Rooting for chaos in the BCS

Nov 11, 2008 - 4:10 PM By Bob Birge PA SportsTicker Staff Writer

At approximately 7 p.m. Saturday, the BCS seemed headed for a state of utter chaos.

Penn State had just lost at Iowa, 24-23, on a last-second field goal and Alabama was in overtime at Louisiana State.

However, the Crimson Tide escaped with a 27-21 victory and Texas Tech routed Oklahoma State, 56-20, later in the day.

Thus, Penn State was the only one of three unbeaten teams heading into the weekend to lose. Alabama and Texas Tech remained perfect.

If they run the table, things would be cut and dried. The Crimson Tide and Red Raiders would meet in the BCS title game with few complaints.

However, cut and dried is boring. Since we like chaos and confusion, we've devised a formula in which Oklahoma and Southern California would play for the national championship without winning their conferences.

For that bizarre scenario to come to fruition, the Sooners and Trojans would have to climb from fifth and sixth, respectively, in the BCS standings.

It may be far-fetched, but perhaps not completely behind the realm of possibilities. It's also fun just to think about.

We present the following scenarios, starting with the Southeastern Conference, that could create the nightmare scenario of two non-conference champions playing in the BCS title game:

- Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville saves his job by beating Alabama for the seventh straight year in the Iron Bowl on November 29.

Unlikely? Absolutely, but anything can happen in a rivalry. Who thought Pittsburgh would beat West Virginia last year with the Mountaineers one game away from playing for the national title?

- Florida loses to either South Carolina or Florida State. You know Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier would love to knock his old team out of the national championship picture. How ironic would that be?

Spurrier almost did it two years ago (Florida escaped with a 17-16 win en route to the national title.)

If Spurrier can't beat the Gators, maybe Florida State coach Bobby Bowden would have a few tricks up his sleeve against Florida on November 29. It's another rivalry game.

If Florida and Alabama do somehow lose, their meeting in the SEC title game would no longer have any bearing on the national championship. If they don't lose, their meeting in Atlanta on December 6 would essentially be a semifinal with the winner virtually assured a spot in the BCS title game.

Now on to the Big 12.

- Texas Tech loses in Norman on November 22 to an Oklahoma team that has been scoring points by the bushel load since its loss to Texas. This is an entirely plausible outcome, as the Sooners likely will be favored at home.

- Oklahoma follows up its win over Texas Tech with a victory over Oklahoma State in the Bedlam Series.

- Texas wins its final two games against Kansas and Texas A&M.

That would put Texas Tech in a position to create a three-way tie with Texas and Oklahoma in the Big 12 South.

The tiebreaker would be determined by BCS rankings, and that could favor the Sooners since they might jump over Texas after beating No. 2 Texas Tech.

Let's say, however, that the Red Raiders are so devastated by having their national championship hopes end at Oklahoma that they come out flat against Baylor and suffer a shocking upset.

Of all the scenarios presented here, this is the least likely one since Baylor is 3-7 and the game is in Lubbock.

For the sake of argument, let's assume the Red Raiders lose. Texas and Oklahoma finish in a two-way tie for first place in the Big 12 South and the Longhorns have the tiebreaker edge based on their 45-35 win over the Sooners.

Texas goes to the Big 12 title game, but is overconfident and falls to Missouri, which avenges a 56-31 regular-season loss to the Longhorns.

Now we've eliminated Alabama, Florida, Texas Tech and Texas. Easy, right?

Oklahoma climbs to No. 1 in the BCS standings and USC jumps to No. 2 after rolling over Stanford, Notre Dame and UCLA.

There's one final piece to this crazy puzzle. Oregon State claims the Pac-10 title by winning its last three games. The Beavers have a tiebreaker edge over USC based on their 27-21 win over the Trojans on September 27.

We understand that it's nearly impossible for all these things to happen. Still, one can always dream.