COTTRELL COLUMN: Five teams in running for BCS title

In the decade since the inception of the BCS, the SEC and Big 12 have, arguably, been the two dominant conferences.

The SEC has sent four of its teams to the national title game and produced a 4-0 record, while the Big 12 has had five representatives play for the title — and gone a slightly-less sterling 2-3.

Both conferences have been stronger from top to bottom than everyone else for most of that time.

But this year … something’s different.

This year, neither of the conferences are all that good as a whole (you could say the same about virtually every conference, but that’s a story for another day), but between the two of them they have the five best teams in the nation — not counting USC when it has its head in the game.

It’s hard to think of a time when something like this happened.

But now the intrigue lies in which of those five teams will make it to the title game.

One thing is pretty clear: Someone from the Big 12 will be there.

Even if Texas, Oklahoma or Texas Tech wins the South and loses in the conference championship, odds are pretty good an 11-1 team that didn’t win the division will get a ride to Miami on the wings of computers.

The SEC is slightly less clear-cut. If Alabama or Florida were to stumble on the way to the SEC Championship, the eventual winner could be shut out. But that’s not entirely likely.

So, basically, you’re just about guaranteed the Alabama-Florida winner against whoever comes out of the confusion of the Big 12 South (of course, if Texas Tech beats Oklahoma on Nov. 22 there won’t be any confusion).

And, really, that’s not all that bad.

We could do a lot worse.

Name that conference front-runner
While the SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten have clear leaders in the clubhouse at this point of the season, it’s not so in the other three BCS conferences. I thought we could play a little game.

** This Pac-10 front-runner started the season by getting run over by Stanford and humiliated at Penn State. It has hideous uniforms — though not as bad as its biggest rival — and is perhaps best known for mercilessly taunting Notre Dame while thrashing them in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl.

If you guessed Oregon State, you win! Their victory over USC has them in first place in the conference with a tiebreaker over the Trojans.

** This Big East front-runner was a non-BCS school just four years ago, and it’s not South Florida or Louisville. It has a second-year coach who will most likely fill some vacancy somewhere later this year, and is perhaps best known for firing its basketball coach for not graduating players.

If you guessed Cincinnati, you’re right again! If the Bearcats can get past Louisville, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, they will be their conference’s BCS representative.

** This conference is so jumbled it doesn’t even have a front-runner, because as best as I can tell only two of its 12 teams have no shot at winning their division with just three weeks to go in the season.

If you guessed my favorite punching bag, the ACC, you win again! Only Duke and N.C. State have absolutely no shot.

Quick mea culpa
You may recall me saying last week that Texas Tech wasn’t as talented as any of the other teams in the Top 7 of the BCS.

Well, they’re definitely better than Penn State, and after watching them dismantle Oklahoma State, I’d have to say you have to put them up there with anyone in the country.

They at least wouldn’t lose to Iowa under any circumstances.

Tim Cottrell is sports designer of the Opelika-Auburn News. He will write a weekly column on college football during the season. You can also read him on the O-A Sports Blog at oanow.com. He can be reached at 737-2511 or tcottrell@oanow.com.