Week 13 wrap up

Rivalry week has come and gone, and left us with plenty of great games!  The BCS picture might still be a mess, but conference championships are much clearer.  Except, of course, for the Big East.


Obviously, I thoroughly enjoyed Virginia Tech shuting out UVA, but the Ohio State-Michigan matchup preceding it on ABC was highly entertaining.

And Clemson!  First, you screw over the entire ACC by losing to NC State last week and ruining any chance of a BCS at-large spot for the conference.  And now, you just help to embarass them by losing to South Carolina.

I was hoping Auburn could pull off the upset against Alabama and make the BCS a little more easier for all of college football.  Granted, it would put VT an upset away from slipping into the big game, but I think I'd rather not get crushed by LSU in the big game.

ACC - Virginia Tech vs. Clemson, Dec. 3, 8 PM
Atlantic
Bowl eligible: Clemson, FSU, Wake Forest, NC State
No bowl: Maryland, Boston College

Coastal
Bowl eligible: VT, UVA, GT, UNC
Eligible but sitting out: Miami (self-imposed ban due to scandal from the start of the season)
No bowl: Duke

SEC - LSU vs. Georgia, Dec. 3, 4 PM
East
Bowl eligible: Georgia, SC, Florida, Vanderbilt
No bowl: Tennessee, Kentucky

West
Bowl eligible: LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Mississippi State
No bowl: Mississippi

Big Ten - Michigan State vs. Wisconsin, Dec. 3, 8 PM
Legends
Bowl eligible: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska
No bowl: Minnesota, Northwestern

Leaders
Bowl eligible: Wisconsin, Illinois, Penn State, Ohio State, Purdue
No bowl: Indiana

Pac-12 - Oregon vs. UCLA, Dec. 2, 8 PM
North
Bowl eligible: Oregon, Stanford, Washington, California
No bowl: Oregon State, Washington State

South
Bowl eligible: Arizona State, Utah
Bowl eligible, but dependant on conference championship result: UCLA
No bowl: Arizona, Colorado, USC (banned)

Big 12
It's not an official conference championship game, but the Oklahoma-OK State game on Dec. 3 at 8 PM will determine the conference winner.  After a couple of upsets last week made it look like it could lose some meaning, OU took care of business this week.  Ironically, this game will be on primetime on ABC, the same time that the Big 12 championship was played last year.

Bowl eligible: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Kansas State, Baylor, Texas A&M, Iowa State, Missouri
No bowl: Texas Tech, Kansas

Big East
And then there were three.  The conference race finally cleared up a little bit.  Louisville is done with the schedule, and have set the magic number at 2 with no games remaining, soo all they can do is sit back and watch.  But Cincinnati and West Virginia are also still alive, but it's not so easy for any of them.

Louisville needs UConn to beat Cinci.
Cinci needs to beat UConn, and have WVU lose.
WVU needs to win, and have Cinci beat UConn, and get a higher BCS rank.

WTF?  WVU needs another team to win to get them a chance at the conference title?  No wonder teams are leaving this conference like it's cursed.  It's insane that there's no scenario here that just requires one of those teams to just win.

Since the Big East champion is going to be the least desired BCS team, they will probably get dumped on the Orange Bowl, who has the last pick.  Perhaps WVU can pull out a conference championship and get matched up with Virginia Tech, reigniting an old rivalry that has been dormant since 2005.  (And this time, there will be no couch burning, lest someone gets arrested.)

As Tony pointed out in his last post, it's in everyone's best interest for Louisville to not win the conference.  So, we all need to be rooting for Cinci.

Somehow, the Big East has yet to knock anyone out of bowl eligibility yet.  Of course, the teams that still need a win are also a loss away from staying home over the holidays.  At least the three teams in contention for the title are already bowl eligible.

Bowl eligible: West Virginia, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Louisville
Needs a win: Pittsburgh, South Florida, Syracuse, Connecticut
Onward to championship week!