A Word on the Subject

Upset

A monkey wrench was tossed into the machine known as the BCS.

In the past week, six of the top 25 teams fell to teams who they “should have beaten.”

Yeah right.

There seem to be plenty of people in the major conferences who still just don’t get it. Division I-A college football has begun an evolution. Teams once in the hunt for a national title have found a way to slit their own throats with defeats from less than traditionally superior college football programs.

This begs the question “Who should the big dogs watch outfor?”
Well, just about any program with one loss or less. Except, of course, the University of Idaho, who will continue to struggle to break the one win mark any season in the near future.

The Pac-10’s trendsetter, USC, breathed new life into less dominant programs. Their losses to Oregon State the last two times they left the sanctity of the L.A. Coliseum for Corvallis, Ore. do not appear to be flukes.

Let’s not forget the 2007 heartbreaker where Stanford took USC down at the Coliseum.

Each season USC was labeled a steamroller with little to get in the way. Who would have guessed that the “little” would prove triumphant against the juggernaut known as the Trojans?
Florida found a way to drop the ball against Mississippi.

This could just be a stroke of luck due to the obvious inconsistency of some of the top-rated programs in the nation.

Or it could have a deeper meaning somewhere down the line.
Some teams deserve honorable mention heading into the weekend.

Houston downed the BCS hopeful East Carolina, formerly No. 23, 41-24., while Navy beat Wake Forest (No. 25), formerly No. 16, 24-17.

Maryland dropped Clemson, formerly No. 20, 20-17 at the Tigers’ famed Memorial Stadium.

Upset watch

There are a few match-ups this weekend that could totally screw with the numbers, possibly causing the computers calculating the polls to nearly explode in a fiery mechanical meltdown. At least most non-BCS fans seem to feel this way.

Oregon State will travel to Salt Lake City to face No. 15 Utah tonight at 7 p.m. The momentum the Beavers bring from their victory over USC might be enough to ruin any BCS hopes that the Utes still have dangling from a long shot against No. 8 Brigham Young University in the Mountain West Conference.

Prediction: 30-27 Oregon State.

A game that many Boise State fans, along with many across the nation, will watch closely to gauge how their beloved Broncos played against a tough Oregon team.

The No. 23 Ducks will venture into the hostile arena that is the L.A. Coliseum to face the No. 9 USC Trojans. Oregon proved their program wasn’t struggling with the defeat of Washington State 63-14.

Prediction: 41-34 Oregon.

The bottom is surely making its way to the top. The obvious success of programs such as Utah, BSU and BYU represent this shrinking of the gap. Could these teams, specifically BSU, prove themselves against some of the top teams in the country?

Upset is the word. Continue watching as Jack slays the giant. The few past seasons will stand witness to things to come in the NCAA.

KIRK BELL
SPORTS COORDINATOR

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