Close to ideal title game, BCS a slip from chaos

How cool would that be, BCS coordinator Kevin Weiberg?
"I think I'm pretty much a realist about the BCS arrangement," the Big 12 commissioner said this week. "It would be great if we finish the season without a lot of questions about whether we have the right two teams in the championship game.

"But we've seen every year produce some surprises, so I'm not banking on that we won't see some surprises this year."

While one upset would create chaos, No. 1 USC and No. 2 Texas could have the most important BCS matter settled by early Saturday night.
The Longhorns (11-0) play the first of Championship Saturday's big games against Colorado (7-4) in the Big 12 title game at 1 p.m. EST. Vince Young and Texas are about a four-touchdown favorite against a bunch of Buffaloes they beat by about four touchdowns in the regular season.
The Trojans (11-0) should be taking the Los Angeles Coliseum field as the Big 12 game in Houston is winding down, bringing with them a 33-game winning streak. No. 11 UCLA (9-1) awaits.

Pete Carroll's two-time defending champion Trojans are favored by three touchdowns against Karl Dorrell's resurgent, though defensively challenged, Bruins.
With Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush on the USC side and Drew Olson and Maurice Drew on the other, points should be plentiful.

The Southeastern Conference title and a BCS bid will be on the line in the Georgia Dome about an hour and a half after the Battle of L.A. kicks off. No. 3 LSU and No. 13 Georgia meet in Atlanta for the second time in three years.


Either would be a fine BCS representative for the SEC.
The Atlantic Coast Conference championship has another heavy favorite, with No. 5 Virginia Tech (10-1) facing Florida State (7-4), losers of three straight.

Barring one of those surprises Weiberg referred to - such as UCLA and Kansas State each kicking away a spot in the BCS title game on the last day of the 1998 regular season - college football's Selection Sunday should shake out this way:

Rose Bowl - USC vs. Texas.

Fiesta Bowl - Notre Dame vs. Ohio State.

Orange Bowl - Penn State vs. Virginia Tech.

Sugar Bowl - SEC winner (too close to call) vs. West Virginia.

The Notre Dame haters will complain, the Pac-10 people will scream East Coast bias - though Midwest bias might be more appropriate - and the Oregon Ducks will take their 10-1 record to the Holiday Bowl, just as California did last season.

But what happens if USC or Texas loses? Or, and wouldn't this be wild, what if both the Trojans and Longhorns go down and there are no unbeaten teams left in major college football, just a group of one-loss teams saying they should play for the national championship?
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