Florida-Alabama sequel will be unlikely

Matt Hayes

Don't even think about it. It's tempting, yes. But there's next to no chance it happens.

Florida vs. Alabama, Part II in the BCS national championship game?

Kellen Moore and Boise State are now in good shape to get selected for a BCS bowl.

"Can't we just play the first one?" said Florida cornerback Joe Haden.

That might not be enough.

Florida coach Urban Meyer summed up Sunday what many have been pointing to since September: No. 1 Florida vs. No.2 Alabama in the SEC championship game.

"College football wants this game," Meyer said.

As for Round 2, well, it's likely impossible. Human voters could keep Florida and Alabama Nos. 1 and 2—in either order, depending on the winner—with a classic game, but don't bet on it. A Texas victory over Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game would be too much for a one-loss SEC team to overcome.

Now, should Texas lose to Nebraska and Cincinnati lose to Pittsburgh, who knows what could happen—especially considering both Florida and Alabama's huge leads on TCU and Boise State?

"It would simply be up to the voters," said BCS guru Jerry Palm of collegebcs.com. "If they felt strongly enough, it could happen."

Start to panic

No. 11 Penn State. It looks more and more like there will be two Big Ten teams in BCS bowls. Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, and another league team in the Orange or Fiesta Bowl.

Both Iowa and Penn State would bring planeloads of fans, but the Orange and Fiesta bowls have been looking at Iowa since late October. Even the power of JoePa won't be enough to get the Nittany Lions—losers of both their games that mattered this fall—in a BCS bowl.

Don't panic

No. 6 Boise State. The Broncos did the heavy lifting Friday against Nevada (and got help with Georgia beating Georgia Tech on Saturday). Now all they need is a Texas victory over Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game, and it's a date in the Fiesta Bowl or Sugar Bowl.

Underrated

No. 5 Cincinnati. Why exactly aren't the Bearcats in the No. 4 spot—instead of TCU—hoping for the unthinkable to happen? Cincy won at No. 16 Oregon State, beat No. 23 West Virginia and could have another big road win at No. 15 Pittsburgh. And please, don't tell me the Mountain West is a better league than the Big East.

Overrated

The Big 12. Texas looked impressive in a shootout against Texas A&M, getting a kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to finally put away the Aggies. Then you realize that same Texas A&M team lost to Kansas State by 48, to Oklahoma by 55, to three-win Colorado, and—more important, with a Big 12 date against the SEC just around the corner—to Arkansas by 28.

Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. E-mail him at mhayes@sportingnews.com.