Another Thursday night upset helps Big 12
Another Thursday night, another big upset. In what is becoming the norm, ESPN’s Thursday night college football provided another upset that impacted the national-championship race. Pitt stunned 10th-ranked South Florida 26-21, knocking the Bulls from the unbeaten ranks. Last week, Oregon State knocked off top-ranked Southern Cal 27-21 on ESPN Thursday night.
Among the BCS conferences, only 12 undefeated teams remain, after South Florida’s demise.
Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State from the Big 12. Alabama, LSU, Vanderbilt and Kentucky from the SEC. Penn State and Northwestern from the Big Ten. And Connecticut from the Big East.
What does the upset mean to the Big 12? It’s becoming more and more likely that the Big 12 will qualify a team for the Big Bowl, the national-title game in January. The prowess of the Big 12 means not only would an unbeaten Big 12 team absolutely qualify, but a once-beaten Big 12 champ almost surely would be selected, too.
It appears no league outside the Big 12 or SEC will produce an unbeaten squad, with the possible exception of Penn State. So unless the Nittany Lions run the table, OU (or Missouri or Texas for that matter) could stumble once along the way and still get to the championship game, so long as it won the Big 12 title.
Same holds true for the Southeastern Conference. A Big 12/SEC title game is on the horizon.
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.
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