With only a few weeks left in the college football regular season the national championship and Bowl Championship Series picture are starting to clear up. Preseason No. 1 Ohio State still holds onto the top spot in the country, with arch rival Michigan currently sitting at No. 2. The two rivals are scheduled to do battle on November 18. That game in all likelihood will have both the Buckeyes and Wolverines coming into the game undefeated, with a berth in the national championship game on the line.
Some annalists propose that it is possible that the two powers could meet again in the national championship game on January 8, regardless of who wins the game. However, most BCS experts disagree, and only the winner of the OSU-Michigan game will move on to play for the title.
The opponent for the Ohio State Michigan winner in the national championship is still up for grabs. No. 3 Louisville (8-0) helped out their cause by beating previous No. 3 West Virginia in a Thursday night showdown. Louisville still has tough match ups with No. 15 Rutgers (8-0), Pittsburgh (6-3) and South Florida (6-3). The Cardinals will need to win out to have a shot at the Buckeye-Wolverine winner in the championship.
After Louisville, an assortment of one loss teams remain hopeful for a title game berth. Topping that list is Texas (9-1), Auburn (9-1), Florida (8-1), USC (7-1) and Notre Dame (8-1).
The Longhorns’ only loss came in Week One to Ohio State, and since then they’ve looked impressive with wins over Nebraska and Oklahoma on their resume. Texas currently sits in 4th in the BCS standings.
In the SEC, both Auburn and Florida look to be in contention. The Gators and Tigers should meet up in the SEC championship game with the winner having a strong case for national title game consideration.
The No. 7 University of Southern California Trojans stumbled to a loss against Oregon State a few weeks back and severely hurt their dream to play in a third consecutive championship game. In order to keep their dream alive, the Trojans must win a gauntlet of games against No. 20 Oregon, No. 9 Cal and No. 8 Notre Dame.
Under second year coach Charlie Weis, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have compiled an 8-1 record, with its only blemish coming in a lopsided loss to Michigan. Notre Dame has a cake walk schedule against Army and the Air Force Academy before the showdown with USC in Los Angeles. The Irish must defeat the Trojans to keep their title hopes alive.
Even this late in the season it’s still anybody’s guess who will be hoisting the national championship trophy come January 8.