The Week 15 BCS Standings have been released, but they will not likely make too many people happy. Especially those who feel that the SEC is still the superior college football conference, yet is currently on the outside looking in when it comes to this season’s BCS Championship Game. With only two undefeated team remaining among programs from the power conferences (no offense to the Northern Illinois Huskies, as I would love to see them in a 16-team playoffs), you would think it would be easy for the BCS to simply choose those two teams to play for the BCS Championship without fear from fans and voters and coaches and players that a team with one loss is more deserving of the opportunity to play for the national title. Unfortunately, that is just not the case. All the Week 15 BCS Standings will do is make most thankful for the four-team playoff system that will be implemented in the 2014 NCAA Football season.
- My views are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Discover Products Inc. and its affiliates.
Speaking of being thankful, the latest results of the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll are in, and college football fans – to no great surprise – are thankful for great food and fantastic football. The order on that may vary depending on which fan you ask. After this weekend, I am guessing that fans of the Auburn Tigers are more thankful for football, while Alabama Crimson Tide faithful may be looking for some tasty comfort food in which to bury their faces following this year’s exciting Iron Bowl. That game had a huge impact on this week’s BCS Standings.
Before we get to what the newest BCS Standings may look like prior to the official release this evening, take a look at the full results from the latest Discover Fan Loyalty Poll. The Week five poll asked college football fans whether or not they would give up their seat at the dinner table this past Thursday in exchange for free tickets at the 50-yard-line to watch their favorite team play. Overall, 42 percent of the fans surveyed said that they would rather pass on turkey than pass the pie around the table, opting to accept the free tickets to watch their favorite team play. While that number is high, the majority – at 55 percent – said that they agree with the sentiment that home is where the heart is, and that even free tickets at midfield to watch their favorite college football team play would not be enough to get them to skip Thanksgiving dinner with their family.
It seems that while turkey and football go together, just don’t make fans choose one over the other. The majority will try to find a way to thoroughly enjoy the best of both worlds! After all, I know that I would! But, if push came to shove a few days ago, which event would you have selected? Free football tickets or food with the family?
I have to admit, if I had known ahead of time about some of the fantastic finishes, especially if any of Saturday’s games had been played on Thanksgiving, I may have been tempted to take the tickets and pass on the pumpkin pie!
When breaking the data down by conference, fans of an SEC or American Athletic Conference team were most likely to take the free tickets, at 46 percent, which is three percentage points higher than the average fan. On the flip side, fans of Pac-12 teams said that they would not skip the traditional Thanksgiving Day festivities, as 60 percent would pass up the tickets in favor of spending the day with family. This past Thanksgiving, only fans of four teams would have had to have made that decision, as the only two college football games played this past Thursday featured the Mississippi State Bulldogs pulling off an overtime upset against the Ole Miss Rebels to win the Egg Bowl, and the Texas Longhorns knocking off the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Both of these games did have bowl implications, but neither will have any ramifications on any of the five BCS Bowl Games.
* Discover Products Inc. sent me a Gift Card for participating as a Blogger in the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll program
What about when it came to the dinner menu on Thanksgiving? This is obviously more of a personal preference, with many people having such different tastes. In the longstanding debate over which Thanksgiving dinner staple people cannot live without, college football fans weighed in and it was discovered that turkey sits squarely on top, proving that the debate may not be as close as some may feel. Turkey took the top billing with 48 percent, followed by stuffing at 20 percent, pie at 9 percent, mashed potatoes at 7 percent and cranberry sauce at 2 percent. Surprisingly, 12 percent said that another item of food is No. 1 in their hearts. While stuffing and pie were once again the top two must-haves on my Thanksgiving dinner plate, I would love to know what of the rest of you would say – especially the 12 percent who did not choose any of the top five food items as their No. 1 choice. Once again, feel free to weigh in with your own responses below.
With just one more weekend of college football games to decide which teams will play in which bowl game, so many things can still happen. It appears that if the Florida State Seminoles defeat the Duke Blue Devils in the ACC Championship Game and the Ohio State Buckeyes take care of the Michigan State Spartans in the Big 10 Championship Game, they will face off for the BCS Championship. If the Auburn Tigers can make another big statement and dismantle the Missouri Tigers in impressive fashion in the SEC Championship Game, then there is a small chance that they could pass Ohio State in the BCS Rankings that come out just prior to the announcement of the BCS Bowl Games next Sunday night. A Missouri win could keep them in the discussion, depending on the other outcomes, although it may be difficult for them to pass that many teams with just one game remaining.
With that being said, the latest BCS Standings obviously leave a bit to be desired, especially for some fans more so than others. Either way, here is a look at how the teams rank entering conference championship weekend:
1. Florida State Seminoles
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
3. Auburn Tigers
4. Alabama Crimson Tide
5. Missouri Tigers
6. Oklahoma State Cowboys
7. Stanford Cardinal
8. South Carolina Gamecocks
9. Baylor Bears
10. Michigan State Spartans
11. Arizona State Sun Devils
12. Oregon Ducks
13. Clemson Tigers
14. Northern Illinois Huskies
15. LSU Tigers
16. Central Florida Knights
17. Oklahoma Sooners
18. UCLA Bruins
19. Louisville Cardinals
20. Duke Blue Devils
21. Wisconsin Badgers
22. Georgia Bulldogs
23. Fresno State Bulldogs
24. Texas A&M Aggies
25. Texas Longhorns
Of course, as I have been saying all season long, if you don’t like the BCS Standings, just wait a week, as they are likely to change. After all, think just how different they looked entering Thanksgiving weekend. While there are far fewer games on tap this coming weekend, there are still about seven contests that could have an impact on the five BCS Bowl Games this college football postseason!
Make sure that you stay tuned to Boston Super Blog for all of the latest polls and results from the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll. We have got you covered throughout the remainder of the 2013 college football season, leading all the way up to the BCS Championship Game! Make sure to Like Discover on Facebook and follow them on Twitter!
The Discover Fan Loyalty Poll is conducted twice a month by Rasmussen Reports, a nationally recognized leader in polling, who gathers sentiment by phone from 1500 college football fans who follow games at least once per week on television, radio, in person or online. The Poll leads up to the 2014 Discover Orange Bowl. Discover’s commitment to college football includes relationships with ESPN and Notre Dame Football on NBC.
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Only problem with this BCS system is that it is soooo fallible. Any of the SEC teams ranked in the top 15 could beat Ohio State. LSU’s last Nat’l Title came with LSU having 2 losses against an undefeated, highly praised Ohio team but the Buckeyes didn’t stand a chance. It would be the same today too. Can’t wait for a REAL playoff system. The BCS “SUCKS”
You will need to stick a stake in its heart or shoot it with a silver bullet. The BCS lives even when dead as the College Football Playoff. Yes it too is full of errors. The Conference Commissioners are in it for themselves and their friends (money). No consideration of the Student, Academics, Fairness or Equality for anybody but Hancock and the previously mentioned gang.
A Committee and BCS like ranking will continue the sickening slop of Bowls and irrational invitations.
A total reorganization of Major College Football is absolutely necessary. Football must stand alone under the control of the School Presidents through the NCAA, that way the little guys in the FCS, Div II, Div III etc won’t have to worry about rules that they can’t live under and visa versa for the Major Colleges.
See the Perfect Playoff Plan 16 with its Reorganization that Reforms the FBS into a Football Only Division for Major College Football, Restructures the Division into 12 Conferences of 10 teams each limiting it to 120 Schools and Realigns these conferences regionally with the best, next and least teams divided equally among all 12 conferences.
See it at: http://ncaa2014.us/theperfectplan.pdf