Not a good week for last second wins, as Tech, Pittsburgh, Meechigan and Washington State all came up a little short. The BCS dodged two bullets and may get a nice no-controversy Fiesta Bowl. Of course, the BCS could get stuck with a 5-loss Florida State, a 4-loss LSU and a 4-loss Colorado. At least that would give Notre Dame reasonable competition. But it would give the shaft to Kansas State (as usual) and possibly Southern Cal. By the way, don't talk to UCLA (down 52-7 in the 4th quarter) about how silly the computer is to put the Trojans on top.
Does it seem to you that an unusually large number of teams have been streaky this year? In some cases, it's a change in difficulty of schedule, in some cases injuries, in some cases even a change of weather, but it seems that many teams are on major win or loss streaks. Locally, who would have predicted at midseason that Tech and UVa would go into this week's game ranked the same? I looked up some schedules, and this year we've got Tech starting 8-0 then going 0-3 (with a possible 0-6), NC State going 9-0 and then 1-3, Minnesota 7-1 and then 0-4, Wisconsin 5-0 and then 2-6, Iowa State 6-1 and then 1-5 (including a loss to UConn), Air Force 6-0 and then 2-4, Oregon 6-0 and then 1-5. On the up side, there's Virginia going 0-2 then 8-2, UConn 2-6 then 4-0, South Florida 2-2 then 7-0, Washington 4-5 then 3-0, and North Texas 1-5 then 6-0. Then there's Oregon State, with runs of 4-0, 0-3, 4-1. Odd year, and tough on a computer program.
Although only the "Egg Bowl" (?) is now played on Thanksgiving Day, several familiar faces play on Friday. The Aggies and Horns renew the battle for the Chicken Ranch (hopefully without a killer bonfire). Tech tries to take C out of Chokies. Colorado and Georgia look for wins heading into conference championship games. The computer is not terribly impressed with Oklahoma State, but they beat Oklahoma last year and usually give them a great game. Florida and Florida State are in an odd Who Cares? situation, while Notre Dame and Southern Cal play their first meaningful game in a long time. Probation-bound Alabama gets its "bowl game" out in Hawaii.
Round two of Rivalry Week! Several rounds of State U versus Cow College, and a huge game in the Coliseum. The following predictions are straight from the ratings, with 4 points added for the home team.