The Chaos Theory...More about Football

Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel: Week 14 College Football Rankings: This is it, folks. Only one weekend of games remains, and the pecking order at the top is pretty clearly defined: Missouri and West Virginia in line to play for the national championship, with Ohio State sitting on deck. But what would happen if both the Tigers (against Oklahoma) and Mountaineers (against Pittsburgh) were to lose this weekend? All hell would break loose, that's what. Georgia (10-2) currently sits fourth in the BCS standings and on my ballot as well, but would we really be OK with sending a team that failed to even win its division to the national championship game? The case for the Dawgs: They're hot (six straight wins), they've beaten top 20 foes Florida and Auburn decisively and ... well, they're already up to fourth. The case against them: That no-division-title thing, not to mention losing by three touchdowns to Tennessee and losing at home to 6-6 South Carolina. Mind you, every two-loss team has its share of flaws -- that's why they're a two-loss team -- but if this doomsday scenario were to happen, don't be surprised if the voters take another look at LSU (provided it wins Saturday's SEC title game), which will have won Georgia's conference and whose only blemishes are two triple-overtime losses.

Mandel's comments on the games:

Missouri Tigers (11-1)

I have no crack research team at my disposal, but if I did, I would ask it to figure out: a) Is this the first time a No. 1 team has played an opponent to which it lost that same season?; and b) Is this the first time a team has been an underdog in its first game immediately after ascending to No. 1?

Oklahoma Sooners (10-2)

The Sooners hardly missed injured RB DeMarco Murray against Oklahoma State, as Allen Patrick gashed the Cowboys' defense for 202 yards. One injured standout they sure could use against Missouri is DE Auston English, but he's likely out until the bowl game with a broken right ankle.

SI's Major Bowl Projections -

Jan. 7	BCS Title	Missouri (BCS No. 1) vs. West Virginia (BCS No. 2)
Jan. 3	Orange	Virginia Tech (ACC champ) vs. Georgia (BCS at-large)
Jan. 2	Fiesta	Kansas (BCS at-large) vs. Arizona State (BCS at-large)
Jan. 1	Sugar	LSU (SEC champ) vs. Hawaii (BCS at-large)
Jan. 1	Rose	Ohio State (Big Ten champ) vs. USC (Pac-10 champ)
Jan. 1	Capital One	Illinois (Big Ten No. 2) vs. Florida (SEC No. 2)
Jan. 1	Gator	Texas Tech (Big 12 No. 4) vs. Virginia (ACC No. 3)
Jan. 1	Cotton	Oklahoma (Big 12 No. 2) vs. Arkansas (SEC)
Jan. 1	Outback	Wisconsin (Big Ten No. 3) vs. Tennessee (SEC)