carolina No. 19 Boise State at Utah State Wake Forest at No. 20 Clemson Arkansas at No. 22 Tennessee No. 23 Virginia at Miami No. 24 Kentucky at Vanderbilt  Team Capsules  ---------- Air Force Akron Alabama Arizona Arizona St Arkansas Arkansas St Army Auburn BYU Ball St Baylor Boise St Boston College Bowling Green Buffalo California Central Mich Cincinnati Clemson Colorado Colorado St Connecticut Duke East Carolina Eastern Mich Florida Florida St Fresno St Georgia Georgia Tech Hawaii Houston Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Iowa St Kansas Kansas St Kent State Kentucky LSU La Tech Louisville Marshall Maryland Memphis Miami Fla Miami Ohio Michigan Michigan St Middle Tenn Minnesota Mississippi Mississippi St Missouri NC State Navy Nebraska Nevada New Mexico New Mexico St North Carolina North Texas Northern Ill Northwestern Notre Dame Ohio Ohio State Oklahoma Oklahoma St Oregon Oregon St Penn St Pittsburgh Purdue Rice Rutgers SMU San Diego St San Jose St South Carolina South Florida Southern Miss Stanford Syracuse TCU Temple Texas Texas A&M Texas Tech Toledo Troy St Tulane Tulsa UAB UCF UCLA UL-Lafayette UL-Monroe UNLV USC UTEP Utah Utah St Vanderbilt Virginia Virginia Tech Wake Forest Washington Washington St West Virginia Western Mich Wisconsin Wyoming ----------

By Jerry Palm

Special to CSTV.com

	JERRY PALM Jerry runs the web sites CollegeRPI.com and CollegeBCS.com and a CSTV.com analyst. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- FOOTBALL 12/2: Tigers Land On Their Feet 12/2: Losses Leave BCS In Disarray 11/29: A Merciful End 11/25: A Fitting Chaos 11/22: Games To Be Thankful For 11/18: No-Backup Blues 11/15: Down The Stretch They Come 11/11: Kansas Not Quite In Control 11/11: LSU, Oregon Figure To Be Tops In BCS 11/8: Jockeying For Other BCS Bowls Begins 11/4: No. 2 Ripe For The Picking 11/1: Soft Schedule Warriors 10/28: Road To The BCS - Smooth Travels...For Now 10/25: Road To The BCS - Four On The Floor 10/21: LSU Still Not No. 2 10/14: Road Starts Rocky 10/7: Road To The BCS Is A Bumpy One 8/25: Ohio State Replacing Troy and Ted 8/7: Weis' Cloak of Secrecy 7/10: Another Date, A Lot More Dollars? 3/29: Football Playoff Up to Presidents 11/18: ND Sends Seniors Out In Style 11/11: Michigan Can Finally Look Ahead 11/9: Irish's Faint Title Hopes Alive 11/4: ND Airs It Out 10/28: USC Loss Gives New BCS Hopes 10/21: Thirty-Five Seconds Means Everything 10/7: Irish Efficient In Win 9/30: Problems? What Problems? 9/16: Wolverines Make Statement MEN'S BASKETBALL 1/22: Losers Make The News 1/15: Plenty of Bracket Impact 1/8: Season Lacking Surprise For Now 11/7: Masochistic Scheduling Tendencies 11/6: Salukis Cream of MVC Crop 10/13: Butler Back On Top 7/24: The Game's Toughest Job? 6/24: Sun Belt Goes A Different Route 6/12: The Big Balancing Act 3/29: Brand Speaks on Graduation Rates 3/12: Road To 64: Final Edition 3/6: Make Or Break Time Across The Board 2/27: It's Now Or Never 2/22: Rockets Surge Past Stumbling Huskies 2/21: Locking Up 2/20: Freshman Helps Redbirds Celebrate Senior Day 2/20: At-Large Bids Live Away From Home 2/17: Cats Tame 'Dogs in Battle of Non-BCS Powers 2/15: Purdue Pulls Big Win 2/13: Could Duke's Struggles Keep Them Out? 2/6: Who's Hot, Who's Not 1/30: Conference Play Really The Judge 1/27: A Feeling In The Ayer-s 1/26: Butler Baffles In Win 1/23: Separation At The Top 1/16: Road to the Final 64: First Edition 1/13: Badgers Survive Scare From Northwestern 1/10: Illinois State Throws Monkey Off Its Back 12/16: Oden Returns Home In Buckeye Rout 12/16: Graves Explodes For Butler 12/07: Notre Dame Hits High Tide 12/05: Purdue Handles Loyola At Home 3/31: Hoosiers Are the Talk of Indy 3/25: Looking at the Elite Eight 3/22: Big Ten Anything But 3/12: Air-ing Grievances 3/07: One Last Chance 2/27: All About Team 2/21: Looking At The Bubble 2/14: No. 1 Seeds a Tough Call 2/07: The Home Stretch 1/17: Explaining the Bracket 1/09: The Valley Is High

With the top contenders for the BCS title game having a relatively easy week (Kansas at Oklahoma State is the best chance for an upset), the focus shifts to the rest of the BCS bowls.

The ACC champion goes to the Orange Bowl and Boston College, Clemson, Virginia and Virginia Tech all control their own destinies for that title. They also all have challenging games this weekend.

BC visits Maryland looking to rebound from its first loss of the season. Clemson hosts Wake Forest to decide which team is No. 2 in the Atlantic division, for now. Virginia Tech, unsure about who will be under center, welcomes Florida State, the team that just handed the Eagles that first loss. And finally, Virginia is the visitor for Miami's last game at the Orange Bowl.

That set of games will be of great interest to Hawai'i and especially Boise State. If a non-BCS conference champion finishes ahead of a BCS conference champion, it only has to be in the Top 16 to be guaranteed a BCS bowl berth instead of the Top 12. The ACC is the most likely league to provide a low-rated champion. Hawai'i will probably get to 12 anyway if it finishes 12-0, but Boise State at 11-1 has virtually no chance. Getting into the Top 16 is more realistic for the Broncos.

Hawai'i gets its first relative test of the season when it hosts Fresno State. The Bulldogs will be the first team the Warriors have faced that is ranked in the top 80 - of either division. The only FBS (I-A) team Hawai'i has faced so far that is ranked in the top 100 is No. 93 Louisiana Tech, which took the Warriors to overtime before falling at home.

Boise State has crept up to 20th in the BCS ratings, but don't expect a whole lot of upward movement in the next two weeks. Whatever gains the Broncos make in the polls could be offset by their computer rankings after they face the two lowest-rated teams in Division I-A, Utah State and Idaho. At least the starters should get a lot of rest before the trip to Hawai'i.

The Big East is another league that may provide a low-rated champion, but it's less likely. Right now, West Virginia is flying high at No. 7, but the league leader is No. 13 Connecticut. The Huskies have a tough assignment at Cincinnati, which is 2-0 against ranked opponents this year. If UConn loses to Cincy but wins out after that, including a win over West Virginia, it's uncertain how high the Huskies will climb in the rankings. The best bet for the WAC hopefuls would be for a 2-loss champion in this league, and that would require a few upsets.

Michigan has resurrected its season by winning eight straight after an 0-2 start. The Wolverines play a meaningless game at Wisconsin this week, at least as far as the Big Ten championship is concerned. That will be decided next week when Ohio State visits Ann Arbor, whether or not either team wins this week. However, the Wolverines have to beat the Badgers to have any chance to be considered for a BCS at-large bid.

If LSU wins the SEC championship, the race for a potential BCS at-large spot in that league is pretty interesting, since it has no shortage of candidates. Georgia is in the best position because it could win out, finish 10-2 and not have to risk its position in the SEC championship game. Tennessee is in control in the East division by virtue of its win over the Bulldogs this season. No. 15 Florida would also qualify for the at-large pool at 9-3, assuming it did not have to play for the SEC title. No. 18 Auburn needs a miracle to get to the SEC title game, but by winning out, the Tigers would be 9-3 and easily into the at-large pool, as well. Auburn travels to Georgia this week and the loser's BCS hopes will be pretty much over.

Finally, USC hopes to stay in the race to be a BCS at-large team when it visits Cal. The Trojans are only ranked 17th in the BCS at the moment, but a win over the slumping Bears, followed by wins at Arizona State and at home against UCLA, would put them comfortably into the Top 12 and make them eligible for selection by a BCS bowl.