THE WORLD OF BAX: What to do with the BCS Busters?

The BCS rankings are officially out and it seems that we have a fair number of non- BCS teams that are in contention for a BCS bowl. With scholarship limits, it is not a surprise that some non-BCS schools can accumulate enough talent to put together top 25 teams. However, I think that saying that these schools are getting an equal shot at the National Title is a fallacy because of the schedule that they play. There is, for the most part, a simple way to correct this problem: Realignment.

It is a time-honored tradition for conferences to realign to allow their member schools to have greater opportunities for exposure and competition. Look at the Big Eight and SEC when the Southwest conference was falling apart in the early 1990s. The Big Eight brought Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor into the fold, becoming the Big XII and the SEC snapped up Arkansas and added South Carolina to expand to their current set up. More recently, the ACC snared Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College from the Big East, a move at the time which led many observers to believe that the ACC was on the verge of becoming college football’s next super conference. Unfortunately for the ACC, that doesn’t seem to have yet become the case but the conference is definitely much higher profile than before.

Now, most realignment talk these days begins and ends with Notre Dame and the Big Ten but I have an idea that I have not yet seen elsewhere. Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly present to you the Great Western Conference.

The Great Western Conference would combine elements of the WAC, MWC, and Conference USA. Obviously, the top four rated non-BCS teams in the first BCS poll were Tulsa, Boise State, TCU and Utah. Those four teams would be an integral part of this new conference. Here are the teams:

GWC Eastern Division

• Utah
• Brigham Young
• Texas Christian
• Tulsa
• Southern Methodist
• Colorado State

GWC Western Division

• Boise State
• Hawai’i
• Fresno State
• UNLV
• Nevada
• San Diego State

Now, think about the logic of combining these teams. You have 6 WAC teams, most of which would be part of the Western Division, thus preserving a lot of the existing rivalries. In fact, only Colorado State wouldn’t be part of the division so that Nevada and UNLV could compete in the same tier. This preserves most of the current rivalries and the conference includes six teams that have been ranked this season and a seventh ( Hawai’i) which played in a BCS bowl last season.

Aside from those seven obvious choices, I included SMU because of their history, their rivalry with TCU and their location in the city of Dallas. Colorado State has a large alumni base, lots of tradition, and would include the Denver TV market. San Diego State has everything in place to be a great football school and is located in a major city with lots of television viewers. UNLV and Nevada are major draws in Las Vegas and would tie their division together.

Furthermore, this conference covers the major fertile recruiting grounds of Texas, California, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. That means that these schools will easily be able to compete for a lot of the country’s best players without the disadvantage of essentially being unable to compete for the National Title. Furthermore, most of these schools play in fairly large stadiums and would combine to draw a lot of television markets into their conference. It is a gold mine both on and off the field.

On the field is where I’m concerned about right now. The West currently has Boise State #12 in the BCS and Fresno State has been ranked this season. Hawai’i is also usually a very strong team, creating good balance between the divisions. In the East, Utah is #11, TCU is #14, Tulsa is #19 and BYU is #21. This conference would immediately vault ahead of the Big East and might force the BCS to add a 7 th guaranteed conference champion bid. It would also eliminate any arguments that these teams don’t deserve to compete for the National Title and create new super conference.

What about the teams left over? Well, the Conference USA could replace its two teams lost from the West by inserting Louisiana Tech from the WAC and Troy from the Sun Belt. The remaining Mountain West and WAC teams could combine to form one league that features San Jose State, Idaho, Wyoming, Air Force, New Mexico, New Mexico State, and Utah State.

Does anyone think that this conference realignment wouldn’t be a brilliant idea? It would fill in the geographic gap between the Pac Ten and Big XII and cover most of the teams which compete yearly to bust the BCS into a single, strong BCS conference. This new conference would be a football success, a television goldmine, a fiscal dream and it would only make college football better, something that is in everyone’s interest.

As for this week’s preview………

Last week was a great week for me, as I went 7-1 to improve my season record to 44-24. This week, we have yet another excellent slate of games to look forward to, headlined by a trio of matchups between teams ranked in the top 11 spots. Here are my picks for this week………

Auburn at West Virginia

Thursday, 7:30 PM EST

It’s the underachieving offense bowl! In a rare occurrence, this game marks the third time an SEC team leaves SEC territory and the conference is 1-1 thus far. This game is also a far cry from what people hoped it would be in the preseason, as both teams were seen as possible top ten teams. Instead, both teams are struggling on offense and both have disappointed. I think that Pat White (who is finally healthy) and company are more likely to score some points as Auburn’s offense has been anemic this season. I’ll take West Virginia at home in a close game.

West Virginia 20, Auburn 14

Cincinnati at Connecticut

Saturday, 12:00 PM EST

This is a major Big East showdown between two five win teams. Cincinnati’s only loss has been at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, so they could still turn out to be a pretty good team. Meanwhile, UConn lost a rough game at Rutgers last week and is in the midst of a two game losing run. I expect the Bearcats to extend that streak to three straight losses.

Cincinnati 27, UConn 17

#23 Boston College at North Carolina

Saturday, 12:00 PM EST

The Tar Heels struggled on the road last week and lost star returner Brandon Tate for the season with a knee injury. The turn of events against the Heels has been disappointing, to say the least, since their big win against Notre Dame two weeks ago. Boston College, meanwhile, has surprised me with their consistency this season and is coming off of a huge home win against Virginia Tech. I have to take the Eagles in this game, despite losing star linebacker Brian Toal for the year, but North Carolina will not go down without a fight.

Boston College 31, UNC 24

 

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#9 Texas Tech at #16 Kansas

Saturday, 12:00 PM EST

This is a huge game for both teams. Texas Tech has skated through an easy opening schedule despite a porous defense and is still undefeated. Meanwhile, Kansas has lost two games to ranked opposition on the road. Kansas needs to win this game to stay ahead of Missouri in the Big XII North race and the Jayhawks will be excited to finally get to play a big game at home. In my opinion, this game comes down to which defense can make more stops, because you know both teams will score a lot of points. I’ve been slowly jumping off of the Texas Tech bandwagon the last few weeks despite ranking them in the top ten all season and I think that Kansas is going to beat them this week. The Red Raiders’ defense just isn’t good enough to slow Kansas down.

Kansas 41, Texas Tech 37

Virginia Tech at #17 Florida State

Saturday 3:30 PM EST

This is a game between two teams moving in opposition directions. Virginia Tech is coming off of a loss at Boston College and hasn’t been consistent all season on offense. Meanwhile, Florida State is really cranking it up on offense and their defense has been pretty good. Furthermore, this game is in Tallahassee. All signs point to a big conference win for the Seminoles and they’re my pick in this game.

Florida State 27,Virginia Tech 13

#10 Georgia at #11 Louisiana State

Saturday 3:0 PM EST

I’m really surprised that this game isn’t at night because LSU loves night games because it gives them a massive home field advantage. Essentially, here’s what is at stake for both teams: LSU has to win to keep their SEC West hopes alive while Georgia has to win because they don’t want to go into the Florida game next week coming off of a loss. In short, this is an elimination game in the National Title chase and likely in the SEC race. Who will win? Well, I have to pick the LSU Tigers because of the strength of their defensive line going up against Georgia’s banged up O-Line. Furthermore, Matthew Stafford hasn’t shown that he is a big game quarterback and this is a big game. LSU’s defense will dominate this game and I expect the Tigers to pull out a close victory at home.

Louisiana State 23, Georgia 16

#6 Oklahoma State at #1 Texas

Saturday 3:30 PM EST

Texas continues its death march through the Big XII South by hosting an upstart Oklahoma State team that is the Big XII’s top rushing team. Texas will have some trouble slowing down Zach Robinson and company because they’re much more balanced the Missouri was. On the defensive side of the ball, I’m not so sure Oklahoma State will be able to do much to stop the relentless McCoy Heisman express. With their newfound running game, Texas should be able to score at will against the Cowboys. In a close game, you always pick the Heisman favorite’s team at home and Colt McCoy’s crew will defeat their third consecutive highly ranked opponent and remain atop the national polls.

Texas 45, Oklahoma State 37

#3 Alabama at Tennessee

Saturday 7:45 PM EST

This game is a lot tougher for me to pick than you would think just based off of the two teams’ records. Alabama has definitely been impressive but they’ve struggled in their past two games since defeating Georgia in Athens and now face the reality of life without Terrance Cody on defense. Tennessee has begun to improve on offense the past few weeks and their defense is always solid. Furthermore, I like Tennessee because they will have revenge on their minds for last season’s whipping at the hands of the Crimson Tide. I’ve been critical of the SEC this season because their depth hasn’t shown up like past seasons but I really like Tennessee in this game. I think Alabama struggles to move the ball against the Volunteer defense and I’m picking Tennessee in a low-scoring upset.

UPSET ALERT: Tennessee 23, Alabama 20

#2 Penn State at #8 Ohio State

Saturday 8:00 PM EST

This game is for all the Big Ten marbles. If Penn State can come away with a victory in the Horseshoe, where Jim Tressel’s teams are 40-3 since the 2002 season and a venue that the Nittany Lions have never won in since joining the Big Ten, then there should be no doubts about the Nittany Lions’ ability to compete for the National Title. Furthermore, Ohio State is coming off of their best effort of the season, a 45-7 thrashing of ranked Michigan State on the road. Night games are rare in Ohio Stadium, so expect the crowd to play a huge factor in this game. Now, up until last week, I was pretty sure that I would pick the Nittany Lions in this game but Ohio State played such a complete game last week that I’m reversing course and picking the Buckeyes because against Michigan State I finally saw the team I expected to see when I made Ohio State my preseason #1 pick. Ohio State has been so impressive on defense since the start of Big Ten play and I think that freshman phenom Terrelle Pryor will make enough plays for Ohio State to edge Penn State in a battle between two very good defenses and ruin JoePa’s title dreams.

Ohio State 27, Penn State 20

By Matt Baxendell
CollegeSports-fans.com Staff Writer

Matt Baxendell is collegesports-fans.com’s newest staff writer. If you’d like to join his college football therapy group, email him at matt.baxendell @ gmail.com with all your questions, comments, and anything else you would like to share. Also be sure to check out Matt's 2008 conference previews and college football Top 25 rankings here at CollegeSports-fans.com!

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