College Football Update(Bowl Edition)

The 2008 College Football Regular Season came to a finish on December 6th. Here is the final y25 of the regular season.

1.Florida 12-1(SEC)
2.Texas 11-1(Big XII)
3.Oklahoma 12-1(Big XII)
4.USC 11-1(Pac 10)
5.Penn State 11-1(Big Ten)
6.Alabama 12-1(SEC)
7.Utah 12-0(Mountain West)
8.Boise State 12-0(WAC)
9.Texas Tech 11-1(Big XII)
10.Ohio State 10-2(Big Ten)
11.Cincinnati 11-2(Big East)
12.TCU 10-2(Mountain West)
13.Oregon 9-3(Pac 10)
14.Oklahoma State 9-3(Big XII)
15.Georgia Tech 9-3(ACC)
16.Michigan State 9-3(Big Ten)
17.Georgia 9-3(SEC)
18.Ball State 12-1(MAC)
19.Rice 9-3(C-USA)
20.Northwestern 9-3(Big Ten)
21.Pittsburgh 9-3(Big East)
22.Virginia Tech 9-4(ACC)
23.Boston College 9-4(ACC)
24.Ole Miss 8-4(SEC)
25.Nebraska 8-4(Big XII)

Here are the Conference Standings:
1.Big XII-5
2.SEC-4
Big Ten-4
4.ACC-3
5.Pac 10-2
Mountain West-2
Big East-2
8.WAC-1
MAC-1
C-USA-1

Here are my bowl predictions:
BCS National Title:Florida over Oklahoma
Fiesta:Texas over Ohio State
Sugar:Alabama over Utah
Orange:Cincinnati over Virginia Tech
Rose:USC over Penn State
GMAC:Tulsa over Ball State
International:UCONN over Buffalo
Liberty:Kentucky over East Carolina
Cotton:Texas Tech over Ole Miss
Gator:Nebraska over Clemson
Capital One:Georgia over Michigan State
Outback:Iowa over South Carolina
Chick-Fil-A:Georgia Tech over LSU
Insight:Kansas over Minnesota
Music City:Boston College over Vanderbilt
Sun:Pittsburgh over Oregon State
Armed Forces:Air Force over Houston
Holiday:Oklahoma State over Oregon
Texas:Rice over Western Michigan
Humanitarian:Maryland over Nevada
Alamo:Missouri over Northwestern
Papajohns.com:Rutgers over N.C. State
Independence:Louisiana Tech over Northern Illinois
Emerald:California over Miami
Champ Sports:Florida State over Wisconsin
Meineke Car Care:North Carolina over West Virginia
Motor City:Central Michigan over Florida Atlantic
Hawaii:Notre Dame over Hawaii
Poinsettia:TCU over Boise State
New Orleans:Troy over Southern Miss
EagleBank:Wake Forest over Navy
Las Vegas:BYU over Arizona
St.Petersburg:USF over Memphis
New Mexico:Fresno State over Colorado State

Now this is something you may not know. You know that the BCS National Title Game gives the winner the championship. However, the AP Poll can award someone else with the National Title(they did it in 2003 by giving it to USC over LSU). With the y25 I do the same exact thing. I pick my own National Champion. I did it in 2004(Utah over USC) and 2006(Boise State over Florida).

Usually I have my own criteria which states you must be a conference champion and you must not have a better or just as good record as the team who won the BCS Title(the only time I didn't award it to the team with the best record was Kansas in 2007 who had the best record at 12-1 but didn't win the Big XII). However, this year I am making an exception for Texas and Texas Tech(who under unfair circumstances were both shafted from the Big XII title game). Here are the teams eligible for this and how they can obtain it. At the moment, Boise State and Utah are the two teams that are eligible the most for the title. Therefore, all 1-loss teams need them to lose.

• Oklahoma-They need to beat Florida and have Texas lose.
• Florida-Beat Oklahoma convincingly.
• Texas-Beat Ohio State convincingly and have OU beat Florida in a "lesser" amount.
• Texas Tech-OU loses to Florida by a close amount. They must also beat Ole Miss convincingly.
• USC-Beat Penn State convincingly
• Penn State-Beat USC convincingly
• Utah-Beat Alabama, needs Boise to lose
  
• Boise State-Beat TCU convincingly, and have Utah lose.

Utah and Boise State are also the final two teams in contention for the Mid-Major National Championship. Here are the Mid-10 Standings.

1.Utah 12-0(Mountain West)
2.Boise State 12-0(WAC)
3.TCU 10-2(Mountain West)
4.Ball State 12-1(MAC)
5.Rice 9-3(C-USA)
6.Western Michigan 9-3(MAC)
7.BYU 10-2(Mountain West)
8.East Carolina 9-4(C-USA)
9.Tulsa 10-3(C-USA)
10.Central Michigan 8-4(MAC

Here is an update on the lower division playoffs:
FCS:
Round 1:
App State 37 South Carolina State 21
Villanova 55 Colgate 28
Richmond 38 Eastern Kentucky 10
New Hampshire 29 Southern Illinois 20

Montana 31 Texas State 13
James Madison 38 Wofford 35
Northern Iowa 40 Maine 15
Weber State 49 Cal Poly 35

Quarterfinals:
Richmond 33 App State 13
Montana 24 Weber State 13
James Madison 31 Villanova 27
Northern Iowa 36 New Hampshire 34

Semifinals:
Montana 35 James Madison 27
Richmond 21 Northern Iowa 20

This sets up Montana vs Richmond to be played Friday at 8pm on ESPN2.

The Division II National Title was played last week as Minnesota-Duluth completed their "worst-to-first" turnaround beating Northwest Missouri State 21-14.

That same day, Mount Union defeated Wheaton College and Wisconsin-Whitewater beat Mary Hardin-Baylor setting up their matchup 11am on ESPN2 for the Division III National Championship.

Its going to be a great holiday of College Football and it all starts with Montana and Richmond on Friday night. Happy Holidays