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Tuesday, September 11, 2007
LSU, Oklahoma the best two teams in the country
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m not a handicapper. I don’t even play one on TV. But based on what I’ve seen the first two weeks, here is just one man’s guess on who will play for the BCS championship on Jan. 7 in New Orleans:
1. LSU, 2-1: I have not seen a more dominant team in years than the Tigers were against Virginia Tech Saturday night. LSU didn’t just win 48-7, they dominated in every phase of the game. LSU didn’t have a three and out all night and when QB Matt Flynn got dinged up, Ryan Perrilloux came in and didn’t miss a beat. Florida comes to Baton Rouge on Oct. 6 and the toughest road game is at Alabama on Nov. 3.
2. Oklahoma, 2-1: Bob Stoops has won four Big 12 championships with four different quarterbacks. It looks like Sam Bradford will be the fifth. The Sooners have scored 130 points in their first two games and 51 were against a very good Miami defense. Oklahoma gets Texas in Dallas on Oct. 6 and the toughest road game is at Texas Tech on Nov. 17.
3. Southern Cal, 3-1: The Trojans were taking last Saturday off while LSU and Oklahoma were winning impressively. Suddenly the schedule looks a little different. Southern Cal has to go to Washington (Sept. 29) and that now looks like a much better game. They have to go to Oregon (Oct. 27) which is doing some nice things with the spread offense. They have to go to California (Nov. 10) which has enough athletes to beat anybody. They have to go to Arizona State (Nov. 22) where Dennis Erickson is quickly building a team.
4. West Virginia, 3-1: In the preseason, the Mountaineers appeared to have a schedule built for 12-0. But now I’m not so sure. They get Louisville at home (Nov. 8) but they have to go on the road to play Rutgers (Oct. 27) and South Florida (Sept. 28).
5. Penn State, 5-1: If any team in the Big Ten is going to go undefeated, my pick is the Fighting Joe Paternos. The Nittany Lions get Wisconsin (Oct. 13) and Ohio State (Oct. 27) at home. They go to Michigan on Sept. 22, but I don’t believe anybody is scared to play in the Big House any more.
The rest:
Florida, 7-1: The Gators’ youth on defense will eventually catch up to them. They have to go to LSU on Oct. 6.
Texas, 8-1: Don’t think the Longhorns have enough firepower to beat Oklahoma.
Wisconsin, 9-1: Badgers will stumble either at Penn State (Oct. 13) or at Ohio State (Nov. 3)
California, 10-1: Good team, but the road schedule will catch up to them. The Bears play at Oregon (Sept. 29), at UCLA (Oct. 20), at Arizona State (Oct. 27), and at Washington (Nov. 17).
Georgia Tech, 15-1: A long shot to be sure. But let’s see how Techsters do against their first quality opponent in Boston College.
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