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Behind The Scoreboard
By Claude Vinson Oregon still on top The
Ducks can probably thank whomever Ducks thank in situations like this,
but they escaped the weekend with all their tail feathers and the
number one ranking in collegiate football. We all
recall the misfortunes which seemed to have befallen the highly rated
week after week. Oregon just barely slid past the embarrassing fate of
its predecessors when it was allowed to keep its unblemished record and
the numero uno designation. California did its best to wipe it all away
on Saturday – falling just two points short at 15-13. The
unranked Golden Bears would have just loved to be the team which
knocked off the leader of the PAC 10 and a strong contender for the BCS
championship. BCS selectors have a history of frowning on teams which
rack up big scores all season and then register close scrapes near the
end. Oregon had not won a game by less than 11 points all season. And
the Ducks are not in this pond alone. They have
Auburn, TCU and Boise State close on their webbies. Don’t you just love
the patience of Boise State? Boise keeps putting up big numbers each
week (whipped Idaho 52-14 Friday) and still remains at position four.
Of course, the Broncos’ perfect record (9-0) makes them a viable
prospect for the BCS championship. Their remaining schedule lists
Fresno State, Nevada and Utah. I know that some
of you were wondering – “When is he going to get to the SEC?” Well,
now. The title game has already been set and we know who the stars will
be. It had been decided some time back that the Auburn Tigers would
already be in Atlanta to welcome whoever their opponent would be. It
wasn’t decided until Saturday that it would be the number 22 Gamecocks
of South Carolina. The “ole ball coach,” who had called Florida home
for many trophy-filled years, returned to “The Swamp” and knocked the
Gators out of the East. It is not a tidy bow just yet. South Carolina
has to get past Auburn to enter BCS contention. However, it probably
doesn’t matter who the Gamecocks face. They just won their first SEC
division championship. And speaking of the number
one team in the SEC, the Tigers had a huge scare from Georgia when they
had to come back from a 21-7 deficit and then fend the ’Dawgs off down
the stretch to finally register the 49-31 victory. Georgia has a very
significant and historical stake in these games. The ’Dawgs and Tigers
have the oldest rivalry among Southern collegiate football teams. And
reporters followed the Tigers quarterback, Cam Newton, bombarding him
with questions about the alleged recruiting scandal. It surfaced this
past week that Cam’s father was allegedly the one trying to “shop the
talents” on his son. It is important to note that the NCAA has not made
any ruling on these charges.
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