who is #2

[smazza]

With one spot soon decided, the race for No. 2 heats up

Chris Dufresne

October 23, 2006

Goodbye weekend, hello Columbus.

It wasn't separation Saturday as much as it was scattershot, with hopes and dreams indiscriminately crushed and resurrected from South Bend in Indiana to Tightwad Hill in Berkeley.

ADVERTISEMENTThey give out 85 scholarships at Texas, yet it needed a walk-on kicker to keep its major-bowl hopes alive?

Washington forced overtime at California on that old leather football favorite, the Hail Mary, full of laces.

And Notre Dame, well, let's just say its prayers were answered.

So much was settled, yet so much remains unresolved.

This may be the earliest a potential participant can be projected for the Bowl Championship Series title game, to be played not next month, or the next, but the one after that  on Jan. 8.

Barring a football labor strike, the winner of the Ohio State-Michigan game on Nov. 18 in Columbus will earn a place in the BCS title game.

Incredibly, on Oct. 23, we say this with some conviction.

Ohio State is No. 1 in the country, with Minnesota, Illinois and Northwestern left before it faces Michigan.

Minnesota beat North Dakota State on Saturday  by a point. Illinois lost to a Penn State team described as "lousy" by Scripps Howard spelling bee moderator and Coach Joe Paterno. "It's spelled l-o-u-s-y," Paterno said of his Nittany Lions' performance.

Oh, and the Northwestern Wildcats let a 38-3 lead on Michigan State slip away.

And Ohio State is going to lose to which one of these teams?

No. 2 Michigan struggled a bit at home against Iowa, but now gets Northwestern, Ball State and Indiana.

Check please.

The question now is whether the loser of the Ohio State-Michigan game could still finish second in the BCS and make it to the title game.

What if Michigan, which moved ahead of USC to No. 2 in the latest BCS standings, beats Ohio State on a last-second field goal? How far would the Buckeyes fall in the standings?

In 2003, No. 1 Oklahoma was thrashed in the Big 12 title game by Kansas State but fell to only No. 2 in the BCS, which allowed the Sooners to play Louisiana State in the BCS title game.

It was known as the "doomsday scenario."

What hath the BCS gods wrought?

If Ohio State wins out, the Heisman Trophy might also be wrapped up on Nov. 18 by quarterback Troy Smith. The only question left would be his dinner companions at the Downtown Athletic Club.

Still in play are the battle for No. 2 and the mad scramble for precious BCS bowl berths.

ADVERTISEMENTUSC, No. 3 in the AP and the BCS and having had a week off, probably will move to No. 2 in the BCS if it wins out, but that's certainly no cinch.

Also clamoring for the No. 2 spot are Auburn, Florida, West Virginia, Louisville and, possibly, Texas.

Last-second wins kept BCS bowl hopes alive for Notre Dame, Texas and California.

After escaping UCLA, the Irish figure to finish no worse than 10-2, which keeps them eligible for Rose/Fiesta/Orange/Sugar bowl consideration.

Texas is now in position to win the Big 12, which probably will put the Longhorns in this season's Fiesta Bowl, to be played a week before the BCS title game at Glendale, Ariz.

Cal's hold-off win over Washington was important because even if the Golden Bears lose to USC on Nov. 18, they could still be the replacement team for USC in the Rose Bowl.

Boise State isn't making any poll friends after struggling to wins the last two weeks, but the Broncos still seem to have a good chance to lock up a BCS bid with a top-12 finish in the BCS standings.

Weekend Wrap

•  Things you never thought you'd live to see: Rutgers tied for first place in its conference while Florida State is dead last in its league. Rutgers is 2-0 in the Big East for the first time. Florida State broke out black uniforms for its loss against Boston College. How appropriate.

•  Take Chance Charlie. Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis went for it five times on fourth down against UCLA. The Irish were successful on the first four before quarterback Brady Quinn was stopped on fourth and one at the UCLA 35, which seemed to clinch victory for the Bruins. Weis likes being the offensive aggressor, most of the time. "But once in a while, once too often there, you almost end up losing the game," he said.

Notre Dame might be overrated but should be 10-1  with Navy, North Carolina, Air Force and Army coming up  when it plays USC at the Coliseum on Nov. 25.

As for his team's close-call win over UCLA, Weis said, "Good teams win games like that…. Let me tell you something. I'm not going to feel miserable about this win. I promise you. You want to be miserable, fine. I'm going to be happy."

Quotable: UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker on getting beat by Weis' play calling in the final minute: "That's Charlie. I caught the halo effect. That sucker's got a little halo around him. He's done that a million times."

•  Slowing down. After averaging more than 200 yards a game for his first six games, Northern Illinois tailback Garrett Wolfe has averaged 35 yards in his last two games. Wolfe was held to 45 yards on Saturday in a win over Temple, which ranked 117th against the run. For what it's worth, Northern Illinois is in DeKalb, Ill., a city recognized as being the birthplace of barbed wire.

•  Numbers game. Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas and Nebraska are the four winningest major college football programs with a combined 3,379 victories. The interesting part is that No. 1 Michigan defeated No. 2 Notre Dame this season and, on Saturday, No. 3 Texas beat No. 4 Nebraska.

[flsportsfan83]

Michigan