10 Middle Tennessee StateIt’s a little big under the radar but Middle Tennessee is playing for a bowl bid Saturday against FIU, the Sun Belt conference champion. And MTSU isn’t playing just to become bowl eligible – there’s a spot waiting for them. Because the Big Ten will get two teams in the BCS, that opens up their spot in the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl in Detroit to a third Sun Belt team. The Sun Belt has two bowl eligible teams so MTSU needs to win to make it three. And even better – MTSU wouldn’t be playing in Detroit. Nope, thanks to a good fanbase, they would be playing in the New Orleans Bowl. Where would you rather be in December – Detroit or New Orleans? Middle Tennessee has had a tough year with its best player, QB Dwight Dasher, being suspended for the first four games. They definitely might’ve beaten Minnesota and Memphis with Dasher. No matter now because they are one win away from another bowl berth and a successful season. If they lose – it won’t be a successful season.
9 The Big XII
For some reason, the Big XII championship game never caught on like the SEC Championship Game, despite almost always having a national title contender playing. Maybe it was the constant rotation of sites. Maybe it was the fact one team was usually a heavy underdog. Maybe it was because the game never had the Armageddon-type showdowns that the SEC has been able to produce on an annual basis. Whatever reason, the last Big XII title game for the foreseeable future will be played Saturday night and it sums up everything that went wrong with the conference. Two long-time rivals, Oklahoma and Nebraska, will meet for the last time in a while – in Texas. It’s just wrong. For the Big XII’s sake, let’s hope Oklahoma wins. It would be embarrassing if the defending champion was playing in the Big Ten.
8 Northern Illinois
The MAC title game has consistently been one of the most entertaining title games each year and this year should be no different. On one side, you have the remarkable story of Miami, Ohio, which won one game last year under first-year head coach Mike Haywood and is now 8-4. But the team that needs to win the game is Northern Illinois. The Huskies are 10-2, ranked and easily the class of the MAC in 2010. But to prove you’re the best, you need to raise the championship trophy at the end of the year. The Huskies will be favored and rightfully so, having blown out three consecutive opponents. Now, they must finish the job.
7 June Jones
When June Jones came to SMU from Hawaii, there were more than a few who were skeptical about his ability to turn around yet another program, especially one as moribund as SMU. His first goal was to make a bowl game and they did that last year. His next goal was to win the Conference USA championship – he’s one game away. If SMU can defeat UCF in Orlando Saturday afternoon, they will win their first conference championship since 1984, aka pre-Death Penalty. Do they build the statute to Jones immediately after the game if he wins or do they wait? There’s no doubt SMU is on the way up regardless of the outcome Saturday but don’t tell that to Jones. This is his plan. This is the next step. Don’t think his players aren’t aware of what’s at stake. June Jones has an incredible ability to motivate his players to do things no one else think they can. There are few who think SMU can go on the road and beat a superior team for a title. Would you pick against Jones at this point?
6 Steve SpurrierWhen Steve Spurrier came to South Carolina after flaming out with the Washington Redskins, expectations were absurdly high. The Ol’ Ball Coach? Back in the SEC? How can he not win 10 games a year? Unfortunately for Spurrier, it’s not easy climbing the mountain in the SEC when you’re not coaching Florida. South Carolina, for all its support, has been a stunningly average team for almost its entire history. It’s tough to shake 100 years of mediocrity. He came close, most notably in 2007 when he got them into the top five, but Spurrier hadn’t been able to get South Carolina over the hump. This year was looking like the familiar story as a huge win over Alabama was followed by a terrible loss at Kentucky. After being blown out at home against Arkansas, it appeared the Gamecocks had nothing.
Then the light went on. They embarrassed Florida. They ran over an overmatched Troy team. They dismantled their in-state rival Clemson. Now, they stroll into Atlanta brimming with confidence and Spurrier is already in classic form. At his press conference this week, he said the SEC title game is the biggest game in college football and the biggest stage. He wasn’t saying that for his team. He was saying that to get under Auburn’s skin. He wants to put even more pressure on them. Would you pick against Steve Spurrier with the SEC title on the line?
5 Tyrod Taylor
Did you know that with a win Saturday, Tyrod Taylor will go to this third BCS bowl game? There are very few quarterbacks in the history of college football that can match that for their careers. But do you ever hear about Taylor as one of the best QBs in the country? Taylor was named this year’s ACC Offensive Player of the Year – did anyone notice? It’s probably not fair to Taylor, who played tremendously in the opening loss to Boise State, but his career has been defined by his inability to lead Virginia Tech into national championship contention. With a win on Saturday night, though, I think the Hokie faithful will be quite alright with Taylor’s career since it would include an amazing three conference titles in four years. Tyrod Taylor is a winner. Tyrod Taylor deserves to go out on South Beach for another Orange Bowl.
4 Zach FrazerThe UConn quarterback has had a very interesting college career. It started at Notre Dame but he quickly transferred, realizing that Charlie Weis would never play him over Jimmy Clausen. He came to UConn with high expectations but injures derailed him as did the emergence of backup QB Cody Endres. Last year, Frazer was benched for Endres until Endres hurt himself. He then proceeded to lead UConn to four straight victories to end the season, including a win at Notre Dame and a bowl win over South Carolina.
This year, expectations were sky high for Frazer and he played awful in September. Benched again for Endres, he again returned as the starter following the expulsion of Endres for three failed drug tests. And again he’s lead UConn to four straight victories. With one win Saturday night, Frazer will have eventually fulfilled his potential and led a team to a BCS bowl. Coincidentally, that would be one more BCS bowl than Jimmy Clausen ever played in.
3 Greg Schiano
It’s probably not entirely fair in the wake of the Eric LeGrand tragedy but the Rutgers faithful is not very happy. Since a stunning win over UConn for its lone Big East win, the Rutgers program has fallen on its face. The poor losses mounted but reaching a boiling point last Friday, when a half-full stadium watched Rutgers get steamrolled by a 6-6 Louisville team that shouldn’t have been that dominant. The questions began – what happened to a program that just four years ago was a legitimate national title contender in late Thanksgiving? This week, Rutgers travels to Morgantown for what appears to be an epic beatdown at the hands of a motivated West Virginia team clinging to BCS dreams. Rutgers doesn’t need to win Saturday, though that would help. They do need to put up a fight. Another blowout loss would set the program back years and likely decimate recruiting efforts for the next year.
2 WashingtonHow many times has Washington been on the list? Their battle to reach six wins and bowl eligibility has been epic. There have been incredible last-second wins against USC and Oregon State. There have been atrocious losses to Arizona and Stanford. Despite the injuries and subsequent poor play of Jake Locker, Washington stands at 5-6 and poised to make its first bowl game since 2002. Yes, Washington hasn’t been to a bowl in nearly a decade. Am I the only one who finds that mind-blowing? With one win over its arch rival, Washington can shake that label and Jake Locker can complete his career the way he wants to – in a bowl game. How can you not be rooting for Washington? Oh, yea, I guess you could be a Washington State fan, who at 2-9 has actually improved this year too.
1 Cam Newton
It’s sort of a no-brainer about which player has the most on the line this weekend, no? Sure, Newton probably has the Heisman Trophy locked up and that’s a great personal accomplishment. But in the wake of the allegations, the eligibility questions and the general sketchiness around his whole situation, a win is necessary this weekend. He needs to lead Auburn to the national title game. Period, end of story. If he loses, history will look at Cam Newton’s run through the SEC a lot differently than if he wins. A loss Saturday almost renders the previous 12 games irrelevant. That’s why Cam Newton is at the crossroads more than anyone else this weekend.
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