Orange Bowl Tag

There are just a few weeks left in the college football regular season and things took a crazy turn this past weekend.  I think everyone, including myself, had (4) Alabama penciled in for the BCS Championship game until (8) Texas A&M pulled off the surprising 29-24 upset last Saturday.  This has opened up the field a little bit for spots in the national championship.  So lets take a little time sort of some of this chaos caused by the Alabama loss.

The loss does not eliminate Alabama from BCS contention but it puts them on the outside looking in when it looked like they were a lock.  Here are the current BCS standings as we head into this weekend's games.

BCS Standings

1. Kansas State
2. Oregon
3. Notre Dame
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Florida
7. LSU
8. Texas A&M
9. South Carolina
10. Florida State

BCS Forecast

In the driver's seat:

So at the moment we are looking at a Big XII and Pac 12 showdown in Miami.  Both (1) Kansas State and (2) Oregon control their own destiny.  If Oregon and K-State win out then I believe both would be in the BCS Championship.  Oregon is an absolute no doubter if they win their last 2 regular season games and the Pac 12 Championship.  Kansas State does not have a conference championship game to bolster their resume but an undefeated record should be more than enough to secure a spot in the title game.

Hey college football fanatics!  The regular season is over and now all the bowl game match-ups have been set.  This bowl season looks to be a great one.  Not only do we get "The Rematch" in the BCS Championship,  the college bowl schedule features a number of intriguing match-ups.  Four of the major conferences (SEC, Big 10, ACC, & PAC 12) landed 2 teams in a BCS game.  The Big 12 managed only 1 team in a BCS game after being calculated as the toughest conference all year by the computers.  The leader in all-time program wins (Michigan) returns to their first BCS game since 2005 when the Wolverines took on the University of Texas in the Rose Bowl during Vince Young's freshman campaign.

The first BCS standings of the 2011 college football season were released this past Sunday!  Speculation has already began for millions of college football fans across the country, however there really aren't any surprises in the initial BCS standings.  LSU(1) and Alabama(2) are sitting in the top 2 spots with Oklahoma not far behind in third.  There is a bit off a drop off to fourth but Oklahoma State is basically in the same position as any of the top 8 teams.  Of those eight teams (LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Boise St., Wisconsin, Stanford, & Clemson), Boise State probably faces the toughest battle to get to the BCS Championship game.  Same tune different year for the Broncos but their schedule is really just second or third rate compared to the rest of the title contenders.  The dark horse National Champion from this group is most likely Wisconsin.  The Badgers are beating opponents by an average of 40 points a game.  They are the class of the Big 10 this year and are the strong favorites at this point to win the first ever Big 10 Championship game.

The Cotton Bowl Classic has been a staple of the bowl series since the first annual game in 1937.  On January 6, 2012 this prestigious bowl will return to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX for the third time.  Last year's Cotton Bowl featured a great match-up between the LSU Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies.  In the end LSU prevailed 41-24 but it was an exciting game throughout.

Tonight the BCS Selection Show announced who is going where and when. If you missed it here are the highlights.

BCS National Championship Game: Texas Longhorns vs. Alabama Crime Tide
Not a huge surprise after last night's rout of the Florida Gators by Alabama (sorry Tim Tebow fans, he's human after all). Texas narrowly escaped Nebraska to head to Pasadena and the Rowl Bowl stadium to decided the National Championship Title.

Rose Bowl: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Oregon Ducks
The Bucknut fans head to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl to face the Oregon Ducks who clinched their spot with their win over the Oregon Beavers.

Sugar Bowl: Cincinatti Bearcats vs. Florida Gators
Tim Tebow was brought down to earth with a lost to Alabama and his Florida Gator must settle for a Sugar Bowl match up against the undefeated Bearcats from the Big East.

Fiesta Bowl: Boise State Broncos  vs. TCU Horned Frogs
The Broncos are riding the blue turf all the way to the Fiesta Bowl to match up against the undefeated Horned

After a great weekend of college football, the BCS has made their selections to the top major bowl games. You can purchase your travel package now to any of these great games. The BCS Bowl games are as followed:

• BCS National Championship: Florida Gators vs. Oklahoma Sooners
  
• Rose Bowl: Penn State Nittany Lions vs. USC Trojans
  
• Orange Bowl: Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Virginia Tech Hokies
  
• Sugar Bowl: Utah Utes vs. Alabama Crimson Tide
  
• Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Texas Longhorns

When you purchase a BCS Bowl Game package with Sports Traveler, you will receive a free $20 gas card. One gift card per order.

Rose Bowl

Rose Bowl Packages are available with hotel accommodations in the Pasadena, guaranteed game ticket, transportation to the game, plus options on the Rose Bowl Parade.

Penn State Rose Bowl Packages can be purchased with airfare options from Pennsylvania. These packages also include your hotel accommodations, game tickets, admission to the Penn State Pep Rally, and more.

Rose

The Penn State Nittany Lions are most likely heading to the 2009 Rose Bowl. Now, where will the rest of the top teams head for Bowl Season? Some of our experts have these predictions:

Rose Bowl - This is the easiest bowl to determine at this point. We already know Penn State is going. They will be facing off against the winner of the Pac-10, Oregon State or USC. Even though USC has a better overall record, both teams have the same conference record with Oregon State having the tiebreaker. With a victory over #23 Oregon, we will be seeing an Oregon State/Penn State Rose Bowl.

Orange Bowl - With the Orange Bowl, we typically see the winner of the Big East play the winner of the ACC. The Big East is a more obvious right now. Cincinnati is currently leading the conference over West Virginia. With a victory this weekend, Cincy will clinch their BCS berth. West Virginia will need to win its two final games and a Cincinnati loss to go to the Orange Bowl.

The ACC is up for the grabs. We don't even

Sports Traveler has all the College Football BCS Packages available.  Choose from the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl, or BCS National Championship Game.  This year we'll see the best BCS games in recent memory.

The first BCS standings came out this week and Texas, Alabama, and Penn State are your top 3 teams.  Including Texas, there are four teams from the Big 12 South who are in the top 8 in the BCS Standings.  Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma are all legitimate contenders.  Since these teams are in the same division, only one can qualify for the Big 12 Championship.  The winner of the conference clinches a BCS Berth and how the season is progressing, one of these 4 teams will be in the National Championship.

Is the Big 12 now better than the SEC?  Can we see Utah & Boise State make another BCS berth? If Penn State wins the National Championship, will will be saying goodbye to Joe Paterno?  Only time will tell us these answers.