BCS Rankings Preview - ESPN

[TakeItOrLeavitt]

UConn (5-0) @ Viriginia (5-1)

If UConn wins this game I think they'll be ranked. Sort of like KU knocking off KSU, the voters are just waiting for a statement win before they throw them into the rankings.

[BullGrad95]

Take a peek at who UCONN has played so far.  NOBODY.  I'd guess that by the time they reach us, they'll be 5-2, and still looking at Rutgers, Cinci, and WVU.  They will probably end up with 7 wins tops.

SEPTEMBER   

at Duke W, 45-14 

MAINE W, 38-0

TEMPLE W, 22-17 

at Pittsburgh* W, 34-14 

AKRON W, 44-10 

OCTOBER   

at Virginia 3:30 p.m. ESPNU 

LOUISVILLE (Homecoming)* 8:00 p.m. ESPN 

SOUTH FLORIDA*   

NOVEMBER   

RUTGERS*   

at Cincinnati*   

SYRACUSE*   

at West Virginia* 

[RSSMOOTH]

tOSU, Cal and Boston College will lose atleast one game

[Guest]

LSU still plays #17 Kentucky, #22 Auburn, Alabama, and Arkansas.

Cal still plays #14 ASU and #10 USC.

OSU has Penn State, #19 Wisconsin, #18 Illionois, and Michigan.

BC has #12 Va Tech, #21 FSU, Maryland, and Clemson.

Oklahoma still plays #11 Missouri.

Basically, we are the undefeated team with the easiest road to the NC game, in my opinion. That doesn't mean we won't lay an egg somewhere along the line, but the rest of the top 6 have to go through some tough teams. The USC and Cal game will either knock USC totally out, or bring Cal down and add to the list of 1-loss teams making an argument for the big game. The tough schedules also affect our future BCS rankings, because if we are to stay unbeaten, we only play #15 Cincy.

IMO, the team most vulnerable is OSU. The next most vulnerable is us, after seeing FAU, because all of our competition will become more motivated now that we're the hunted.

At least both ESPN analysts have us in a BCS bowl - Sugar or Orange - as the only Big East rep. That would be incredible... and it would be a heck of a lot of pressure too!

Don't forget the Big 12, SEC, and ACC all play a conference championship game... it's possible for a big upset to occur in that game on the last weekend as well.

[CCCballboy]

I think for USF to be taken seriously as a national championship type team, USF obviously needs to run the table and somewhere along the line hope that one of the teams is ranked near the top 10 (Cincy looks to be the best bet right now).  If USF knocks off a 15-10 ranked Cincy team, that gives USF 3 big wins.  It couldn't hurt if Uconn is undefeated or a 1 loss team, but hopefully if USF is undefeated, we can look back and see a bunch of bowl  teams.

Now to the things USF can't control.  Assuming LSU goes undefeated (which they should IMHO), that leaves obviously, 1 opening for the national championship game.  Sadly, I can only assume USF gets in if the "traditional powerhouses" have 2 losses. Cal/OSU/Ok/BC will ALL get the nod if undefeated, and I'd also assume they'll all get the nod with 1 loss as well.  The only way to combat this is to hope that the teams that we beat, boost our SoS enough that we finish very high in the computer polls. It might be asking TOO much(even this year) for Cal and OSU to lose two games.  Oklahoma is going to be hard pressed to lose another game as well (I know they got Missouri this weekend). I do think BC will lose a game somewhere, though.

Another silver lining, or potential selling point is, if USF does win out and gets some other teams to lose, we will be on a 14 game winning streak and having beat WVU twice during that streak, WVU being ranked in the top 10 both times.   

Just some random thoughts.

[South_Florida_Flip]

who does uconn play this week and next?  i think their time is running out.  they won't crack the top 25. 

UConn could very well lose their next 5 games.

[namuh-bull]

I disagree with anybody who says that teams will need 2 losses for us to go to the championship game.  To my knowledge, there has never been an undefeated team from a BCS conference that has been denied a shot at the championship when there were 2 or less undefeated teams.

We are in a BCS conference, and that will make the difference in the polls if we manage to run the table.

[MarketingGuy]

Wooooooooooooooooooot

[Mama_Bull]

Coach Leavitt is NOW very low key about our ranking, because it's very early in the season, and a lot can still happen. HOWEVER, if we go undefeated you WILL see a much different side of Leavitt, much like he showed when we were 9-2 in 2002 and were looking for a bowl invite.

"Maybe I should run naked through the streets of Tampa with a sign that says we need to go to a bowl. I don't know what else to do. If I need to do that, then I'll do it. I'll probably get arrested. If we don't get a bowl, it's the biggest hoax in the country. If it doesn't happen, it's an absolute joke."

- Leavitt, Nov. 24, 2002, about getting USF into a bowl

If you think Spurrier caused a ruckus last year, you aint seen nothin' yet.  ;D