The [Five] 25: Top 25 and College Football Week 13 in Review

Week 13

Dropped out of Rankings: Arizona, North Carolina State, Iowa

The Next [Five]: Arizona, Tulsa, Hawaii, North Carolina State, Connecticut

Updated BCS Game Predictions

National Championship – Oregon vs. Auburn

Auburn was able to overcome a 24 point deficit in the 2^nd quarter against Alabama to finish the regular season undefeated. Now they must get pass South Carolina on Saturday in the SEC championship in order to play for the national championship and I don’t think they’ll have any problems doing that even though South Carolina played Auburn tough earlier in the year. Oregon must go on the road to play against Oregon State in the Civil War. While this matchup is always intense and competitive, Oregon should be able to win this one due to how great the Oregon offense is and how bad the Oregon State defense is. Winner: Auburn

Rose Bowl – Wisconsin vs. TCU

Wisconsin will get the Rose Bowl bid for the Big Ten as they win the tiebreaker against Michigan State and Ohio State as the highest ranked BCS team. Wisconsin is certainly a top 5 time and is playing like one of the best teams in the nation right now and if it weren’t for a loss to Michigan State earlier in the season, then Wisconsin would have a claim to play for the national championship. TCU would get the selection here as the Rose Bowl will have to pick a qualifying non-AQ team if they lose the Pac-10 champ to the National Championship (as is the case in my scenario). This would be TCU. I think TCU’s defense would be able to shut down the hot Wisconsin offense enough to win the game  Winner: TCU

Orange Bowl – Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia

Virginia Tech has now won 10 straight games and is playing like the top ten team that many thought they were at the beginning of the season. I don’t think they’ll have any issues against Florida State this weekend in the ACC Championship. I think West Virginia will wind up winning the Big East because I expect Connecticut to lose on the road this weekend against South Florida and West Virginia should win this weekend against Rutgers. If West Virginia wins the Big East, the Orange Bowl should grab them, but if Connecticut ends up winning the Big East, I would then expect them to be selected by the Fiesta Bowl. Winner: Virginia Tech

Fiesta Bowl – Nebraska vs. Stanford

The Big 12 championship will be quite the game as Nebraska takes on Oklahoma. I could see either team winning the game, but my hunch tells me Nebraska will pull it out as its parting gift from the Big 12. As for their opponent, I think the Fiesta Bowl will grab Stanford as an at large berth due to Stanford being currently ranked 4^th in the BCS standings and with how well they’ve played this year. Other than one bad half against Oregon, they have looked like one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the nation.  Winner: Stanford

Sugar Bowl – Auburn vs. Ohio State

With Auburn projected to go to the National Championship, I would expect the Sugar Bowl to take another SEC team and Arkansas appears to be the only choice as South Carolina should lose this weekend and LSU suffered another conference loss. The Sugar Bowl will probably want to grab Ohio State as another at-large selection because they will bring a lot of fans and TV viewers. Winner: Arkansas

Top Heisman Candidates

1. Cameron Newton, QB, Auburn
2. LaMichael James, RB, Oregon
3. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
4. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
5. Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas
6. Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan
7. Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State
8. Kendall Hunter, RB, Oklahoma State
9. Jordan Todman, RB, Connecticut
10. Andy Dalton, QB, TCU

5 Games to Watch – Week 14

Arizona State at Arizona – 8:00 PM EST, Thursday December 2^nd

#1 Oregon at Oregon State – 3:30 PM EST

#2 Auburn vs. #19 South Carolina – 4:00 PM EST

#21 Florida State vs. #10 Virginia Tech – 7:45 PM EST

#12 Oklahoma vs. #14 Nebraska – 8:00 PM EST

Image courtesy of Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com)