A lot riding on Civil War: Other notes

The conclusion of the 2008 college football regular season is crashing down on us in a barrage of scenarios that need sorting out.

Point No. 1: Barring some shocking results, four teams remain in the running for the national championship: Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida.

Point No. 2: Notre Dame could play in the Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park.

Point No. 3: Cal could play Notre Dame in the Sun Bowl.

Point No. 4: Oregon's game at Oregon State on Saturday will have implications for USC, Cal, the Emerald Bowl, Notre Dame, Ohio State and San Jose State.

If Oregon State wins:

-- The Beavers go to the Rose Bowl.

-- USC probably goes to the Fiesta Bowl.

-- Oregon finishes tied with Cal for third (assuming Cal beats Washington next week), and the Holiday Bowl will have its choice between Cal and Oregon. The prevailing notion is that Cal would be the pick since it beat Oregon during the season, and that would mean a Cal matchup against a Big 12 team, perhaps Missouri or Oklahoma State.

-- The Emerald Bowl might not have a Pac-10 team available to it and could take San Jose State, but it might have a shot at Notre Dame, too.

-- Ohio State probably would be left out of a BCS game.

If Oregon wins:

-- USC goes to the Rose Bowl.

-- Oregon and Oregon State finish tied for second, and the Holiday Bowl probably would take Oregon. Oregon State would go to the Sun Bowl.

-- Cal almost certainly goes to the Emerald Bowl and faces a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

-- Ohio State would likely get a BCS game berth, probably in the Fiesta Bowl.

-- San Jose State probably would not play in a bowl game.

Point No. 5: If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State on Saturday, there will be a three-way tie among Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech for the Big 12 South title. In that case, the tiebreaker is BCS ranking, so expect some politicking from the coaches. Oklahoma is the most likely winner of that tiebreaker and would therefore earn a berth in the conference title game against Missouri.

Point No. 6: Cincinnati, which has gone through four quarterbacks this season and is now using one (Tony Pike) who has a broken (non-throwing) arm, will win its first Big East title if it beats Syracuse.

Point No. 7: Notre Dame's future is hazy. If Notre Dame gets hammered by USC, Charlie Weis' job is in jeopardy and the Irish's bowl destination would be in flux. If it upsets USC, Notre Dame probably would go to the Sun Bowl to play a Pac-10 team. If it loses to USC as expected, Notre Dame would still go to the Sun Bowl if Louisville upsets Rutgers on Dec. 4. But if Rutgers wins that game, the Irish, at 6-6, would shop for a bowl, possibly the Independence Bowl or Texas Bowl or Papajohn.com Bowl or, yes, the Emerald Bowl.

Point No. 8: Negotiations are under way trying to match unbeaten, No. 9 Boise State against unbeaten, No. 15 Ball State in a bowl game, perhaps the Humanitarian Bowl or GMAC Bowl or Motor City Bowl. It's more likely that Boise State will play No. 14 Texas Christian in Poinsettia Bowl, and that would not be bad either.

EXPERIENCE A PLUS

Kansas State's hiring of 69-year-old Bill Snyder means there are 18 Bowl Subdivision teams whose head coach is 60 or older. Here are the four oldest, with 2008 record and age in first season at current school.

81: Joe Paterno, Penn St., 11-1, 39

79: Bobby Bowden, FSU, 8-3, 46

74: Howard Schnellenberger, Florida Atlantic, 5-6, 65

70: Dick Tomey, SJSU, 6-6, 67

(E-mail Jake Curtis at jcurtis@sfchronicle.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

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