Who will be number one in college football? Who will sit atop the polls at the start of the New Year? This question has plagued sportswriters and fans alike throughout the decades. It's a particularly difficult question given the nature of college football. Upsets occur frequently, and this season has been no exception. Whoever starts the season at number one rarely finishes there. So who will it be?
Following a rough two weeks in the polls, there remain nine undefeated teams in college football. And of that group, only a select few have an easy route to the national championship.
First, I'll start with the current top-ranked teams in both major polls. Nebraska, the number one team in the coach's poll, started the season on top of both polls. However, despite an impressive 42-24 win over Missouri this week, the Huskers were jumped in the AP poll by Florida State, who dominated Maryland 59-7. Despite his team's leap to the top, FSU coach Bobby Bowden remains skeptical. "It doesn't mean a thing at this time," Bowden said upon hearing the news. "But our goal is to end up number one." Both teams have been impressive. Both have Heisman candidates under center in FSU's strong-armed Chris Weinke and Nebraska's fleet-footed Eric Crouch. It certainly wouldn't be a stretch to predict that these two powerhouses will meet in the Orange Bowl for the title. In the last decade, they are the two programs that have dominated the sport, winning a combined five national championships. So what's to stop them from deciding it again this year?
Well, for FSU, the rest of the sunshine state. Although the 'Noles have been the most impressive team in Florida so far, the other two teams are no joke. Florida was undefeated and ranked number three until an upset at the hands of Mississippi State. They play Bowden's team the last week of the season in a game that should have a huge impact on the Bowl Championship series. In south Florida the Miami Hurricanes will host FSU this weekend. Miami, considered a contender by many at the season's onset, is not as talented as State and has already lost to Washington, but they still have what it takes to pull off the upset. In addition to that, Florida State must play undefeated Clemson, ranked fifth in the latest AP poll. Florida State usually has a cakewalk through the ACC, but Clemson, coached by Bowden's son Tommy, should make things interesting this year. Not only can the Tigers contend for the league title, if they pull of the upset they can easily put themselves in position to win the whole thing. FSU ran the gauntlet last year, and could do it again, but it won't be an easy task.
As for the Huskers, they've already passed at least one test, defeating Notre Dame in overtime on the strength of three Crouch touchdowns. Nebraska has been a model of consistency over the last thirty years. They're as fast as ever, and feature an enormous offensive line just as in years past. However, their defense looked unusually porous against a weak Missouri team, surrendering 492 yards to the Tiger offense. The Huskers also must take on two more undefeated, top ten teams in the Big XII: fourth ranked Kansas State, a perennial powerhouse this decade, and a resurgent Oklahoma team ranked tenth. If the Huskers do win those two games they would still have to win the conference title game, likely to be against eleventh ranked Texas or a rematch with Oklahoma. Despite all that, Nebraska, like FSU, should win out with their talent and play for the BCS championship.
Virginia Tech, ranked third, has the easiest road to the title game, and if Nebraska or Florida State should falter or fail to impress the pollsters should be a lock for the Orange Bowl. Miami is the Hokies only real remaining challenge. They also feature the nation's most exciting player, sophomore QB Michael Vick, who ran for a career best 210 yards last week against Boston College. "We have two plays when he's in the game," Tech coach Frank Beamer said, "the one we call and the one he winds up turning it into."
No team other than Tech, however, has an easy road to going undefeated. It is highly probably that the eventual champion could have one loss. If that is the case, however, the number of scenarios could be infinite. The Big Ten and SEC are by the far the best conferences, but that fact plays against them on the road to the Orange Bowl, as all of their top teams, with the exception of Ohio State, have lost. The Pac 10, despite a resurgence this year, still lacks a team with the talent to contend.
As for the games to watch this week, the Florida State-Miami match up I mentioned earlier could have a huge impact on the polls. Top ranked FSU will have to beat seventh ranked Miami at the Orange Bowl, one of the harshest environments in college football. In Dallas, tenth ranked Oklahoma and eleventh ranked Texas play in a game that will decide who will challenge Nebraska and K-State for the Big XII title. A historic rivalry, both teams faded from prominence in the early nineties with a string of mediocre seasons. However, head coaches Bob Stoops of Oklahoma and Mac Brown of Texas have restored these programs to top ten status, and this years Red River Rivalry should be a classic.
