First thing to point out right out of the gate is that every single team that got a "bye" and was placed further up in the brackets because they were considered the "best" teams have been eliminated in their very first games. This just goes to show how important this tournament is because had we left the NCAA to their own devices it is easy to presume that these 4 teams that have all been eliminated now are teams that likely would have been placed into a 4-team tournament the likes of which we have seen in the past. I don't want the national champions to be decided in a boardroom, I want it to be decided on the field. So what if it means that it takes a bit longer!
You can see that Arizona State, Georgia, Boise State, and even Oregon (who was undefeated) are all gone now. These were all very important bowls in their own right but now we have a situation, at least where I live, that almost all of the people I know that chose brackets have been eliminated except for me and a handful of others. They laughed at me when I had Notre Dame winning the entire thing but as it stands now that is looking as though it was a pretty good choice since just moments ago Notre Dame finished off Georgia 23-10. I feel as though luck was on their side a bit with their team placement because Georgia was playing the post-season without their starting QB. For whatever reasons though, there are just 3 people left in my bracket pool, the other two guys picked Ohio State for the victory so it will be extra exciting if it ends up being a OSU vs. Notre Dame final. I think that most pundits are probably assuming that this will end up being the case based on recent performances but you never know with this game! Crazy stuff could happen in the next round.
The real surprise of this tournament is the Oregon loss to OSU. It wasn't just a loss, it was a rout. I don't remember exactly but OSU was up by around 30 points after the 1st quarter and they just never looked back. It was a blowout and Oregon certainly didn't look like the undefeated team that had beaten everyone, including Ohio State during the regular season. Is OSU that good or did Oregon just have a bad day? It's tough to tell and I suppose the pressure is really on Texas, who nobody really gave a fair shout to in this tournament at all. Perhaps they can prove the naysayers wrong by really turning it on next Friday. I'm kind of indifferent towards all the teams that are left in the tournament. I have no love or hate for any of them but I am rooting for Notre Dame because of a past that I have with the team and I also think they are usually under-rated because they don't participate in the conference system. I'd like to know why that is if anyone knows.
To me the biggest underdog in this whole thing is Penn State but then again I don't really know enough about them other than I just assume that they are going to get destroyed by Notre Dame. We'll see next week!
So how is your bracket going? I am sure that about 50% of all brackets were ruined with the shock upset loss that happened. I will be honest and say that I really did think that Oregon was going to win this entire thing but chose Notre Dame just because I like the team and because I didn't want my bracket sheet to look exactly the same as everyone else's.