Every season in college football, one mid-conference team makes a push to bust the BCS. So far in this short season there are three. East Carolina, Utah and BYU are all making a run at cracking the top 10 in the BCS rankings. So which team out of these deserves a BCS game at the end of the season?
East Carolina will play in a BCS game at the end of this year if they continue to win, no matter if BYU or Utah wins out as well. Back-to-back upsets over Top 25 teams will do that. The only ranked team that either the U or BYU will play is likely each other in the final game of the season.
Although East Carolina doesn’t have the most difficult schedule from here on out, the two wins against Virginia Tech and West Virginia in consecutive weeks should hold enough weight. The U and BYU have both beaten big-name schools, but UCLA and Michigan are just that8212;big names, but empty giants this season.
As the rankings stand now, East Carolina is No. 15 in the AP Top 25, BYU is No. 14 and Utah is No. 20. I don’t see two of these teams losing the rest of the season, which sadly will leave it up to the voters. There is a chance that at least two of these teams will get into a BCS game, which would be a shocker. If this happens, East Carolina will get the better bowl bid.
The Pirates don’t have any standout players this season on offense, but then there’s the adage: defense wins champions, which this team clearly has.
The highest score the Pirates’ offense has put up this season was 28 against Tulane. The most points scored on them was 24 by the same team. Their best defensive game came against West Virginia in which they held the Mountaineers to just three points. That’s low considering the opponent. Sure, the U and BYU have put up huge numbers this season, but they really haven’t played any teams even close to their respective levels.
It’s fun to see three non-BCS schools play well this season. If all of them finish strong and don’t get a Top 10 ranking, there should certainly be even more reason to change the current system. It would be really great to see East Carolina do it because they would be the real Cinderella team. The Pirates’ best record since 2002 is 8-5. Before that they only had one winning season. It’s almost as if the college football world expects either the U or BYU to bust the BCS each season because they are standouts in the MWC.
It’s going to be interesting to see where all three of these teams finish in the rankings by the end of the season. Everyone knew that the U and BYU would be solid teams this season. With East Carolina being the sleeper team of the year it would be great to see an unfamiliar face busting the party.