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College Football Power Rankings – Week 16

Written December 9, 2008 by Jack Jones

The Florida Gators won a difficult battle in the SEC Championship over Alabama to earn a spot in the National Championship game. It was the first time since the Ole Miss game that the Gators were really challenged, but they rose to the occasion. Now Florida is favored by 3 points over Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship game. How can they not be the #1 team in football?

There weren’t any big surprises from the Oklahoma Sooners last weekend. They mopped the floor with Missouri, scoring over 60 points again (that’s 5 games in a row with 60+ points) and looking like one of the best teams in the nation. They’ll play Florida in the BCS title game. There will always be questions about whether or not the Sooners deserved the trip to the championship with a loss to Texas, who finished just behind Oklahoma in the BCS rankings. The fact is that the two top teams that finished the season the strongest are now heading to play each other for the National Championship. As a football fan, I think it’s the best possible match up right now.

You have to feel for Texas, who can easily make the case that they deserve to be playing for the BCS Championship. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be for the Longhorns, who finished just behind Oklahoma in the regular season BCS Standings. Texas still earned a BCS Bowl berth for the Fiesta Bowl to play Ohio State. The opening line for the game has Texas as 10 point favorites.

Alabama did quite have enough to get past Florida, but they at least made the Gators look beatable. The Crimson Tide didn’t slip much in the standings, but they get a fairly weak draw in terms of their BCS Bowl, playing Utah in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama is currently a 10 point favorite over the Utah Utes.

The USC Trojans always struggle for respect because they play in the Pac-10, but can you deny how impressive that the Trojan defense has been. They are only allowing 7.8 points per game in an offense-heavy conference. Like it or not, those numbers are impressive in any conference. Offensively, USC has been a bit inconsistent, but so far the defense has been able to bail them out. They’ll have their toughest contest to date in the Rose Bowl as they face off with Penn State.

Penn State has had their Rose Bowl position locked in for some time now. They now know, for sure, that they’ll be playing the USC Trojans. Right now, Penn State is a 10 point underdog, but you can bet that Joe Paterno will have this team ready to give the Trojans one of their toughest games to date.

Texas Tech’s Cinderella Story ended when they lost to Oklahoma. Now the Red Raiders get the short end of the stick, missing out on a BCS Bowl berth as an 11-1 team that beat the Texas Longhorns. Tech lands in the Cotton Bowl to play an Ole Miss team that’s been extremely tough this year. Texas Tech is a 6 point favorite over Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl.

Utah gained national respect by finishing the regular season undefeated, but they’ll have their hands full against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. It’s a big accomplishment for the Utes, drawing a major BCS Bowl, but they need to perform well to show that they deserved the spot.

Boise State also ended the season undefeated, but they got left out of the BCS mix. The Broncos are headed to the Poinsettia Bowl to face a very dangerous TCU team. If Boise takes care of TCU, there will be plenty of controversy about the Broncos being left out in the cold in the BCS Bowl selection process.

Ohio State earns the distinction of the best 2 loss team in the nation. The Buckeyes have played well to end their season, but it’s still unclear how good this team is, simply because they haven’t really been tested since losing to Penn State. The Buckeyes will play as 10 point underdogs in the Fiesta Bowl against the Texas Longhorns.

The college football betting season is coming near an end, but it’s not too late to beat the NCAA football spreads this bowl season with expert college football picks from our best handicappers!