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 Friday, December 13, 2002
A great weekend for championship football
By Brent Musburger
Special to BCSfootball.com
Each week throughout the season, ABC's Brent Musburger provides his five things to watch for the coming weekend.
Here is my best guess-timate for the four BCS bowl matchups.
Rose Bowl: Washington vs. Purdue
Hey, everyone gets this one right. It's a done deal.
Marques Tuiasosopo against Drew Brees. It should be a dandy.
FedEx Orange Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Florida State
Yep, I am picking the Sooners Saturday.
Nokia Sugar Bowl: Miami vs. Florida
Battle for the Sunshine State continues. Hopefully this one goes down without the butterfly ballot.
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Oregon State
Pac-10 Tom Hansen's plea is being heard loud and clear. The Beavers deserve a BCS bowl bid.
Here are the top five things to watch this weekend, so that this bowl Championship Series scenario comes true:
5. Miami
Watch and, more importantly, listen to what Miami and coach Butch Davis say if the Hurricanes are denied a spot in the BCS Championship Game. This team defeated Florida State on the field, and they are going to argue loudly that they should have been picked for the FedEx Orange Bowl rather than the Seminoles. However, if the Hurricanes complain too bitterly about the snub, they could wind up overlooking their bowl opponent.
Remember, the Associated Press can still crown Miami the national championship even if the 'Canes don't play in the Orange Bowl.
|  | | Army fans stand during the 1998 Army-Navy game. |
4. Army-Navy
Does it mean a thing? No BCS bowls. No Heisman Trophies. No trips to glamorous bowl games. But it is still one of the greatest spectacles in all of sport.
They will play in Baltimore this year, and I'm unhappy that this game is being played on the day that so many championships are being determined in college football. I truly feel that Army-Navy is worthy of its own afternoon in the spotlight.
3. The Division I-AA quarterfinals
For those of you who thirst for a college football playoff, this is the division for you to watch. The four matchups this Saturday are:
Richmond at Montana
Appalachian State at Western Kentucky
Hofstra at Georgia Southern
Lehigh at Delaware
I have a special fondness for the Montana Grizzlies, who play in my home state. Regardless of the weather, they will draw more than 16,000 fans to a Divsion I-AA playoff game. The last time I looked, this was a larger crowd than fans have been showing for about two-thirds of the NBA games and more than half of the NHL games. Congratulations to some hearty Montanians, who back their Grizzlies.
2. Can Florida avoid last year's end-of-the-season swoon?
|  | | Steve Spurrier is hoping to avoid the three-game losing streak suffered at the end of the 1999 season. |
Remember, the Gators faded off into the sunset by losing their last three games to Florida State, Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, and to Michigan State in the Citrus Bowl last year. I visited coach Steve Spurrier and the Gators this week. I saw a physical practice on Tuesday, indicating that the coaches and players are determined to bounce back form their lousy performance two weeks ago against Florida State.
Florida beat Auburn 38-7 the first time the two teams played. The Gators say it won't be that easy this time around. The players say the Tigers are vastly improved defensively from their first meeting. They are concerned about their ability to score points in bunches like they did in October. In that first meeting, the Gators scored the first five times they had the ball and the Tigers were out of it the rest of the game.
Auburn features the best running back in the SEC. He is No. 32, Rudi Johnson. A year ago, in the junior college national championship game, Mr. Johnson rushed for 375 yards and scored seven touchdowns. The Gators are well aware that they could have their hands full on Saturday afternoon.
1. Big XII Championship Game
This week's headliner: Can Oklahoma beat Kansas State twice in one season? I am predicting that they can, but it won't be easy.
Josh Heupel is one of the smartest quarterbacks I have covered this year and he should be able to spark the Sooners in this championship game after the Sooners' lackluster performance a week ago against Oklahoma State. I don't expect Kansas State to blitz Heupel as much as it did in October. He is a killer against the blitz. Watch for the Wildcats to drop eight back into a zone and make Heupel and the Sooners work their way for touchdowns the hard way.
The problem for Kansas State will come on offense. In that first meeting, K-State didn't seem to have the ability to trade touchdowns with the Sooners. Then again, the Wildcats normally reliable wide receivers dropped a lot of passes that should have been caught. If they can hang on Saturday night in Kansas City, this game might produce a different ending.
I am struck by the fact that the oddsmakers have installed Oklahoma as only a three-point favorite after that 10-point decision in the first meeting. You always ask yourself, what do the linesmakers know that I don't?
It should be a great weekend of championship football. I'm just sorry that it is winding down so quickly. It seems as though that this season went faster than any I can remember. I guess that's what happens when you get older.
Brent Musburger is a play-by-play announcer for ABC's coverage of college football, and is a regular contributor to BCSfootball.com.
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