Hardware up for grabs
Here’s another great thing about this college football season. It’s Thanksgiving Friday, and of the nine pennant races that matter most — Big Ten, Big East and Pac-10 titles; division crowns in the Big 12, SEC and ACC — only three have been decided.
Ohio State is the Big Ten champion, and that’s decided because the Big Ten has closed up shop until the bowls. LSU has won the SEC West. And Boston College has clinched the ACC Atlantic. But all the other first-place finishes are up for grabs:
* Big East: West Virginia and Connecticut play Saturday for the title.
* Pac-10: USC and Arizona State lead, with Oregon a half game behind. Oregon wins all the tiebreakers. The Ducks play UCLA on Saturday and Oregon State on Dec. 1. Also on Dec. 1, Arizona State plays Arizona and USC plays UCLA.
* ACC Coastal: Virginia plays Virginia Tech for the title Saturday.
* SEC East: Tennessee wins the East if it wins Saturday at Kentucky. Otherwise, Georgia wins the East.
* Big 12 South: I assume you know this, but OU wins with a victory over OSU on Saturday. Texas wins the South it beats Texas A&M and OU loses Bedlam. If both OU and Texas close, then the Sooners, Longhorns and OSU tie for the South, with the BCS standings breaking the tie. OU likely would advance.
* Big 12 North: Missouri and Kansas play for the title on Saturday.
That’s great drama going into the final primary Saturday of the regular season and also why any expanded playoff system should include only conference champions. Think of the drama if on the day after Thanksgiving, 17 teams remained in the hunt for the national title.
And that’s not even counting the mid-majors, where conference titles remain up for grabs. Brigham Young has won the Mountain West, but Hawaii and Boise State play tonight for the WAC title; Troy and Florida Atlantic play Dec. 1 for the title, unless the Howard Schnellenbergers lose Saturday to winless Florida International; either Tulsa or Houston will play Central Florida for the Conference USA title; and Central Michigan and Miami-Ohio play in the Mid-American Conference title game.
Count ‘em up. Establish an 11-team playoff, and here as we eat a turkey sandwich for lunch the day after Thanksgiving, 27 teams would remain in the title hunt. With lots of drama still to come before we get to the 11-team bracket.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
Art,
It’s in the rule book as okay for the holder to have a knee on the ground and for the the ball to stay live. http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2007/2007_football_rules.pdf
On page 79 Rule 4-3-b it says “Exception” and explains that the ball remains alive when an offensive player is in a position to kick or simulate a kick and the ball is being held for a place kick by a teammate.
Funny, I have always wondered the same about when a receiver cathes the ball and his body is already on the ground, why is this a valid catch.. I know it is ok, but I think the rule is weird. In pro ball you are not down until touched, but in college you are down if you are on the ground.
During Texas/ Texas A&M half time, it was showing college football teams that made big plays, that helped them win . And it showed LSU fake field goals to TD’s. After watching it, how could they be TD’s if the ball holder’s knee was on the ground and he sit the ball on the ground before he tossed the ball over his head for a touch down?