Alabama and Boise State, coached by two of the great minds in college football in Nick Saban and Chris Petersen, both blew huge leads on the same day to lose heartbreakers. The Alabama game turned on a bad play by their free safety which should have been an interception, but instead led to a 70-yard TD and life for Auburn and a 24-14 score. The Boise State game, as it so happened, turned on a call by an official, leading 24-7 they recovered a fumble on a punt and would have had the ball inside the Nevada 30. Instead, they ruled kick catch interference (on a side note, bad call), and Nevada got the ball at midfield and scored to make it 24-14.
In both cases, I would have expected a Saban or Petersen-coached team to respond and find a way to win. In neither case did it happen. Alabama only mounted one more serious drive all game. Boise State responded better, scoring another TD, and then missing a chip-shot field goal to win in regulation (and then missed another chip-shot in OT).
So, all of the talk, including from myself, was for naught. "Who will finish higher between TCU and Boise State" is now an answered question. No mathematic formula or human poll conjecture is needed to decide. TCU will finish higher. Will it be high enough to matter? They need Oregon or Auburn to lose for a SHOT at the title. At least now they know they should go to the Rose Bowl if nothing else: not a bad "consolation" prize...
Unfortunately for TCU, the "buffer" they had with LSU, Stanford, and Wisconsin just got smaller by one team, though LSU is the only real threat of the three to pass them. If LSU wins at Arkansas, they will certainly jump TCU in the computer polls and TCU will have to hang on for dear life in the human polls. Remember, LSU's only loss was by 7 points at #2 Auburn. While I disagree with the exact words of CBS commentator Gary Danielson (the exact words were very elitist: as the season is coming to a close we see people's true colors coming out!), the tenor will strike a chord with most people: what Auburn overcame against 11th-ranked Alabama is not something to take lightly. Taking that one step further: the team that came back from down 24 to beat reigning National Champion and rival Alabama on the road is the only team to beat LSU this season. I'm not saying that it should happen or that it will happen, I am just saying that it could happen should Oregon or Auburn slip up next week. The undefeated non-AQ teams were OK to make a push for the National Championship as long as there were two of them. TCU is no longer safe by themselves. Especially now that we are starting to see how the BCS folks really feel!
Love your new graphics. The only problem is I can't see the numbers now on your polls. The white cannot be seen in the gold field.
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