Election Night 2012: Voting on the BCS National Championship
By Brian Spaen
With regards to the big election night in America, the Autzen Zoo staff has selected who they believe should be in college football’s national championship game. The four main candidates who have separated themselves after 10 weeks are: Alabama, Kansas State, Oregon, and Notre Dame.
Nov 3, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oregon Ducks receiver Josh Huff (1) scores on a 21-yard touchdown pass against the Southern California Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Oregon defeated USC 62-51. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE
The “luck of the Irish” came into play on Saturday with an amazing comeback down 14 points in the fourth quarter to overtake Pittsburgh in three overtimes. Oregon was able sway some people from the Irish with their domination on offense but may have opened up a real cause for concern on the defensive end. Kansas State might not have their own candidate for the Heisman trophy in the next game against TCU. Alabama was able to survive a huge top-five matchup on the road against LSU by marching down the field for the final score of the game.
From what’s been seen so far this season, the staff will select two teams that should be in national title game and give their reasons why they picked them over the others. As you’d expect, we all agree on at least one team that makes it.
Mike: My national title game is Kansas State vs. Oregon. The reasoning is I think Alabama was shown to be indiscipline on defense at times which might bite them Saturday against Texas A&M who has a quarterback in Johnny Manziel that’ll hurt them. Notre Dame I think loses at Southern California due to all the weapons the Trojans have and ND just hasn’t seen anything like it. K-State will make the game based on their remaining schedule of at TCU and Baylor then returning home for the finale against Texas who’ve they had success against. Oregon is half my pick and not because I’m being a homer but because who stops them?
Brian: It’s going to be Alabama vs. Oregon in the title game. I’ve said from before the season started that the Big 12 schedule is too hard to go through unscathed. Now with a banged up Collin Klein it will be even harder. Notre Dame plays down to their bad opponents and that cost them the human votes needed to make it even if they do run the table. Alabama showed clutch play (and taking advantage of prevent defense) after looking awful offensively in the second half and Oregon runs the most efficient and fast offense in the entire nation. This isn’t your typical high-scoring offense from passing the ball a lot like most spread Big 12 offenses. The Ducks run it down team’s throats, and Marcus Mariota is showing potential to be a legendary quarterback with this much success early.
Ricky: I would love to see Alabama play Oregon in the BCS National Championship. I think the Ducks would benefit in this matchup because, after watching the LSU vs Alabama game this week, I feel that the Crimson Tide are overrated and should have loss to the LSU Tigers. If Bama played Oregon, the Ducks’ speed on offense would show the nation that the Tide are truly overrated.
Other roundtable topics this week: Kenjon Barner’s Heisman hopes, Oregon’s defensive struggles, and what to watch out for against California.
The Autzen Zoo staff includes lead editor Brian Spaen along with staff writers Mike Vamosi, Raymond Mencke, Jr., Ricky Widmer, and contributor Joe Soriano.