After Week Seven of the college football season, we have finally seen enough games to assess the national title picture. Preseason heavyweights like South Carolina and Notre Dame have underwhelmed, while rising teams like UCLA and Miami have emerged as dark horse BCS candidates. With a half season left, people have generally assumed that Alabama will reach Pasadena undefeated with the No. 1 record. So our focus now turns to which non-SEC team will advance to the BCS title game.
With all due respect to No. 4 Ohio State, the title game will likely feature an SEC-Pac-12 or SEC-ACC matchup because the Pac-12 and Atlantic Coast Conferences are so much stronger than the fledgling Big 10. The Pac-12 and ACC boast four of America’s top six teams, and each conference has an undefeated dark horse team lurking just outside the Top 10.
No. 2 Oregon and No. 5 Stanford are the favorites out west, though Stanford just survived a 31-28 challenge from the potent Washington Huskies. The Ducks visit Stanford in a must-watch clash on Nov. 7, and the winner may have the inside track in the race to Pasadena. However, both teams have significant obstacles in their way. Oregon still needs to defeat No. 16 Washington in the cavernous Husky Stadium, while Stanford has challenging road games at Oregon State and Utah. Of course, the team with the biggest say in how the Pac-12 unfolds might be No. 11 UCLA. The undefeated Bruins have a Heisman candidate in sophomore quarterback Brett Hundley, and will play at Stanford and Oregon on Oct. 19 and 26. If UCLA loses both games, it should still win the Pac-12 South Division and earn a rematch with either Oregon or Stanford.If UCLA wins one or two of these three games, they might create chaos in the polls.
If anyone slips up out West, either No. 3 Clemson or No. 6 Florida State will have a chance to represent the ACC in the national championship game. The heavyweights will square off when the Tigers host the Seminoles on Oct. 19, and the winner could finish the season undefeated. Miami and Virginia Tech are not on the Tigers’ schedule, so Clemson should coast through its other games before an important visit to No. 14 South Carolina in a season-ending rivalry game. Meanwhile, the Seminoles face a tougher road to an undefeated season. If they beat Clemson, the undefeated No. 13 Miami Hurricanes will travel to Tallahassee for a massive November showdown, and Florida State finishes the year at No. 17 Florida. Miami has its own title aspirations, and the Hurricanes can finish 12-0 if they defeat Florida State and No. 24 Virginia Tech on consecutive weekends. The ideal situation for ACC fans would be for Clemson and Miami to both finish 12-0 and battle in the conference title game. This has been the ACC’s best season in years, because three of its teams are still undefeated.
College football’s second half will feature ample drama and must-watch games on both coasts.
— Dominic Kearns
