Monday, November 12, 2007

National bowl picture update.

As I said below, within the Big Ten, everything that could have gone wrong for the Hoosiers did. Here's an update of the national snapshot:

ACC: Bids: (8) Eligible: (7). BC (8-2); UVA (9-2); Clemson (8-2); VT (8-2); Wake (6-4); GT (6-4); FSU (6-4). Eliminated: (2) Duke (1-9); UNC (3-7). Others: (3) Miami (5-5); NC State (5-5); Maryland (5-5).

Big East: Bids: (4) Eligible: (4) Connecticut (8-2); WVU (8-1); USF (7-3); Rutgers (6-4);Cincy (8-2); Eliminated: (1) Syracuse (2-8). Others: (2) Louisville (5-5); Pitt (4-5).

Big XII: Bids: (9) Eligible: (6) Kansas (10-0); Oklahoma (9-1); Missouri (9-1); Texas (9-2); TT (7-4); Texas A&M (6-5). Eliminated: (2) Iowa State (3-8); Baylor (3-8). Others: (4) K-State (5-5); OSU (5-5); Colorado (5-6); Nebraska (5-6).

Big Ten: Bids: (7) Eligible: (10) OSU (10-1); Michigan (8-3); Illinois (8-3); Penn St. (8-3); Purdue (7-4); Wisconsin (8-3); Iowa (6-5); Northwestern (6-5); MSU (6-5); Indiana (6-5). Eliminated: (1) Minnesota (1-10). Others: (0)

Pac-10: Bids: (6) Eligible: (5) Oregon (8-1); ASU (9-1); USC (8-2); Or St. (6-4); Cal (6-4). Eliminated: (2) Stanford (3-7); Washington (3-7). Others: (3) UCLA (5-5); Arizona (4-6); Washington St. (4-6).

SEC: Bids: (8) Eligible: (10) LSU (9-1); Georgia (8-2); Auburn (7-4); Tennessee (7-3); Florida (7-3); Kentucky (7-3); Alabama (6-4); Arkansas (6-4); USC (6-5); MSU (6-4) . Eliminated: (1) Mississippi (3-7). Others: (1) Vandy (5-5).

MAC: Bids: (3) The MAC has two six win teams and three with five, so it's not worth the trouble.

C-USA: Bids: (6) Eligible: (4) ECU (6-5); UCF (7-3); Houston (6-4); Tulsa (7-3). Eliminated: (5) UAB; Rice; Tulane; Marshall; SMU. Others: (3) Southern Miss (5-5); Memphis (5-5); UTEP (4-6).

MWC:Bids: 4 Eligible: The MWC has four eligible teams and no BCS prospects, so this one is done.

WAC: Bids: 3. The WAC also has three eligible teams, but Hawaii has some unjustifiable BCS hopes.

Navy: Navy won its sixth game and has therefore secured a Poinsettia Bowl bid.

Points:
  • Big XII stayed static. No one was eliminated, no one became eligible.
  • Ditto C-USA.
  • The PAC-10 is promising. While the conference has five eligible teams, that probably will not change. UCLA is 5-5 but has Oregon and USC remaining. Arizona is 4-6 with Oregon and ASU remaining. Washington State has the best chance, at 4-6 with OSU and Washington remaining. Keep in mind that the winner of this weekend's USC-ASU game will be a contender for a BCS at-large bid.
  • Total bids available: 64. Teams with 7 or more wins: 32. Teams with exactly 6 wins: 21.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sickening to think of what was squandered in Evanston. I'd say deflating is an accurate assessment. I learned long ago to keep my football expectations at bay, but to be in such a promising position to win a crucial Big Ten road game late in the 4th, and watch our hopes vanish on yet another silly, "shoot ourselves in the foot play" to seal our fate (as it has for years). I'm still having trouble grasping Kellen's logic that a grounding penalty in lieu of a sack was truly the lesser of two evils, regardless of the timeout it may have saved. But of course, Chappell's pass is the most ridiculous of the bunch. I still can't believe that actually happened.

I'm trying awfully hard to get excited about Purdue. This bowl picture stuff is a muddy mess that is only helped by winning. We've got the talent to do it. Are we capable of making fewer mistakes than our opponent? Our season depends on it.