Scott,

Sorry I know it's open forum. But one things just grabbed my attention.

From what I remember, you have to be in the top 12 to get into a BCS bowl. Right now we are #12.

What do you think the affect would be on the team if they work hard yet end up in the meineke bowl?
If Cal, ND, Nebraska, et al, keep losing, and we have a tough game vs. UCLA or Oregon st. or something, we could drop out of BCS bowl contention.

it's not...oops

USC1966,

From the BCS official site - BCSfootball.org:

"The champions of the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, and Southeastern conferences will have automatic berths in one of the participating bowls after the 2006 and 2007 regular seasons."

and again...

"Unless they qualify to play in the NCG, the champions of selected conferences are contractually committed to host selected games:

Atlantic Coast Conference-Orange Bowl

Big Ten Conference-Rose Bowl

Big 12 Conference-Fiesta Bowl

Pac-10 Conference-Rose Bowl

Southeastern Conference-Sugar Bowl"

So, the winner of the Pac-10 gets into the Rose Bowl regardless of ranking. The higher than #12 clause you cite affects the small conference teams that aren't contracted to a BCS bowl ala Boise St. last year.

If USC takes care of business and wins out they are in. Whether it's the Rose Bowl or the NCG depends on the success of the teams ahead of USC...

I'm pretty sure that 1966 is thinking of the clause that guarantees a BCS bowl bid for teams ranked in the top 6 that are not conference champions. Or do they not have that anymore? It's tough to keep track.

Pete's got that gleam in his eyes. Players are getting healthy and the defense looks good.
Playmakers like Mcknight, Rojo, and Hazleton are emerging. Oregon is banged up and probably a little cocky with their Top 5 BCS status. Can't wait until kickoff SAT!

USC will beat Oregon.

No position, Scott? And you know what I'm talking about.