BCS Series Pays Lobbyist Watts $620,000

By Daniel Libit/Politico ~ J.C. Watts has won at every level in sports and politics in Oklahoma — he was a beloved quarterback for the Sooners in the late 1970s, brought home two Orange Bowl victories and later became a popular Republican congressman from his home state.

But his latest position may be tougher than running the wishbone offense against Texas or schooling Democratic politicians in Oklahoma: He’s the lobbyist for the much-maligned Bowl Championship Series.

The job — which has paid Watts’ firm $620,000 over the past five years — involves defending the BCS against a flurry of politicians who want to tear down the quirky system for determining college football’s national champion. Recently, this controversy has produced a congressional hearing, and even President Barack Obama has jumped into the fray, saying he would prefer a playoff to the current system.

Read it all at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22200.html.

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A Picture Over Austin Is Worth...

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BCS Selects LSU, Ohio State; OU Finishes 4th

The latest chapter in the 2007 unpredictable college football season was written Sunday when LSU was picked by the BCS to play Ohio State for the championship, thus leaving about a half-dozen other candidates, including Oklahoma, with plenty to complain about. Oklahoma finished fourth in the BCS standings.

The Tigers (11-2) will be the first team to play in the BCS title game with two losses.

No. 1 Ohio State goes into the game, January 7 at the Superdome in New Orleans, at 11-1.

Why did LSU, which was seventh in the BCS standings heading into the final weekend, make the jump to No. 2 and into the big game, while Oklahoma, Southern California, Georgia and a number of others were left behind? an AP writer asked. He suggested that the "174 poll voters and handful of computer nerds whose calculations make up the BCS rankings probably all have their own reasons. Among the best is that LSU was rewarded for winning the Southeastern Conference, which is traditionally viewed as one of the toughest leagues in the nation."

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Razorbacks Upend Tigers, 50-48, In 3 OTs

In what likely will become another college football classic, the unranked University of Arkansas Razorbacks upended the No. 1-ranked LSU Tigers on Friday, 50-48, in a three-overtimes game. The Razorbacks did it with a balanced effort headed by running backs Darren McFadden, who ran for three TDs and passed for another, and Peyton Hillis, who scored a critical touchdown. The loss by the Tigers dropped them to 10-2 on the season, thus jumbling the BCS championship standings even more. It is the 12th time this season a top-ranked team has lost to an underdog opponent.

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Bottom Falls Out For Sooners

The OU Sooners fell to No. 10 in the BCS rankings after Saturday's loss to Texas Tech, in which OU became the 11th top-ranked team to lose to an unranked opponent this season. This Saturday, it's bedlam in Norman as OU faces the OSU Cowboys. The Cowboys defeated Baylor 45-14 on Saturday.

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BCS: OU Sooners Ranked 4th

With three weeks left to decide which teams will play for the national title, it’s Oregon against the Big 12 in a BCS battle.

The LSU Tigers moved into the first place in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday and the Oregon Ducks jumped into second place, a day after Ohio State was upset by Illinois. The University of Oklahoma Sooners are ranked 4th.

With three games remaining, including the Southeastern Conference championship game on December 1, LSU will likely reach the BCS title game in New Orleans by winning out.

The Ducks have three games left but they’ll have to watch their backs with three Big 12 teams looming, led by third-place Kansas.Oregon is past the toughest part of its schedule. The Ducks play at Arizona on Thursday night, have a road game against UCLA on November 24 and finish the season against rival Oregon State at home on December 1.

None of those teams is ranked, so if the Ducks struggle to a victory it could open up an opportunity for Kansas. Or fourth-place Oklahoma. Or fifth-place Missouri. If either of those three can win out, they could overtake Oregon, especially the perfect Jayhawks (10-0).

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BCS Ranks Oklahoma Sooners 5th In First Listing

The Sooners are ranked 5th in the first 2007 Bowl Championship Series standings out today.

The BCS standings determine who plays for college football's national championship. The top two teams in the final rankings kick off in the championship game on January 7th in New Orleans.

The first BCS rankings have Ohio State at No. 1 and South Florida at No. 2. Ohio State is 7-0 and South Florida is 6-0. Boston College (7-0) is ranked third, followed by LSU (6-1). In the usual weekly rankings, LSU was listed as the nation's top team before losing to Kentucky on Saturday.

Oklahoma has a 6-1 record after a 41-31 win over Missouri on Saturday.

The BCS standings have three components that count one-third each in the overall formula used for ranking teams. The components are the Coaches' Top 25 poll, the Harris Interactive poll and computer rankings. Oklahoma was ranked fourth in both the coaches' poll and the Harris poll, but were hurt by a low computer ranking of No. 11.

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