So, the BCS is officially letting out a huge sigh of relief. Alabama's undefeated season is over, leaving only Texas and USC, neither of which is likely to slip up in their final two games (both rolled to easy wins today). The Big-12 is showing its incompetence again this year, with Texas Tech falling to Ok State and north power Colorado down early to Iowa State. Meanwhile, another 80+ point Pac-10 shootout is shaping up early between UCLA and Arizona State.
So, there could be a lot of movement around the bottom of the rankings this week, with Florida State, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and possibly Colorado all losing and falling out of the top 25. Florida and Texas Tech will likely take big falls, and Louisville, Fresno State, South Carolina, and Michigan should all take a nice jump up the rankings.
The national championship picture is all but settled now. Barring a huge upset of Texas, or possibly UCLA seriously stepping up in the last week of the season, the Trojans and Longhorns will be facing each other in the Rose Bowl. It should be a really good matchup. As bad as the Big-12 has been, I do think that Texas will put to rest the memories of Nebraska and Oklahoma failing to show up over the last several years.
Penn State has probably won the Big-10. It's hard to see them losing to Michigan State in their final game. Michigan/Ohio State should be another really good game this year; Michigan stepping up and ensuring that the Buckeyes do not sneak into a BCS bowl is certainly not out of the question.
The Big East is still up in the air and might come down to the final week's matchup between South Florida and West Virginia. The conference has to be praying that the Mountaineers step up so that the Big East is able to put a legitimate team into their BCS bowl.
The SEC is really the only interesting race left. LSU controls its own destiny in the west now, and Georgia has won the east, barring a huge collapse. The championship game matchup should be a dandy.
I can only surmise that Miami will avenge their season-opening loss and take Florida State to the woodshed when the ACC championship game comes around. The 'Noles have not looked good the last couple of weeks.
Anyway, my picks at this point for the conference champs:
ACC: Miami
SEC: LSU
Big-10: Penn State
Big-12: Texas
Pac-10: USC
Big East: West Virginia
BCS at large: Notre Dame, Alabama (Virginia Tech, Oregon, and Ohio State all have a shot here)
Rose Bowl: USC v. Texas
Fiesta Bowl: Penn State v. Notre Dame
Orange Bowl: Miami v. Alabama
Sugar Bowl: LSU v. West Virginia
Capitol One Bowl: Ohio State v. Georgia
Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma v. Florida
Outback Bowl: Michigan v. South Carolina
Peach Bowl: Florida State v. Auburn
Sun Bowl: Minnesota v. UCLA
Holiday Bowl: Oregon v. Texas Tech
Alamo Bowl: Colorado v. Wisconsin
Game of the week: The epic battle of great defenses between Alabama and LSU did not disappoint. JaMarcus Russell stepped up big. An honorable mention has to go to Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks, stepping up and taking care of the Gators. That's two wins against the SEC east's 'big three,' and the 'Cocks were not far from beating Georgia, either.