Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley celebrates USC's 50-0 win against UCLA after an NCAA college football game in Los Angeles, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. (AP Photo/Jae Hong)
We are approaching the end of the college football regular season. Soon, it will be time for bowl games and wondering who is playing whom. There will be more here on Torres Sports about bowl game predictions later, but as for now…
How about Matt Barkley’s late push for Heisman? I realize the coveted trophy may be out of his reach, but no one has been playing better than Barkley the past two months. Since his less than stellar performance against Arizona State on September 24, Barkley has bounced back by outperforming Andrew Luck in a loss, upsetting Oregon and throwing a school record six touchdowns in a game twice. Barkley’s numbers since October 1 are 207 completions on 297 attempts for 2,409 yards, 29 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, and 2 rushing touchdowns. Even Southern California athletic director Pat Haden regrets not campaigning for Barkley as a Heisman candidate earlier. It’s a shame Barkley was never considered for the award and likely won’t be invited to New York for the ceremony because of the sanctions imposed on USC. At this point, Barkley may be one of the best college quarterbacks to never win the Heisman trophy, as it is highly unlikely he will return for his senior year. The question is, if he did, where would USC be ranked entering the season?
Unless Georgia is blessed with an early Christmas miracle, the national championship game will be a rematch of Alabama and LSU. Alabama’s season is over as they will not play in the conference championship game. ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit believe that even if LSU were to lose to Georgia, they would still have done enough to play in the title game. I personally don’t believe if such a scenario played out, an LSU-Alabama rematch would be the most logical game. A championship game in which neither team won their conference? Please. The country is on an SEC high though, and there’s hardly any way we’ll see anything else. Once again, a plus-one system should be installed in college football to determine a true champion.
The game of the week goes to Michigan and Ohio State. Ohio State is not the team it once was, yet it still gave a highly ranked Michigan team a run for its money. Michigan responded by finally beating the Buckeyes for the first time since 2003. I guess that’s what happens when Jim Tressel isn’t with Ohio State anymore. The lead changed back and forth as each team gave the other its best shot like it were a prized heavyweight fight. In a prestigious rivalry game like Ohio State-Michigan, there’s not much else one could ask for. It may not have been as good as the epic 2006 “Game of the Century” but it sure beat any contest played between the two while Rich Rodriguez was at Michigan.
1- LSU Tigers
2- Alabama Crimson Tide
3- Houston Cougars
4- Stanford Cardinal
5- Virginia Tech Hokies
6- Boise State Broncos
7- Oklahoma State Cowboys
8- Oregon Ducks
9- USC Trojans
10- Arkansas Razorbacks
11- Georgia Bulldogs
12- Michigan State Spartans
13- Wisconsin Badgers
14- Oklahoma Sooners
15- Kansas State Wildcats
16- South Carolina Gamecocks
17- Michigan Wolverines
18- TCU Horned Frogs
19- Baylor Bears
20- Nebraska Cornhuskers
21- Clemson Tigers
22- Southern Miss Golden Eagles
23- West Virginia Mountaineers
24- Missouri Tigers
25- Texas Longhorns
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