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Around SBN: The Pros and Cons of an 18-game NFL Schedule

Final BCS Standings 2009

Did I really forget to post these on Sunday?  Shame on me!

Gaps in the standings indicate standings differences more than 0.06 in the standings.

Notes are made for the highest ranked teams from each conference, independents (ind), and all non-automatic qualifying conference members. (non-AQ)

Team must be in the top 14 to be eligible for a BCS at-large bid.

Rank Team BCS Average Bowl Notes
1 Alabama Crimson Tide
.9978 BCS Championship BCS #1, SEC #1
2 Texas Longhorns
.9433 BCS Championship BCS #2, Big 12 #1
3 Cincinnati Bearcats
.8878 Sugar Bowl Big East #1
4 TCU Horned Frogs
.8836 Fiesta Bowl
Non-AQ #1 (MWC #1)
5 Florida Gators
.8636 Sugar Bowl At Large
6 Boise St. Broncos
.8106 Fiesta Bowl At Large (WAC #1)
7 Oregon Ducks .7568 Rose Bowl PAC 10 #1
8 Ohio St. Buckeyes
.6568 Rose Bowl Big Ten #1
9 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
.6471 Orange Bowl ACC #1
10 Iowa Hawkeyes
.6180 Orange Bowl At Large
11 Virginia Tech Hokies
.5675 Chick-fil-A Bowl
12 LSU Tigers
.5375 Capital One Bowl
13 Penn St. Nittany Lions
.5319 Capital One Bowl
14 BYU Cougars
.4531 Las Vegas Bowl
non-AQ
--- BCS Eligibility Line ---
15 Miami Hurricanes
.4419 Champs Sports Bowl
16 West Virginia Mountaineers
.3357 Gator Bowl
17 Pittsburgh Panthers
.3141 Car Car Bowl
18 Oregon St. Beavers
.2876 Las Vegas Bowl
19 Oklahoma St. Cowboys
.2628 Cotton Bowl
20 Arizona Wildcats
.2248 Holiday Bowl
21 Stanford Cardinal
.1803 Sun Bowl
22 Nebraska Cornhuskers
.1655 Holiday Bowl
23 Utah Utes
.1245 Poinsettia Bowl
non-AQ
24 USC Trojans
.1207 Emerald Bowl
25 Wisconsin Badgers
.1203 Champs Sports Bowl

Number of top 25 teams per conference:
5: PAC 10
4: Big 10
3: SEC, Big 12, MWC, Big East, ACC
1: WAC
0: C-USA, MAC, Sun Belt

My thoughts on the BCS pairings after the jump.

Star-divide

BCS Championship Game

#1 Alabama (13-0) vs. #2 Texas (13-0)

This game is the undefeated SEC vs. Big 12 champion showdown the media has been pulling for since the fourth week of the season.  Alabama has emerged as a team on the verge of greatness while Texas rose to the top of a struggling Big 12.

At the end of the day these two teams are the top two in all major polls and represent the views of the vast majority of the public.  Cincinnati, TCU and Boise State can make cases for their undefeated teams and it is a travesty that they won't have their opportunity on the field.  They are not in the top 2 of the BCS standings at the end of the season.  They are not even within an average of one vote difference of Texas.

Sugar Bowl

#3 Cincinnati (12-0) vs. # 5 Florida (12-1)

Florida will represent the SEC in this historic conference tie-in.  Cincinnati will get to face a team that was somewhat exposed in the SEC championship game and might have Alabama sized motivation issues this year.

While an opportunity to play one of the remaining unbeaten teams in a bowl game might have been attractive, a trip to Tempe would have been difficult for their still building fan base.

Fiesta Bowl

#4 TCU (12-0) vs. #6 Boise St (13-0)

This bowl features a TCU team making their first trip to a BCS bowl to face a team that put themselves on the BCS map with an iconic win in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl.

This game is a rematch of the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl, which was a rematch of the 2003 Fort Worth Bowl.  The series is split with the biggest win being three points.  Perhaps this is a message from the football gods that these teams need to play more often, say ... by being in the same conference.

While an opportunity to beat a big name BCS team like Florida or an undefeated automatic qualifying conference champion like Cincinnati would have been a match up these teams (especially the ones with a blue field) covet, both teams will face a better opponent to prove their metal than what they would have had in any of the remaining team in BCS bowls.

Rose Bowl

#7 Oregon (10-2) vs. #8 Ohio St. (10-2)

This ancient bowl game with deep conference ties has both partners as champions ranked in the top 10 for the first time in years.  From a traditional stand point and a competitive stand point this should be one of the best Rose Bowl's since the formation of the BCS Championship Game.

Orange Bowl

#9 Georgia Tech vs. #10 Iowa

Georgia Tech won the ACC and Iowa beat their primary competitor (Penn St.) head to head. 

Other Notes

For the second time in the BCS' 12 year history all participants have been in the top 10.  The other time was 2003 when only eight teams were selected.

Even more remarkable is the furthest any two teams are in the rankings are two spots.  This is a remarkable job of pairing evenly matched teams that is unlikely to be repeated any time soon.

In short, this year might have been the BCS' best year of selecting and arranging teams yet.

The only way they could have done better would be to somehow allow all undefeated teams to play for the title.

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