President-elect Barack Obama reached a wide variety of voters in his election victory on Nov. 4, but the latest demographic he scored with may have been that of the armchair quarterback.
Obama perked up the ears of college football fans nationwide when he said on “Monday Night Football” that he would like to see a playoff instituted.
Many across the country agree with Obama’s vision, but it won’t be realized this season. What exists instead is a murky Bowl Championship Series picture that is beginning to provide some semblance of clarity.
Saturday, then-No. 2 Texas Tech certainly didn’t have its “guns up” when they traveled to Norman to counter No. 3 Oklahoma.
The Red Raiders never got their six shooters out of their holsters in a 65-21 drubbing at the hands of the Sooners.
The outcome of that game has set up a pair of national semifinals that exist in the form of the SEC and Big XII Conference championship games, which will take place on Dec. 6.
One spot in this season’s BCS title game will likely go to the winner of the SEC championship game that will feature The Associated Press’ No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Florida.
The Crimson Tide must first face Auburn next weekend, while the Gators counter Florida State.
If both teams emerge from those games unscathed, the SEC champ would undoubtedly secure it a spot in the national championship game.
Clearing up the Big XII picture is a little more complicated.
OU, Texas and TTU all have identical 10-1 records with one regular season game remaining for each.
If all three win their contests next Saturday and end the season tied, then the winner of the Big XII South would be determined by which team has the highest BCS ranking.
UT is second and OU sits third in those standings, as the Longhorns defeated the Sooners 45-35 earlier in the season.
With the magnitude of the defeat they suffered on Saturday, TTU is now on the outside looking in.
The team that is lucky enough to win the complex tiebreaker will play in the Big XII championship game against the conference’s North division winner, which will likely be Missouri.
The Big XII South champ will be favored in the game, and a victory should secure the other seat in the national title game.
With all that said, we have learned that nothing is certain in college football.
Last season, Kansas and West Virginia both lost their regular season finales, and their seemingly clear paths into the national championship game led straight off a cliff.
With TTU’s all-important loss, at least one spot in the title game will be given to one of a host of deserving one-loss teams.
The Pac-10’s USC and Big 10’s Penn State, each with just one loss, remain viable candidates. And that still leaves out the still-undefeated Utah, Boise State and Ball State.
So how do you figure out who belongs? For now there’s only one way. Let the computers figure it out.
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu.
