BCS National Championship Game: Auburn Tigers (BCS No. 1) vs. Oregon Ducks (BCS No. 2)
Comment: Auburn nearly stumbled — as many projected they would — but persevered in the end, beating Alabama by one point and look well set for the BCS national championship game. Oregon took care of Arizona at home to clinch at the very least a Rose Bowl bid.
Both have just one game left on their schedules. Win and we could be in store for a matchup of two of the best offenses in the country.
Rose Bowl: TCU Horned Frogs (At-large selection) vs. Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten Champion)
Comment: With Oregon seemingly locked into the BCS title game, TCU — now the lone remaining undefeated non-AQ — will take advantage of the much-discussed Rose Bowl clause which allows for a non-AQ champion to replace a Pac-10 or Big Ten champion playing in the National Title game.
Despite finishing in a three-way tie for the Big Ten title, we continue to project that Wisconsin will be awarded the Big Ten’s Rose Bowl bid by virtue of finishing the season as the highest ranked of the three in the BCS. The Badgers will have to fend off Ohio State and Michigan State in the standings to do so, but this matchup is all but sealed.
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma Sooners (Big 12 Champion) vs. Connecticut Huskies (Big East Champion)
Comment: With their victory over Oklahoma State in Bedlam, the Sooners forced a three-way tie in the Big 12 South — one which will be broken in tomorrow’s BCS standings. The Sooners will likely be the beneficiary of the tiebreaker and head to the Big 12 title game where they’ll meet up with Nebraska. In what is sure to be an exciting final edition of the Big 12 title game, either team could come out with a win — which would guarantee either team a Fiesta Bowl bid — but we’ll project Oklahoma to ride a wave of emotion to victory.
Connecticut, yes the UConn of basketball fame, has the easiest track to get to the BCS bowl amongst the remaining Big East contenders — beat South Florida and they’re in. After selecting the Big 12 Champion as their host team, the Fiesta Bowl will likely be left with the Big East champion with the final BCS pick after the Orange Bowl passes on the Big East champion in favor of Stanford.
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech Hokies (ACC Champion) vs. Stanford Cardinal (At-large selection)
Comment: Virginia Tech looked every bit the part of ACC champion on Saturday, taking care of Virginia and head to the ACC Championship Game with a chance at an 11-win season.
Stanford was a major beneficiary of the losses by LSU and Boise State. As the projected No. 4 in tomorrow’s BCS standings, the Cardinal will be assured of a BCS bowl bid as an AQ-conference team that did not win its own conference and is ranked within the top four. Its likely that if the Cardinal do automatically qualify for the BCS, the Orange Bowl would be faced with the decision between the Cardinal and the Big East champion — and will choose an attractive 11-1 team over the four- or five-loss Big East champ.
Read More: Projected 2011 BCS Bowls
