ShareThisIf you listened to those powerful statements delivered on the college gridiron last Saturday, you probably realize the road to the Bowl Championship Series title could stay congested for awhile, maybe right to the bitter end.
No. 2 Alabama's convincing 38-10 road win over then No. 12 Florida says the Tide is once again the team to beat in the SEC, probably in the nation.
No. 4 Wisconsin's 48-17 annihilation of eighth-ranked Nebraska says the Badgers are the class of the Big 10 and a force to be reckoned with nationally.
No. 8 Clemson's 23-3 Blacksburg blitz of then No. 11 Virginia Tech says the Tigers should not be overlooked in the BCS title hunt either, especially after their third straight victory over a ranked opponent for the first time in program history.
Five of the other six unbeatens in the Top 10 also took care of business Saturday, but against lesser competition.
So convincing were Saturday's gridiron statements, BCS power brokers may have been revisited by the haunting memory of 2004.
That's when five teams -- Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Auburn, Utah and Boise State -- finished the regular season undefeated. It created an unprecedented BCS nightmare having to determine which two should get to play for the national title.
It could easily happen again this season.
It's just the halfway point and, historically, you can usually count on a few upsets and a couple trap games to help whittle down the field of BCS title contenders. But in The Unbalanced Line's view, there's a different feel to this season.
Take Bama, for starters. It's hard to imagine any team scoring enough points to upset the Tide, which is yielding a mere 8.4 a game to lead the nation. No. 1 LSU will have a chance to prove otherwise Nov. 5 in Tuscaloosa.
Trap games can be set on the home turf, too, if the favorite gets lackadaisical. So before LSU can start worrying about Bama, the Tigers need to focus on Saturday's measuring stick game against No. 17 Florida -- minus injured quarterback John Brantley -- in Baton Rouge.
No. 3 Oklahoma isn't likely to take No. 11 Texas lightly Saturday in Dallas. It's the Red River Rivalry, and Oklahoma is the better team on both sides of the ball... Sooners 38, Texas 17.
The only Big 12 opponent from here on out that poses any real threat to Oklahoma is Oklahoma State Dec. 3 in Stillwater.
Sure the Sooners will face three currently ranked opponents -- No. 20 Kansas State, No. 24 Texas A&M and No. 25 Baylor -- prior to that regular-season finale. But there's a better chance all three will be unranked by the time they meet Oklahoma than there is of any one of them beating Oklahoma.
Starting to get the picture?
Alabama and Oklahoma, unless they trip over themselves, will go unbeaten.
Wisconsin doesn't face a single remaining formidable foe.
Back-to-back road games at Michigan State and Ohio State Oct. 22 and
29 respectively will represent window dressing for a team this good.
By the time Wisconsin travels to No. 19 Illinois Nov. 19, the Fighting Illini will probably no longer be ranked. That leaves a Nov. 26 home game against a Penn State team struggling with a quarterback dilemma that's as bad or worse than Ohio State's.
So unbeaten Wisconsin plays Michigan or Nebraska in the first Big Ten championship game, wins handily as expected, and then what?
Wisconsin may be the best team in the country and may never get a chance to prove it -- like Auburn and Utah felt after capping off perfect 2004 seasons with BCS bowl victories over Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh respectively. USC drubbed Oklahoma, 55-19, in the BCS title game that postseason, but was later stripped of that title thanks to the Reggie Bush-related NCAA violations.
In 2009, No. 5 Boise State experienced similar pain. The Broncos capped off a perfect regular season with a BCS bowl victory over No. 3 TCU and finished No. 4, just as Utah did after beating No. 19 Pitt in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl.
Boise, by the way, is not going to lose another game. That makes four unbeatens.
So how do we get the fifth?
No. 7 Stanford is likely to be 9-0 when it hosts No. 9 Oregon Nov. 12, and that's taking into account an Oct.29 road game at Southern Cal. But the Cardinal could lose to the Ducks, Heisman frontrunner and quarterback Andrew Luck notwithstanding. Speed kills, and Oregon has an abundance.
Right now, Clemson is looking pretty. Two big road trips remain:
Oct. 29 at No. 13 Georgia Tech (5-0) and Nov. 26 at No. 18 South Carolina.
Take your pick, Stanford or Clemson... Or, how about six unbeatens?
Now that would make for a very powerful statement about the regular-season playoff notion.
(Contact John Tucker at jtucker@unionleader.com)
columnUNBALANCED LINEMust credit New Hampshire Union LeaderColumn
