SOUTH FLORIDA ELIMINATED FROM BCS CHAMPIONSHIP
October 20, 2007
The clock struck midnight Thursday for this year’s darlings, the South Florida Bulls as they lost to the Scarlet Knights from Rutgers, 30-27, in front of a record crowd of 44,267 at Rutgers Stadium.
South Florida came into the game ranked second in the first BCS poll of the season. The Bulls were also ranked second in the AP poll and third in the coaches poll.
In a matter of a few weeks leading up to the Rutgers game, the Bulls have gone from an unknown to No. 2 in the nation. The Bulls upset #19 Auburn on the road, 26-23, and beat #7 West Virginia, 21-13, at home. Both teams had been unbeaten and had a higher ranking at the time they each lost to South Florida.
The Bulls finally got the respect that they deserved. They moved up the polls faster than Joe Torre told George Steinbrenner on Friday that he can stick his one year offer right up his ass.
The Bulls had everything set for a run into college history. The Bulls had a nationally televised game on the road in a hostile environment against the 31st ranked Scarlet Knights. A convincing win over last year’s Cinderella team would’ve certainly won the voters over in the polls.
It wasn’t quite stage fright, but No. 2 South Florida’s debut as a national championship contender didn’t quite live up to the past week’s gush of excitement. Though the Bulls rise to No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series standings in only their 11th season has been remarkable, their stay near the top of the polls will be brief after their loss to Rutgers.
The Bulls were done in by a pair of trick plays. Rutgers rare display of trickery was the difference in the game. “We picked our spots and thank god they worked,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said.
In the first quarter, punter/kicker Jeremy Ito faked a punt and completed a 36-yard pass to James Townsend for the first down. That led to a Ito 26 yard FG and a 3-0 lead for the Scarlet Knights.
With 4:09 left in the third quarter, Rutgers fake field-goal attempt resulted in a touchdown when holder Andrew DePaola, a walk-on and former high school quarterback, threw a 15-yard pass to Kevin Brock to put the Scarlet Knights ahead, 27-17.
The Bulls had one last chance to keep the dream alive but quarterback Matt Grothe’s desperation pass in the final minute was intercepted by Rutger’s defensive back Zaire Kitchen.
The South Florida loss opens to the door for Boston College (7-0) to moved up to number 2 in next weeks BCS poll. Ohio State (7-0) was ranked number 1 in the initial BCS poll released last week.
Besides Ohio State and Boston College, three other teams remain unbeaten heading into today’s action. Arizona State (7-0) is currently ranked 8th in the BCS poll. The Sun Devils are idle this weekend. The University of Kansas (6-0), ranked 13th in the BCS poll, travels to Boulder this weekend for a tilt with Colorado (4-3), while the University of Hawaii (7-0) currently ranked 18th by the BCS has a bye this weekend.
Boston College is a nice story this year. The Eagles have a good chance to run the table and win the ACC conference with an unbeaten record. That would guarantee the Eagles a spot in the BCS championship game. Possibly roadblocks for the Eagles include road games at Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Clemson. The Eagles should dsipose of Florida State and Miami at home.
Ohio State has a tough path to the BCS championship game. I dont see the Buckeyes running the table. The Buckeyes have home games left against Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Illinois and road games at Penn State and Michigan.
Does the slipper fit Arizona State - definitely not. The Sun Devils are having a great season but now they hit the meat of their schedule. They travel to Oregon and UCLA while they host Cal, Southern Cal, and Arizona. The Sun Devils will be lucky to win two of their last five games.
Believe it or not, Cinderella might just be residing in the state of Kansas. The Jayhawks could conceivably win out and make it to the Big 12 championship game where they would be a huge underdog if they end up playing Oklahoma. If for some reason the Sooners don’t make the Big 12 championship game and Kansas did, the Jayhawks would have a legit chance, if undefeated, to beat the winner of the South Division in the Big 12 and make it to the BCS championship game.
If the Jayhawks would run the table and make it to the BCS championship game, it would be one of the best feel good stories in the last decade. It would definitely be right up their with the Colorado Rockies run to the World Series this year.
The final unbeaten team, the Hawaii Warriors will probably end up as the only unbeaten Division 1-A team this year but the Warriors will no chance of playing for the BCS national championship game. The Warriors play in a very weak conference (Western Athletic) and their non-conference schedule is about as hard as Wisconsin’s.
Maybe someday college football will get a clue and have some sort of playoff system. The BCS championship game will feature two teams with one loss apiece. The sad thing about college football and the rankings is the timing of your loss.
If you lose early in the season like Florida did last year, you can overcome a loss a lot easier than losing like Michigan did last year on the road in the final game to #1 Ohio State by 3 points. The Wolverines got hosed and the beneficiary of the screw job was Florida which went on to defeat Ohio State for the national championship.
BCS Championship Game Prediction: LSU beats Oklahoma, 34-31.
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