Who could have seen it coming? Alabama not only avenged itself of an earlier season loss to LSU, but it shut down and shut out the No. 1 team in the nation. With its 21-0 win, Alabama dismissed earlier talk that a win over LSU might not be enough to give it the No. 1 ranking. Seemingly, a close win would still allow LSU to retain the top spot, something the Tide wasn’t about to let happen.

National Champions

By winning by the equivalent of three touchdowns and by shutting out one of the most vaunted offenses in the nation, Alabama proved that at 12-1, it is the best FBS college football team in the nation. The Tide garnered 55 of the 60 first place votes in the AP poll, to No. 2 LSU’s one and No. 3 Oklahoma State’s four. Oddly, there was one person who still thought that LSU deserved to be ranked ahead of the team that held the Tigers to just 92 yards of offense. The shut out was also a first in the history of the BCS.

The state of Alabama has much to rejoice in for the third consecutive year. Last year, Auburn one the national championship. The year before, it was Alabama. For a state with fewer than 5 million residents, it has demonstrated outsize importance in college football. Alabama’s national title win was its eighth, tying it with Notre Dame for the most number of wins.

Defensive Struggle

The defense was clearly the champion of the game, limiting LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson to just 53 yards passing and grabbing one interception. But it was also Jeremy Shelley’s leg that accounted for all of the points through the first three quarters, kicking five field goals. LSU’s red zone defense was excellent, but it was five successful field goal attempts that spelled the difference. With 4:36 left in regulation, Trent Richardson scored the only touchdown of the game. By then it was clearly apparent that Alabama was worthy of winning the national championship.

For the sixth consecutive year, an SEC team is the best team in the land. This year, it is also the second best and the fifth best with LSU and Arkansas taking those positions. Break up the SEC! Seriously, the SEC remains the premier football conference in America and may easily retain that position for a few more years. What may not stay the same is the BCS arrangement which is wholly dependent on post season bowl games to choose a national champion. This week, 11 conference officials and independent Notre Dame will be meeting to discuss making changes to the BCS reports the New York Times.

BCS Changes

What changes will we see? First, those changes won’t happen for at least two more years as the current television contract, worth $125 million, is played out. Second, what changes do occur probably won’t go far enough to match what the FCS teams face: a 16-team playoff. Instead, it seems that two scenarios are likely to get the most consideration: keep the traditional bowl format and seed everyone after the final bowl game is played to determine the two top teams in the nation who would play for a championship game or choose the top four teams who would have a chance to play for the national championship. Those games would not replace the existing bowl games which would go on, but perhaps played on different dates.

Thank you for staying with us as we covered college football this year. Until September, enjoy the run-up to the 2012 season!

Championship Material

What does all of this mean? Well, for starters the SEC continues it dominance of college football. Having won the past four national championships, another SEC team is likely to get a shot at the big game again this year. Also, there is a chance that two SEC teams could play for the national championship, but there are a few very good teams just behind the top three that could move up.

Thanksgiving weekend will be the final games for many teams, with some games to be played the first weekend in December, including conference title games. The bowl schedule will quickly fill out following next week’s action, although the top tier bowls will wait until after the title games have been decided and the final BCS standings are tabulated. BYU, now an independent, is one of the first schools to accept a bowl invite and will play in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl on December 30 in Dallas. That early invite and acceptance gives the Cougars what they wanted — a convenient to get to bowl game at a desirable date after Christmas.

Big East Conference

The Big East Conference will be sending someone to play in the Orange Bowl in Miami to face off against an ACC team. Trouble is, there are five teams in the league who have a shot at the game — West Virginia, Rutgers, Cincinnati, Louisville and Pittsburgh. Not a single BE team is currently nationally ranked which means that whoever makes the cut could have a record as poor as 7-5. This reflects poorly on a league that is bleeding team members is no longer competitive nationally. Still, whoever wins the BE championship after tiebreakers will get to go to a first class bowl game.

If you’re looking for hot games to watch this weekend there will be many including some important regional rivalries. On Thanksgiving Day, Texas A&M takes on Texas, in the sole college football match up. On Friday, Houston and Tulsa do battle for the Conference USA West title, with the winner meeting Southern Miss for the conference championship in December. Houston is ranked #8 in the nation and will be assured of a BCS bowl if they win out. Arkansas at LSU and Pittsburgh at West Virginia round out Friday’s action.

Saturday Contests

On Saturday, several important contests will take place. Georgia, ranked #13 will take on #23 Georgia Tech at noon and Ohio State meets #15 Michigan. Second-ranked Alabama meets #24 Auburn and #19 Penn State plays at #16 Wisconsin. In the evening, the battle for South Carolina takes place when #17 Clemson travels to Columbia to take on #12 South Carolina. The evening and weekend wraps up with an 8 p.m. (EST) contest with #22 Notre Dame playing at #6 Stanford. Oh, lest I forget #18 USC will host UCLA. at 10 p.m. (7 p.m. PCT).

Adv. — Shop for the football fan in your family by shopping online! The nBuy Shopping Plaza can help you find discounted airline tickets to bowl destinations all across the continental U.S. and Hawaii. Yeah, team!

What kind of game we’ll see on Saturday may be a bit of a mystery given that both teams usually put up about 40 points per game. They’re also the stingiest on defense with the Tide giving up just 7 points per game, the best in the nation, while the Tigers give up 11.5 points per game, the third best in the nation. Clearly, neither team can afford to give the other any ground, otherwise the risk of this game quickly spiraling out of control will become a strong possibility.

Tide by the Tail

Earlier this week, the home team was a 4.5 point favorite, a position that likely pleases the Tigers who may want to play underdog for motivation purposes. Bama leads this series with 45 wins to LSU’s 24 wins, plus five ties, and had routinely vanquished the Tigers until recent years. Since 2000, LSU has won 8 of the 10 match ups, losing only in the two years when Alabama won a national championship.

Both teams are coming off of a bye week and have had plenty of time to rest and to prepare. They’ve also been listening to the hype with an exasperated Tide coach Nick Saban telling everyone to chill out. That isn’t likely to happen. Why should it?

National Championship

This is the first time since 2006 for the two top teams in the nation to square off in a regular season game. In 2006, it was Ohio State and Michigan. This year, like then, some have suggested that the loser could still play for the national championship, but just like then, don’t count on the pollsters seeing it that way. Besides, if the Oklahoma State Cowboys win out this year, they’ll have a legitimate shot at squaring off against Saturday’s winner. Stanford and Boise State will be making a case too, but the Cowboys are in the best position right now.

Some people are looking at the game of the year from a professional standpoint, reviewing each team’s roster to see who is likely to head to the NFL. According to Sports NOLA, the Tide has 12 seniors who are eligible for the 2012 draft and the Tigers have 9, but those numbers don’t include juniors who may skip out their final year of school to head to the pros. With millions of dollars on the line, can you blame them?

Possible Outcome

Dare I predict the outcome of this game? Sure, why not? Roll tide, roll…Alabama 20, LSU 17.

Just this past week, TCU canceled its plans to join the Big East Conference, two weeks after a pair of BE members, Syracuse and Pittsburgh, announced plans to leave for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Texas A&M will be joining the SEC and Missouri may exit the Big 12 for the SEC. Louisville, Cincinnati and West Virginia are rumored to be replacement teams for the Big 12 if and only if the Big East doesn’t close the gas and fast.

Replacement Teams

The Big East may replace Syracuse and Pittsburgh with Temple and Central Florida or Memphis for all sports, and invite Army, Air Force, Navy and East Carolina as football only schools. Villanova, a current BE member which has been playing at 1-AA level, may follow through with moving up to 1-A ,making itself eligible for Big East Conference play.

It is unfortunate that such instability has impacted football this year, but give it a few more weeks and fans won’t care all that much about the latest rumors. Instead, their eyes will be focused on a number of key match ups that will decide who will rise to the top this season and will most likely gain a top bowl appearance.

This weekend, there are several key contests worth following including:

Michigan at Michigan State — The Wolverines are 6-0 and ranked #11, looking very much like the team they’ve wanted to be for the past several years, but have fallen short. This weekend, it’ll be a trip to Lansing against the #23 Spartans, a game that could put the Wolverines in the Big Ten driver’s seat or raise the MSU’s visibility with an upset. Don’t expect either team to be looking ahead as this game is all about bragging rights in the Great Lakes State.

Baylor at Texas A&M — The #20 Bears meet up with the #21 Aggies in a game that is a must win for both if either one is to have a chance at winning the Big 12 Conference. For the Aggies, a third loss this early in the season would send them out of the Top 25 and off of everyone’s major bowl list.

Oklahoma State at Texas — The #6 Cowboys are #2 in the state of Oklahoma, but they have the chance to show #22 Texas which state plays the better ball on Saturday. Last week, the Longhorns welcomed the Sooners to the Lone Star State and got walloped, 55-17. Worse for Texas is that the Cowboys are putting up more than 50 points per game and have the highest point average of all teams. Senior Brandon Weeden has thrown for 10 touchdowns and almost 1,600 yards so far this season for the Cowboys.

Arizona State at Oregon — After opening with a loss to LSU, the #9 Ducks have shown that they’re ready to win out the rest of their games this season. Of course, two huge match ups remain including Saturday’s game against the #18 Sun Devils. This game is at home and the Ducks, with the #2 highest scoring offense in the country, are aiming to outscore ASU and its 35 point per game offense. Expect a lot of fireworks, but Oregon should win and face off at Stanford on November 12 for the Pac 12 conference (North) honors.

Half Way

For those teams which didn’t hit the half way mark of the season last weekend, most will do so this weekend. Some teams are performing beyond expectations including Rutgers and Cincinnati of the Big East. Both schools are 4-1. Wake Forest is tied with Clemson atop the ACC Atlantic standings, Kansas State is 5-0 and Notre Dame has won four straight games and looks hot.

Texas A&M and the SEC are flirting. The Texas school and the Southeastern Conference have been holding talks, supposedly hatching plans to allow the College Station school to join one of the most powerful athletic conferences in the nation. That possibility has state of Texas officials scrambling, with plans to convene in Austin next Tuesday to discuss the state of college football in the Lonestar State reports ESPN.

SEC Expansion

The Aggies, neither a football or basketball powerhouse, would be a welcome addition to the SEC which counts only one large market, Atlanta, in its portfolio. Texas A&M, due to its proximity to Houston and Dallas, would bring two of the nation’s largest television markets to the conference, allowing the SEC to negotiate an even more lucrative media contract. And, don’t expect the SEC to stop at 13 schools — if the Aggies join, the conference will look immediately to add a 14th member, with Florida State a distinct possibility.

If the SEC grabs the Aggies and the Seminoles, count on the other major conferences to react. The ACC, with 11 schools, would be one team shy of the 12 necessary to continue holding its lucrative conference championship game each December. That means the ACC would seek to poach a school from another league, with the Big East Conference a logical place to look and West Virginia most likely filling that bill.

Big East Panic

That sort of move would leave the Big East lurching just as it is on the cusp of welcoming another Texas school, Texas Christian University, into its fold next fall. 8 won’t be enough for the Big East which most likely will seek to add 2 to 4 schools to enhance its position and to stave the ACC from taking two additional schools and destroying the conference.

The Big 12 conference, already minus two teams and not able to hold a championship football game, would fall to 9 teams with the Aggie’s departure. Possible replacements include Brigham Young University, now playing an independent schedule or perhaps Boise State. The conference will have to move fast as rumors that both Kansas and Kansas State might leave for the Big East would shut down the conference before expansion could take place.

Standing By

The Pac 12 and Big 10, each with twelve schools, wouldn’t need to do a thing, but watch the carnage unfold. However, if any one of the four other major conferences shows signs of deterioration, snapping up two more schools each could strengthen each league’s hand.

This year’s college sports shifting follows on 2010 when Utah and Colorado left for the PAC 12, Nebraska went to the Big Ten and TCU joined the Big East Conference. With more schools at risk, look for conference officials to lose sleep as they try to hold what they have together while considering their options including expansion.

See Also — Best Football Conference? SEC, of Course.

This year, calls for a playoff season grew louder and were underscored by the tremendous run of one school, the TCU Horned Frogs, who also finished undefeated. In recognition for their stellar season, TCU finished the year ranked #2 behind Alabama and ahead of Oregon. TCU wasn’t invited to play in the championship game, but they did prove they belong with the nation’s elite teams when they dispatched Wisconsin 21-19 in the Rose Bowl.

Now that the season has ended, the following are some points we like to make:

Establish playoffs — The cash is certainly in the bowl games, but those games do not need to be scrapped for a 16-team playoff arrangement to be put in place. Hold the first games in early December with a two week break for exams. The quarter finals can be held near Christmas, the semi-finals near New Year’s Day and the championship one or two weeks later. The first games can be played at home with subsequent games played at neutral sites sponsored by the bowls, for a total of seven games.

New set up — The 2011 season will begin with Nebraska in the Big Ten and Utah and Colorado in the Pac 10. BYU is now an independent and TCU will be moving to the Big East the following year.[2] Other shifts may happen over the coming months, redrawing the college landscape once again.

Weak Big East — The SEC remains dominate, winning five straight BCS title games. On the other side of the spectrum, the ACC and Big East are weak with the BE looking especially pathetic. TCU’s move to the BE will help, but at least one more school needs to join to make the league a 10 team conference.

New coaches — The impatience of college football fans is made apparent when someone of the caliber of Rich Rodriguez is fired after just three seasons. The former West Virginia coach is now the former Michigan coach and has already been replaced by San Diego State coach Brady Hoke. Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh is moving to the NFL and Pitt fired two coaches within three weeks and has named Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley as replacement. UConn, Maryland, Virginia, Indiana, Temple and Miami are among the schools who have new coaches or are still looking for one. As the expression goes, “win or go home…” when it comes to colleges and their football coaches.[3]

Thanks for following us this football season as we covered the highlights (and lowlights) of the season. With the men’s basketball season approaching the half-way mark, we’ll turn our attention to the courts, carrying you through to Final Four action in April.

Resources

[1] Fox Sports: Auburn Wins National Championship

[2] University of Central Florida: TCU, UCF Show They Belong in Big East

[3] University of Illinois Carbondale: Win or Go Home: Why College Football Coaches Get Fired

Big East – SEC Challenge – The ACC – Big Ten Challenge now has some competition as the Big East and SEC square off each year. Beginning next year, all 12 SEC teams will be involved and 12 of 16 Big East teams too. Moreover, instead of having these games at neutral sites, the respective campuses of the competing schools will host these games which will be played the week following Thanksgiving.

Poll Surprises — The season is young, but the polls are getting a lot of attention with some wondering if the Big East can continue placing seven teams among the Top 25. What is more interesting is the rise of San Diego State to the tenth position in the coaches poll and #11 spot in the AP. The Aztecs biggest win was over Gonzaga, 79 to 76 in the second game of the season. They’ll be challenged in the Mountain West with two games each against #18 BYU and #22 UNLV in January and February.

Pitino & Puerto Rico – Louisville head coach Rick Pitino appears likely to be named the head coach of the Puerto Rican National Team. Pitino has been in talks with the team whose inability to qualify for the 2008 Olympics has hit the team hard. Pitino is expected to accept the team’s offer next week and begin preparing the men for the qualifying tournament in 2011. Pitino will remain Louisville’s coach as the Olympic season is in the summer months.

Shamari Spears — After transferring from Boston College, Shamari Spears quickly set up home at UNC Charlotte where he became the 49er’s top scorer this year, his second season in NC. Unfortunately, Spears has had discipline problems and was suspended for the third time in two seasons at the end of November. Spears was dismissed by the team this week.

Once the holiday season is over, we’ll be taking a closer look at this fantastic world of men’s college basketball.

This week, games will be played on Thanksgiving night, Black Friday and on Saturday as schools take a break from their academic schedules for the week or finish up classes on Tuesday.

The following games of note will be played this week:

Texas A&M at Texas — The Longhorns need to win to be bowl eligible while the Aggies would like to extend their winning streak and secure an upper tier bowl. This game will be played on Thursday night, the only collegiate contest in the nation on Thanksgiving.

West Virginia at Pittsburgh — The weakened Big East Conference will likely see its BCS pick chosen when the Mountaineers take on the Panthers in the 103rd meeting of the Backyard Brawl.

Auburn at Alabama — Alabama is defending its national title, but won’t get that opportunity to do so in the SEC championship game which will pit Auburn against South Carolina for a right to represent the the league in the BCS. Before that can happen, the Tigers have to take on the Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium Friday afternoon.

Arizona at Oregon — If the Ducks win out they’ll play for the BCS championship, but the Wildcats would love to have the opportunity to improve their bowl position by upsetting Oregon on the road.

Boise State at Nevada — Two of the top offenses in the nation will be gathering on Friday night at Mackay Stadium. The Broncos need to keep winning and hope for Oregon, Auburn or TCU to stumble to gain the right to place for the national championship. Nevada may have other plans, namely a share of the WAC title.

On Saturday, several “grudge” matches will be played, long-standing feuds which are settled on the gridiron and remain a source of consternation between schools for the following year:

Michigan v. Ohio State — The Wolverines can deny the Buckeyes a share of the Big Ten title by winning on the road.

Virginia v. Virginia Tech — The Cavaliers probably won’t be able to stop the hot Hokies.

LSU v. Arkansas — The Tigers are winning all of their close games this season, but the Razorbacks want a better bowl pick, something they’ll get if they win on Saturday.

BYU v. Utah — Can you feel the love between these two schools? This could be the final “Holy War” meeting between the two as the Utes depart for the Pac 10 next season.

Florida v. Florida State — Who is the best team in Florida? This game isn’t likely to decide that (says Miami), but it’ll give the winner bragging rights for at least one more year.

South Carolina v. Clemson — Gamecocks can’t afford to look ahead to the SEC championship game next week by forgetting the Tigers. The winner of this game gains state bragging rights.

Georgia Tech v. Georgia — They call it “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” the rivalry between the Yellow Jackets and the Bulldogs. Whatever you call it, this game is what Georgians live for all year long.

Notre Dame v. USC — Neither team is as good as they have been, but the Irish seemed to have woken up from their slumber. Beat the Trojans and the Irish will be bowl eligible. Lose, and Notre Dame will have to wait another year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

See Also – Rivalry Week Marks Unofficial End To College Football Season

Before I move on, please allow me draw your attention to Rutgers defensive back Eric LeGrand who suffered a violent collision late in the game against Army this past weekend. LeGrand lay motionless after the hit and was rushed to a local hospital where doctors say that he is paralyzed below the neck. Football is a rough sport with concussions a regular occurrence and injuries such as what LeGrand sustained though uncommon are life-changing. Our prayers go out on behalf of Eric, his family and his Scarlet Knights team.

Top Dogs

Boise State is now just one step away from securing the top spot in the nation, following Ohio State’s loss to Wisconsin. Oregon and the Broncos have moved up while Oklahoma leap-frogged TCU to take over the third position in the AP poll. Last week’s chatter that Boise State would be the top team in the season’s first BCS poll proved false as Oklahoma is first followed by Oregon and then Boise State. That means if the season ended today, the Sooners would play the Ducks for the national championship. Well, there is a lot of football left and the Broncos will move up if they finish unbeaten and either Oklahoma or Oregon loses.

Drilling down, let’s take a look at some of the props and flops for this mid-season:

Big East Conference – Call it parity as all eight Big East schools are at least 3-3. Call it disappointing as only West Virginia is ranked and at #20 is far from deserving to play in a BCS game. What the Mountaineers do have going for them are conference games against mostly lightweight teams with perhaps Pittsburgh in the best position to challenge them for the Big East title.

Atlantic Coast Conference – Florida State is ranked #16 in both major polls while Virginia Tech and Miami are battling for Coastal division honors. The ACC winner, much like the Big East winner, may not be a Top 10 team when the season comes to an end.

South East Conference – Alabama has recovered, but they still must get past Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn in order to have a shot at the SEC title game. South Carolina, despite being 2-2 is all alone in first place in the West division and could very well play Bama again for SEC honors.

Big Ten Conference – Michigan and Ohio State have been defeated and Penn State finds itself battling Minnesota for last place. Michigan State, off to its best start since 1966, looks like its only huge obstacle left is its game at Iowa on October 30.

Big 12 Conference – Everyone is jumping on Texas this year, but the Longhorns did travel to Nebraska to beat the Cornhuskers last week. Missouri and Oklahoma will battle this weekend, perhaps offering a preview of the Big 12 title game. Then again, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, averaging nearly 50 points a game, may stand in the Sooners way.

Pac 10 Conference – Oregon’s points machine continues to produce, averaging a nationwide leading 52 points per game. QB Darron Thomas has already passed for 1,200 yards, while right back LaMichael James is showing why he is a strong Heisman Trophy candidate, averaging 169 yards rushing per game.

Best of the Rest – Boise State, TCU and Utah, as expected, are ranked. That they are still each in the Top 10 at this point in the season is not much of a surprise either. The biggest challenges left for the Horned Frogs are Air Force and Utah while Boise State gets to play at resurgent Hawaii and meet up with one-loss Nevada. Besides playing TCU, Utah meets Air Force and Notre Dame and ends with BYU. Even if these schools don’t get to play in the title game, all three are strong candidates for to land a major bowl bid.

Adv. — Are you looking for a college scholarship? SayScholarship.com can help you search for current funding opportunities.

We’re all set: The Big 12 Conference will become a ten member league on June 30, 2011, as both Nebraska and Colorado leave for new horizons. The Nebraska Cornhuskers had already made plans to exit for the Big Ten Conference after this academic year, but Colorado was expected to take an extra year to complete their transition.

After completing negotiations with conference officials, Colorado has agreed to leave the Big 12 at the same time as Nebraska. Sporting News reports that both schools will give up millions of dollars in revenue sharing funds by leaving for the Pac 10 and Big Ten respectively.

In Other News

Conference play is beginning to heat up. Well, at least that can be said of the SEC, whose best teams have won the national championship game for four straight years.

• Arkansas knocked off Georgia in the conference opener for both teams and will host defending national champion and current #1 Alabama in an early season test for the Tide. The #10 Razorbacks are the obvious underdog, but they are at home and just dying to make the Tide squeal.

• Kentucky travels to the swamp to take on the #9 Florida Gators, two very different 3-0 teams. The Wildcats have yet to be seriously challenged this year, while Florida has beaten three good teams to start the season. Expect this one to be over by the half with the Gators easily prevailing.

• The #12 South Carolina Gamecocks have been here before: start the season hot and then wilt under relentless SEC pressure. That pressure continues this weekend when they take on the #17 Auburn Tigers on the road. Win, and South Carolina will gain some respect. Lose, and everyone will continue to believe that Steve Spurrier’s magic was left in the swamp when he exited Florida for the NFL Washington Redskins following the 2001 season.

• LSU already has two SEC games under its belt — wins over Vanderbilt and Mississippi State — so the Tigers will “take a break” and step out of the conference on Saturday to host Big East leader West Virginia. The #22 Mountaineers haven’t wowed anyone yet this year and their conference could certainly use a statement win.

Other Action

#24 Oregon State at #3 Boise State — The Broncos can seem to never catch a break with some people casting doubt as to whether how important their win over Virginia Tech was given that the Hokies lost the following week to James Madison. No matter, the Beavers are in for an epic battle against a team determined to play for the BCS this year.

Adv. — When you’re coming up short for tuition funds, a Sallie Mae private student loan can help cover those expenses.