The final frame: before bowling season opens for business—and Texas-USC becomes official—there's one more wild weekend to deal with

Sporting News, The, Dec 9, 2005 by Matt Hayes

It's championship weekend, and even though everything seems as clear as Cardinal and Gold and Burnt Orange and White, the karma gods could throw the BCS a two-seam splitter. Or something like that. Look, it's highly unrealistic to think one or both of the Rose Bowl favorites will lose this weekend, but hey, you never know. Right?

The final frame

            UCLA at USC

At stake    The Pac-10 championship, a trip to the national title
            game and the Heisman Trophy. Sound like enough?
Rocking     UCLA's thrill-a-minute offense blindsides UCAs
the         struggling defense and the Trojans commit a few turnovers
system      in a monumental upset. Then what? A few things come to
            mind: UCLA plays in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame;
            meanwhile, the Orange Bowl, which had USC last year and
            realizes the Trojans faithful won't travel cross-country
            again for a meaningless bowl, opts for Ohio State and its
            40,000 nutjobs with the second BCS at-large spot. USC falls
            to the Holiday Bowl. And the Bruins' Drew Olson, the
            quarterback in Los Angeles with the best numbers--and now,
            the biggest win in years--steals the Heisman.
Back to     How in the wide world of sports is UCLA's sieve of a
reality     defensive line going to stop USC running backs Reggie
            Bush and LenDale White? And we haven't even begun to
            discuss how to stop receivers Dwayne Jarrett and Steve
            Smith, or how quarterback Matt Leinart plays his best in
            big games. At some point, USC's defense will figure out how
            to stop the Bruins, who will end up in the Sun Bowl.
The pick    USC 34, UCLA 31.

            Texas vs. Colorado

At stake    The Big 12 championship, a trip to the national title
            game and the Heisman Trophy. Sound familiar?
Rocking     Colorado, which has backed into the Big 12
the         championship game for the second consecutive
system      season, copies Texas A&M's formula and runs all over
            Texas' defense. With the game tempo slowed, Texas
            quarterback Vince Young forces throws, and the
            Longhorns leave Houston the
            same way they left Irving in
            2001: dumbfounded by a
            loss to an inferior team that
            costs them a spot in the
            national championship game.
Back to     Texas destroyed Colorado,
reality     42-17, in the regular season,
            and the game wasn't that
            close. Colorado will play with an "us against the world"
            mentality early in the game, then the Buffs' defenders
            will realize it really is them against Vince Young. Go
            with Young. Colorado's parting gift: A return trip to
            Texas for the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.
The pick    Texas 41, Colorado 20.

            LSU vs. Georgia

At stake    The SEC title and
            maybe--just maybe--a spot
            in the national title game.
Rocking     LSU, which hasn't put
the         together a solid offensive
system      performance all season,
            comes out firing with
            quarterback JaMarcus
            Russell and an underused but extremely talented
            group of receivers, giving the Tigers the balanced
            offense needed to bury a strong Georgia defense. In a
            stunning turn, USC loses to UCLA and the pollsters, so
            impressed with LSU, move the Tigers to No. 2 in the
            nation. Pasadena, here we come!
Back to     Have you seen Georgia when quarterback D.J.
reality     Shockley is healthy? If he had played against Florida,
            the Dawgs would be in the same need-a-miracle
            scenario as LSU. Georgia is fantastic on defense and
            will harass Russell into multiple turnovers. Then watch
            its power running game take control in the second half
            and grab that Sugar Bowl bid while LSU has to settle
            for Cotton.
The pick    Georgia 27, LSU 17.

            Florida State vs. Virginia Tech

At stake    The ACC championship and a possible trip to
            the national title game (stay with us on this one).
Rocking     Tech routs Florida State by 41 points or so, USC
the         loses big to UCLA, Texas loses
system      big to Colorado and LSU loses
            to Georgia. The pollsters jump
            Tech over 1-loss USC and
            Texas, and the Hokies play
            Penn State in the Rose Bowl.
            The lunch-pailers in the
            haughty Granddaddy? The
            looks on the faces of the blue
            bloods would be priceless.
Back to     The least attractive game of all could be the best of
reality     the weekend. The Seminoles have been embarrassed
            with three straight losses, the last at the hands of rival
            Florida. FSU will play hard and keep it close early, but
            the Hokies will find a way to win in the fourth quarter
            behind quarterback Marcus Vick. And Penn State and
            Virginia Tech will play in the same bowl after all: the
            Orange Bowl. Look for Florida State in the Peach Bowl.
The pick    Virginia Tech 23, Florida State 16.