Quote:
Originally Posted by Chip R
I'd say that'd be tough. If they lose, they will drop quite a bit in the polls - maybe not out of the top 10 but probably out of the top 5 - because of their weak schedule. The pollsters are just waiting to knock them down because of that. Now if they lose to a Wisconsin and beat Michigan, they may have a shot but even if their only loss is to Michigan, they are going to drop and they are going to have to hope the other teams ahead of them will get knocked off in the conference championship games. Fair or not they aren't going to be able to make up that Michigan loss with more wins.
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I should just clarify that my hypothetical is based on the assumption that not everyone else wins out. This year has proven that there is a lot of parity in college football.
I can't see OSU falling out of the top five unless they had a humiliating loss. After this week, there will probably be two or more teams in the Top 10 with two losses. I don't see the Buckeyes falling below any 2-loss team, and I certainly see them ahead of a few 1-loss teams (at least).
Here are the other contenders:
BC could win out, but they have fewer quality wins than OSU. I can't see them making it to the title unless then finish the season undefeated.
ASU is losing tonight--no way they finish undefeated. I suppose they could get in as a 1-loss team, but they have the meat of their Pac-10 schedule coming up. They would have to look more convincing than they did in tonight's first half (91 yards of offense vs. 271 yards for Cal).
Oklahoma has had an even flimsier schedule than OSU, and OU's loss at Colorado looks much worse than a loss at UM or at home against Wisconsin.
Kansas is a good team and proved it tonight. They still have to play Missouri. They will likely play OU in the Big 12 Title game, so that eliminates one of these teams.
LSU and Oregon would both be ahead of OSU, but they both have at least modestly difficult schedules from here on out. The SEC is brutal, just look at today's bloodbaths.