The college football season has been second to none when it comes to upsets this year. Just take a look at how the top spots in the weekly polls have been changing. Every week for the past three weeks, the No. 2 team in the country has fallen: first it was USC, then it was Cal, and last Thursday it was the Bulls of South Florida. In the past four weeks, there have been three different teams listed as No. 1 in the country. Even more surprising, every week for the past four weeks, at least two of the nations top six teams have fallen, with at least one of those teams losing to an unranked opponent.
This kind of madness hasn't been seen in some time, folks. This is college football at its finest.
So how will the remaining five weeks play out? To start, do not expect any team to walk away with an undefeated record this season - especially not current No. 1 Ohio State. With games against Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan all coming up soon on their schedule, the Buckeyes will likely stumble at some point in the next four weeks. And despite running the table so far this season, Boston College has a pair of major hurdles to jump: a game in Blacksburg against No. 8 Virginia Tech and a trip to Clemson. Expect undefeated No. 9 Kansas to choke against Texas A&M this weekend, and if they don't, they'll get knocked off by Missouri down the stretch. Arizona State's dream season will come to an abrupt end in the next month, when they face Cal, Oregon, UCLA, and USC all in succession. Chances are that Hawaii won't even make it out with an unblemished record, with Boise State and Washington as its last two games of the season.
If every team in Division I-A football is going to have at least one loss this season, then the question becomes who will be sitting at the top when all of the dust settles? The answer is not hard to figure out. LSU has been the national favorite since Sept. 29, when USC first showed signs of weakness against Washington in its 27-24 win against the Huskies. The bayou's Tigers did not lose any integrity with the college football nation when they fell to No. 17 Kentucky at Lexington in triple overtime - hardly a sign of weakness.
Who sits at No. 2 when things are all said and done is a different story. No. 4 Oklahoma will undoubtedly sweep their opposition from here out and is a likely candidate, but if Oregon can hang on to beat USC, Arizona State and UCLA before the season is over - which is a likely scenario considering that the Ducks have scored over 50 points in four of their last five games - they will certainly be runner-up in the BCS standings. Ohio State and Boston College are not out of the question either, if they don't give up more than one loss in the next five weeks.
Perhaps just as exciting as the clamor for a spot in the national championship game will be the conference title races all across the country. With Ohio State's tough upcoming schedule, any combination of two wins by Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, or Michigan would blow open a full scale free-for-all in the Big Ten. The Big East is already in a scrum for the top spot now that South Florida fell to Rutgers. The ACC has Virginia quietly creeping up in the polls and they should challenge Virginia Tech and Boston College down the stretch. The Pac-10 is anyone's guess, but it will more than likely come down to Oregon or UCLA. Even the Western Athletic Conference will be close until the very end, when Hawaii and Boise State duke it out for conference supremacy.
Despite the fact that the SEC has seven - yes, seven - teams up and down the BCS standings board, there is no question that LSU will come up with the conference crown. The game between LSU and Alabama will be heralded as the highlight of the college football world next week, but more than likely, the Tigers march into Alabama, pounce on the Crimson Tide, hand them their second conference loss, lock up first place in the SEC and ride out the rest of the season unscathed.
There has been a lot of good football going on this season, but despite all the incredible games and unbelievable upsets so far, the best is surely yet to come. Between the tight conference races and the anticipation of more stumbling at the top of the BCS, the 2007 season should pan out to be one of the best seasons college football has ever produced.
If you are confused by the BCS, this season or what to do with your life, e-mail Andy at avansistine@wisc.edu.
