[BobJoeJim]

For the first time in the history of the BCS, I think we have a season where a four team "and one" playoff would still exclude someone with a truly legitimate claim to the national title. In alphabetical order the following seven teams all have at least a valid argument for why they deserve a shot: Georgia, Kansas, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC, and Virginia Tech. If they manage to come back and beat Washington, Hawaii also has a vaguely valid argument, even though they clearly aren't anywhere near being in the same league as the other seven. I'd love to see a playoff among those eight teams this year, but this year is an exception and I still think "and one" is the best system. It's not the system we have, though, so on to what I think will ACTUALLY happen (assuming Hawaii loses tonight).

BCSCG: Ohio State vs. LSU
Rose Bowl: USC vs. Illinois
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Arizona State
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Kansas
Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. West Virginia

Within the context of the current system that seems most likely to me, but I expect a lot of shuffling of ballots this week and UGA/LSU/KU/VT were all VERY close in the standings last week, enough that any of them could potentially leapfrog to #2. It will be close.

Oh yeah, and what I think *should* happen, within the context of the current system, is OSU vs. Oregon with Dixon magically healed. Seriously, don't try to make me pick between LSU, Georgia, and Kansas. Those are my top three contenders but I think it's WAY too close to call without analyzing it much more closely than I have the brain capacity to do so right now.