A Missouri-West Virginia BCS Championship Game would be a fitting end to one of the more improbable seasons in college football history.
The schools have combined for exactly zero national titles, but if both win Saturday night they will be on a collision course to meet in New Orleans on Jan. 7 for college football’s crown.
But if fans of those teams have been following this season, they may want to hold off on making hotel reservations in the Big Easy.
Missouri, No. 1 in the BCS after its 36-28 win over previously unbeaten Kansas last week, plays in the Big 12 championship game against Oklahoma in San Antonio, where they are 3-point underdogs to the ninth-ranked Sooners.
The Tigers, and Heisman hopeful quarterback Chase Daniel, will be looking to avenge their only loss of the season, a 41-31 setback in Norman on Oct. 13.
“It should be high scoring – it was last time and it should be that way this time,” said Barry Switzer, who coached Oklahoma and now is a studio analyst for Fox. “Both teams have outstanding quarterbacks and loads of talent on the offensive side of the ball.”
Missouri was without one of those weapons the first time these teams met. Star running back Tony Temple was sidelined with an ankle injury and the Tigers ran for a season-low 57 yards. He will be in the backfield tomorrow in San Antonio.
“They are a lot better team than they were when they lost to Oklahoma earlier,” said ESPN color analyst Dan Fouts. “It’s always better to lose early than it is to lose late in the BCS.”
Which is why for one night the Ohio State faithful will be waving Oklahoma pom poms. Ohio State was 10-0 and two wins away from the national championship before Illinois walked into the Horseshoe and knocked them off.
Now OSU is No. 3 in the BCS and hoping Oklahoma can beat Missouri or Pittsburgh can take down 10-1 West Virginia in the 100th version of the Backyard Brawl.
At 4-7, the Panthers are an unlikely candidate to go into Morgantown and pull the upset, but if Appalachian State can go into the Big House and knock off Michigan and Stanford can take down USC as 41-point underdogs, then 28-point underdog Pitt has a chance in this heated rivalry.
“Anything can go wrong in a rivalry game especially, and this is one of the most unpredictable seasons in a long time, so I wouldn’t count them out,” Fouts said.
Pittsburgh will have to deal with the talented spread offense of the Mountaineers run expertly by quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton.
“Realistically, West Virginia is so much more talented than Pittsburgh it should not be a game,” said Switzer, who will be on Fox’s BCS selection show on Sunday. “Both teams have great coaches, but talent separates those two teams by a wide margin.”
But since when has a little thing like talent mattered this season?