Playoffs?

A common BCS conception that I try to discount is that the whole season is like a playoff. Well, possibly except that the rules aren't known, the rules aren't fair, and it doesn't end when a playoff should. Rules aren't known: LSU wins the title with two losses even though other teams had one loss? Polls determine the champion? Rules aren't fair: The teams outside the BCS leagues have almost no chance of winning and no chance of proving themselves because of how BCS teams schedule games. A team could go undefeated without playing an elite team and still make it as long as they are in a BCS league. They end at weird times: like when you still have more than one undefeated team, or after every undefeated already loses.

However there are some times we do elimination games. . . or at least we think so. Because the rules aren't known its impossible for anyone to say without a doubt that this is a must win game, or that the loser is definitely eliminated. Pundits learned that the hard way with LSU a few years ago. How can we have a playoff if no one knows where they are in the tournament? Oh BCS, you are so full of it.

Anyway, I can spot a few games in Week 3 (finally!) where one might reasonably say that the winner moves on and the loser is out of the running. At the very least I will.

Utah @ Oregon (I'll usually say that if a team loses two games to ranked teams I can't eliminate them, but because an Oregon loss here would be two losses against non-BCS teams, Oregon would be in some pretty bad shape if not disqualified all together.)

Connecticut @ Baylor (Baylor would be losing at home to an unranked team, Connecticut would have 2 losses, only one vs a ranked team, only one on the road.)

Mississippi St @ Vanderbilt (Both teams would have two losses with a loss. I could see a situation where a team went 6-2 in the SEC and then won the SEC championship to make it to the BCS championship game, but that team would have to be one with a strong overall profile which would likely require being pretty highly ranked most of the season. The loser of this game wont be ranked without a 5-0 run afterward. From there, I don't see them getting the votes for a top 2 finish.)

Kansas St @ UCLA (We said Kansas St couldn't be totally counted out last week. A loss here clinches it for sure.)

Keep an eye on BYU @ Florida St. If BYU loses they're done based on their status as a non-BCS, but FSU may survive (I guess) a loss from BYU. That would be two losses from two ranked teams. Only thing is Miami wasn't ranked at the time, and BYU is a non-BCS. Again, no one knows the rules so who can say for sure? Because I'm trying to show how many games really don't matter in NCAA football I'll keep a team in contention longer than they probably are.