Today's College Football Thread (Championship Edition)

[fishwax]

Final week of the regular season—not a full slate of games today, but plenty of good ones, since the conference championship games are today.

Conference Championship Games:

SEC Championship Game (Atlanta) – 4 p.m. ET (CBS)
#1 Auburn vs. #19 South Carolina

ACC Championship Game (Charlotte) – 7:45 p.m. ET (ESPN)
#21 Florida State vs. #15 Virginia Tech

Big 12 Championship Game (Arlington, Texas) – 8 p.m. ET (ABC)
#9 Oklahoma vs. #13 Nebraska -- the final Big 12 Championship Game, appropriately, is between Oklahoma and Nebraska, one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.

Big East Championship

The Big East doesn’t have a championship game, but the conference champion is still up for grabs.

UCONN at South Florida (8 p.m.)
Connecticut wins the Big East championship with a win today.

Rutgers at #24 West Virginia (noon)
West Virginia wins the Big East championship with a win today and a Connecticut loss.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (noon)
Pittsburgh wins the Big East championship if they win this game and UCONN and WVU both lose.

If all three teams lose, there would be a five-way tie between UCONN, Pitt, WVU, South Florida, and Syracuse. UCONN would get the BCS bid in that case, because they went 3-1 against the other four teams.

Other Games of Note

#2 Oregon at Oregon State (3:30)
Oregon has already won the (final) PAC-10 title—a win, of course, and they get into the BCS Championship Game.

Utah State at #11 Boise State (3 p.m.)
#17 Nevada at Louisiana Tech (3 p.m.)
UNLV at Hawai’i (10:30 p.m.)
Nevada beat Boise State last week, but they need to win today to win the WAC Championship. (It would actually be a three-way tie between Boise, Nevada, and Hawaii, but Nevada would win the tie-breaker.) If they lose, it’s either Boise State (if they beat Utah State) or Hawaii (if Boise State also loses; Hawai’i’s game is a non-conference game).

USC at UCLA
First time both teams are unranked since 2000 …

Washington at Washington State
Washington could become bowl eligible for the first time since 2002 …

Wisconsin, TCU, and Stanford have this week off, but have already clinched BCS Bowl Bids—Wisconsin as Big 10 Champ and TCU/Stanford as at-large teams ranked in the top 4.

So what game are you looking forward to today?

[JonLP24]

1. Also Miami pulled an upset over Northern Illinois in the MAC Championship

A disappointment for me because I've been a fan of NIU's style of play. (Which is run, run, and run)

There was a shot Arizona State was going bowling but their bid was denied--http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/2010/12/03/20101203asu-football-no-bowl-game.html

As you know they had to win 7 because they had two FCS-opponents. Their case was it wasn't their fault San Jose St. backed out to play Wisconsin for twice the payout. Oh well, as Erickson says, I'll take the win over Arizona over any bowl game at this point.

I'm pumped for all the games today, especially Oregon-Oregon St and Auburn-South Carolina. I will watch all the games that are televised on regular TV such as ABC, CBS.

[fishwax]

2. I saw the end of that -- that was a bummer

An exciting finish, but I was disappointed too. Impressive turnaround for Miami, though.

That was a pretty big win for ASU on Thursday, eh? Another exciting game. At least the Sun Devils end the season moving in a positive direction. It will be an interesting race in the South Division next year ...

[JonLP24]

3. I agree

I'm not sure without looking it up but I believe Miami's record last year was either 2-10 to 4-8 or maybe in between?

I completely missed that ASU game. Didn't expect it to come on a Thursday (which isn't unusual at all in this rivalry). It has certainly been one of the top few sports stories the last few days. When I logged onto Yahoo! today, the story on the homepage was the kicking failures of Arizona. The punter of Arizona even had a 0 yard punt in that game. Interesting game to watch, I'm sure.

They should be contenders next year. Only 1 starter on the team is a Senior so they got players coming back. (Article I posted mentioned 2 Seniors started in the Arizona game so I'm going based on the opening day starting lineup) Both QBs will be back and I'll be happy with either one.

[madinmaryland]

5. Thanks for the update, Jon. I see that Miami won it with a freshman QB.

Dysert has been out since mid-Nov with a lacerated spleen.

[grasswire]

4. Portlanders were advised to leave for the game at 6 a.m.

Traffic to Corvallis is supposed to be an additional 25,000 cars on I-5 headed for the game. Leave at 9, miss the kickoff.

At least it's dry and sunny so far this morning.

Go you Duckies!

[fishwax]

8. wow, that's kind of crazy

:kick:

[Brickbat]

6. Better dead than Sooner red.

That's what I'm doing today.

[fishwax]

9. Boomer!

:)

[Brickbat]

10. I'm sorry to see the rivalry end -- it's been a good one.

[fishwax]

11. just as it was getting better again, too

Between OU's down years in the mid and late 90s, the Big 12 taking the annual game away, and then Nebraska hiring Callahan, the rivalry clearly isn't what it once was. But this is the second time they've met in the championship game in the last five years, so at least the stakes have been high. Sometime next decade I'm sure they'll get a non-conference home-and-home set up. That will be fun.

Anyway, things change, and if it has to end I'm glad that it ends like this. The only way it could be better would be if both teams were still unbeaten--or if the CCG had been held on Thanksgiving weekend this year :)

[Brickbat]

13. Totally agree.

Never agreed with the Big XII set-up...it took a lot of the fun out of it all. I hated it when OU was having its rough years, and then the Callahan years for NU....best not to speak of it, really.

I'll raise one for you Sooners tonight! :toast:

[JonLP24]

7. Central Florida 17, SMU 0

Late in the 3rd, Conference USA Championship.

[fishwax]

12. looks like UCF wins, 17-7

Congrats to the Knights :kick:

[pokerfan]

14. Heading out in about an hour

Go Cougs!

[fishwax]

15. Pitt and West Virginia both won pretty handily

So now UCONN has to beat South Florida to get to a BCS Bowl ...

[Lasher]

46. Uconn is favored to beat USF

But I'm hoping they get their asses kicked so that WVU comes out on top.

[JonLP24]

16. Oregon State got a much needed break

Let's see if they can capitalize.

[JonLP24]

17. Nope

They gave it back to Oregon.

[fishwax]

18. looks like another turnover -- three in the first five minutes

:bounce:

[JonLP24]

19. Oregon State recovers another fumble

Let's see if they can capitalize.

(I'll cool it with the updates for awhile ;))

[JonLP24]

20. TD Beavers

Looooooooooooooong way to go though.

[fishwax]

21. they did capitalize -- 7-0 now

That was a pretty long and impressive drive. But Oregon always starts a little slow ...

[JonLP24]

22. Yeah...

They need to keep the Oregon offense off the field so their defense will be well rested in the second half to prevent these long touchdowns. They are not doing a good job of that on this drive though. Oregon inside the 5.

[fishwax]

23. OSU blocks the extra point -- that's always exciting when the blocking team has a chance to score

I thought it might actually happen there, since the ball was knocked so far back when it was blocked ...

[JonLP24]

28. Oregon completely fooled Oregon St with misdirection on that drive

Unfortunately for Oregon St, Oregon's pass D is #1 in the nation.

[fishwax]

29. definitely -- that was fun to watch

that option end-around was great. :bounce:

[JonLP24]

32. Oregon finally threw a pass that wasn't play action

and it failed. Oregon State needs more of those or it will turn into a blood bath. Ah personal foul.

[JonLP24]

33. OSU needed that

16-7 half.

[fishwax]

35. wow -- what a fake

Oregon lines up to punt on their own 30 and then runs up the middle for 68 yards ...

[SeattleGirl]

36. That was amazing!

Way to go, Ducks!! :bounce: :bounce:

[JonLP24]

39. OSU now needs 3 scores

with 10 minutes left.

[fishwax]

40. well, that should about do it

Congrats to Oregon--you're headed to the BCS Championship Game :toast:

[fishwax]

24. Auburn scored a touchdown on their opening drive

:kick:

[JonLP24]

25. Looks like they scored right away

13:20 left in the 1st.

[fishwax]

26. yep -- took about four plays

South Carolina is putting together a pretty good drive now to answer, though ...

[JonLP24]

27. Just tied it up, looks like

I saw the highlight of the TD pass but don't know if SC made the XP.

[fishwax]

31. they did make the XP -- but Auburn just scored another TD: 14-7

6 minutes left in the first quarter ...

[JonLP24]

37. Unbelievable

Auburn completes a hail mary pass at halftime.

28-14.

[liberaltrucker]

38. You mean Un FUCKING Believable!

WAR EAGLE!!

:woohoo:

[JonLP24]

41. Wow

Play broke down immediately then Garcia throws it straight to an Auburn defender for an easy TD.

[Pryderi]

30. Pluck a Duck or Shave a Beaver? Who's going to win Oregon's Civil War?

I say Ducks win.

[SeattleGirl]

34. I like the sound of that!

QUACK!!

[gratuitous]

42. Ducks didn't score 50, gave up another 4th quarter TD

They didn't score 50 against Arizona, gave up a 4th quarter TD, and went from number 1 to number 2 in the BCS. I don't think they'll slip out of the top 5, and they're guaranteed the Rose Bowl, so it was a pretty good season for Oregon. I can't say whether they'll stay ahead of Stanford, because all I've seen is what happens on the field; the BCS computers are gods. Gods, I tell you! Not to be questioned.

[grasswire]

48. huh?

Oregon beat Stanford.

[gratuitous]

49. But if the computers say Stanford is better, then Stanford is better

Up until LSU lost to Arkansas, at least one of the computers consistently had Auburn and LSU ahead of Oregon, which I guess translated to Oregon being only the third best team in the SEC. I figure if the West Coast teams (except for USC) can't beat the eastern bias of the BCS standings, they might as well join them.

[fishwax]

43. This will be the first BCS Championship game with two teams that weren't in the preseason top 10

Oregon was ranked 11th in both the AP and USA Today preseason polls, and Auburn was ranked 22nd in the AP and 23rd in USA Today.

The last team to play in the BCS Championship Game after starting the season not ranked in the top 10 was LSU in 2003. Other teams to have done so: Ohio State in 2002, Oklahoma in 2000, and Virginia Tech in 1999. LSU, Ohio State, and Oklahoma all wound up winning the BCS Championship. (Virginia Tech lost to preseason #1 Florida State.)

Previously the 2000 Oklahoma Sooners were the team that moved the farthest from the preseason (#19) into the championship game, but after today it will be this year's Auburn team.

Congrats to Auburn and Oregon :toast:

[liberaltrucker]

44. WAR EAGLE!!!!

War Eagle, fly down the field
Ever to conquer, never to yield

War Eagle, fearless and true
Fight on you Orange and Blue

GO, GO, GO on to victory
Strike up the band.

Give 'em hell, give 'em hell
Stand up and yell HEY!

War Eagle win for Auburn
Power of Dixieland!!!!

Honestly, I never dreamed it'd happen in my lifetime.
My beloved Auburn in the NC game.

Again: WAR EAGLE!!!!

:party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party:


:beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:

[fishwax]

45. OU-Nebraska is moments away!

:woohoo:

[fishwax]

47. Nebraska up 10-0 after the 1st quarter

Huskers had one big play on offense, but otherwise it's been a lot of grinding from both teams. So far the Sooners are 0-2 on 4th down.

[fishwax]

50. 20-17 Nebraska at halftime

Pretty wild second quarter :bounce:

[fishwax]

51. 20-20 at the start of the fourth quarter

:kick:

[fishwax]

52. BOOMER SOONER!!!

Oklahoma wins 23-20!

:woohoo:

[Brickbat]

53. A great way to end the series!

Nebraska is usually a third-quarter team, so I was shocked to see the second-quarter blues continue into the third quarter. I've never had full confidence in Martinez and he lived up to that in the second half. That was really a fun game to watch -- not a heartbreaker like some of them!