Sorry y'all, for taking the last couple weeks off. I've got a ton of excuses but I won't lay 'em on ya right now, mostly because you probably don't care.
Anyhow, as the title suggests we are now down to the nitty gritty time in the college football season. Ohio State loses its first game leaving only Kansas and Hawaii as unbeaten. Lets put Hawaii aside for a moment, because even if they finish perfect it's unlikely they'll be playing for the national championship. Kansas, on the other hand, could conceivably be playing in New Orleans on January 7. The Jayhawks have Iowa State and Missouri still left on their schedule. If they win both those games they play in the Big 12 Championship game, probably against Oklahoma. Beat Oklahoma and I don't see how you can keep them out of the national championship. No undefeated team has ever been left out in favor of a one-loss team, and even with all the flaws of the BCS system it won't happen this year either.
For now, though, LSU and Oregon are 1-2 in the BCS. Why? you ask... Well, first of all, both teams have played tougher competition than Kansas. If you look at who the Jayhawks have played, it's pretty much all mediocre teams (Sorry Pfeffer, I know they played Nebraska). Missouri will be their biggest test and that's not saying much. LSU and Oregon, however, have both played top ranked competition at least three times this season, and the middles of their schedules have included teams that would've beaten Kansas easily.
Now, let me add a disclaimer here... I'm not exactly an impartial observer. As a crazy Duck fan I have my biases. But I'm trying to look at this impartially. And that leads to my next question: Who is the better team, LSU or Oregon? That's a tough one, but I'm going to give it to LSU by a nose. Their strength of schedule has been slightly tougher than Oregon's. Slightly. However, I will say that my Ducks have been more impressive in winning games than LSU. The Tigers have barely won some of their games, while Oregon goes out and punches the other team in the mouth week after week.
LSU and Oregon both have three games left on their schedule. For the Ducks it's Arizona, UCLA and Oregon State. Meanwhile, LSU has Mississippi, Arkansas, and whoever they play in the SEC Championship Game. So neither team has a real cake walk from here on out. A word of advice for both: watch out for Kansas.
As for Hawaii, yes they are undefeated and could finish the season that way. Does that mean they should play for the national championship? No. They've played an even weaker schedule than Kansas and even if they make it to a BCS bowl game they'll be crushed by whoever they play. But what about Boise State last year? Same conference as Hawaii and they beat Oklahoma. True, but Hawaii's not Boise State last year. In fact, I'd be surprised if they make it past Washington, who they play in the last game of the season.
Besides, if Hawaii does go undefeated it gives us another reason to lobby for a playoff, which should be the way this is all settled anyway.
-CK1
