Well, it’s official. What many predicted might happen for the last couple of weeks has come to fruition. The SEC is going to win it’s sixth straight BCS national title (or, lose its first depending on how you look at it). No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama will meet in the championship game on Jan. 9 following up on one of the most controversial endings to the regular season since the BCS was unfortunately brought into this world in 1998.
That means no national title shot for No. 3 -- and Big 12 champion -- Oklahoma State, which is .0086 percent behind Alabama in the BCS average. The Cowboys will be playing No. 4 Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2 instead in what could be one of the most interesting games of the postseason.
I’m sure it still doesn’t make up for what could have been for the Cowboys.
But, the decisions have been made and the championship game is set.
Below are the matchups for all five BCS games:
(All rankings reflective of BCS standings)
BCS National Championship (Jan. 9)
No. 1 LSU vs No. 2 Alabama
Rose Bowl Game (Jan. 2)
No. 5 Oregon vs No. 10 Wisconsin
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 2)
No. 3 Oklahoma State vs No. 4 Stanford
Allstate Sugar Bowl (Jan. 3)
No. 13 Michigan vs No. 11 Virginia Tech
Discover Orange Bowl (Jan. 4)
No. 15 Clemson vs No. 23 West Virginia
There are a few notable teams missing from this group of 10. First, TCU ended up at No. 18 in the final BCS rankings despite placed at No. 15 in both the Coaches poll and Harris poll, which contribute to the BCS standings. The Horned Frogs would have had to finish sixteenth or higher in the BCS to get an automatic qualifying spot in a BCS bowl. In fact, no teams from non-AQ conferences will be going to the BCS for the first time since 2005.
Also, No. 8 Kansas State and No. 12 Baylor are nowhere to be found. Yet No. 11 Virginia Tech, which hasn’t beaten a single Top 25 team all year, received an at-large bid to play No. 13 Michigan in the Sugar Bowl. Also keep in mind Michigan State is at No. 17 -- just missing the cut for the at-large pool -- and beat the Wolverines head-to-head. But Sparty will not play in a BCS game this year.
Gotta love it.
And, for your enjoyment -- or agony -- here’s the rest of the BCS standings:
(Also, to see the non-BCS bowl matchups, you can check out our full list HERE)
