By JOHN P. WISEOne Great Season
I don't know why I call these projections. These are more like answers. Mark 'em down; here are the OGS picks for the BCS bowls:
Rose Bowl — Wisconsin beats TCU. I really do like TCU. I spent a week in Fort Worth last year, covered the Frogs' demolition of Utah, and left with a crush on Gary Patterson and his outstanding program. But Wisconsin is playing as well as anybody in the country right now, and I have to think one of the Badgers' three outstanding backs could eventually crack that tightwad TCU defense. This won't be sexy football, but it will be a classic struggle that you won't want to miss.
Fiesta Bowl — Stanford beats Oklahoma. Next to Wisconsin, Stanford is the best one-loss team in the country. The Cardinal are playing some hot football right now. And while it might be difficult to predict how a laser-focused team will perform after a month off, OU — hot one week and not-so-much the next — also has a long layoff with which to deal. I'd rather be the hot team than the inconsistent team. OU's Landry Jones might announce his 2011 Heisman candidacy with a nice effort, but Stanford has Andrew Luck on its side.
Orange Bowl — Virginia Tech beats West Virginia. The Hokies have become an it team since their 0-2 start, and ended up running through a weaker-than-expected ACC at 8-0. Frank Beamer's boys usually win with defense, but VaTech had its struggles on that side of the ball early in the season. Things got better defensively as the season wore on, and Tyrod Taylor was playing like the All-ACC first-team quarterback he ended up being. Meanwhile, West Virginia will sneak in as the Big East representative, and its stellar defense will have to show up again if the Mountaineers have any hopes of winning. I think Tech wins by a field goal in a low-scoring game.
Sugar Bowl — Ohio State beats Arkansas. Many SEC teams have enjoyed bowl-game victories over the Buckeyes the last 20 years. I think this trend ends in New Orleans. At-times inconsistent Ohio State will bring its A game and win a BCS bowl for the second straight year, with Terrelle Pryor also declaring he's a serious 2011 Heisman threat.
BCS National Championship Game — Oregon beats Auburn. After Friday's victories, the big debate was whether to leapfrog then-No. 2 Auburn ahead of Oregon in the rankings. Sure Cam Newton and company have beaten five ranked teams. This late in the season, however, I look ahead — not back — with one simple criterion: who would win head-to-head? Yes, Newton is the best individual player in the country. By far. But Oregon is the best team, and teams win championships. Oregon's offense is the best unit in the land, and the Auburn defense can be vulnerable, as Alabama showed in the first 20 minutes on Friday. Chip Kelly and the Ducks win the national championship in a high-scoring thriller.