Yahoo - BCS as a Playoff: Would a wild 2007 season have a different champion? (Dr. Sa

[Jenni Carlson]

Welcome to Dr. Saturday's BCS as the College Football Playoff feature. This week we'll go through each of the 16 years of the BCS and hypothesize if the national championship would have changed hands under the new College Football Playoff. Since we don't have the benefit of a selection committee, we're taking the top four teams from the BCS standings entering bowl season. Will LSU still be champs? No. 1 Ohio State (11-2) Coach: Jim Tressel Notable players: QB Todd Boeckman, RB Chris Wells, WR Brian Robiskie, WR Brian Hartline, DL Vernon Gholston, LB James Larurinaitis, DB Malcolm Jenkins Ohio State's season: The Buckeyes' only loss of the regular season didn't come too late. On Nov. 10, Ohio State lost 28-21 at Illinois. However, thanks to the attrition that happened in the final weeks of college football -- West Virginia, LSU and Oklahoma lost, among others -- Ohio State was back at No. 1 by the time the final BCS standings were released. Boeckman threw for 2,379 yards, 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Wells ran for 1,609 yards and 15 touchdowns. No. 2 LSU (12-2) Coach: Les Miles Notable players: QB Matt Flynn, RB Jacob Hester, WR Brandon LaFell, WR Early Doucet, DT Glenn Dorsey, DE Tyson Jackson, LB Ali Highsmith, DB Craig Steltz LSU's season: Both of the Tigers' losses came in triple overtime. The first was at at Kentucky when the Wildcats won 43--37. The second, a 50-48 loss at Arkansas, was potentially fatal to LSU's title hopes. However, Kansas lost that week and Missouri lost the following week, opening the door for LSU to step into the No. 2 spot again. Flynn threw for 2,407 yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while Hester ran for 1,103 yards and 12 touchdowns. No. 3 Virginia Tech (11-3) Coach: Frank Beamer Notable players: QB Sean Glennon, QB Tyrod Taylor, RB Brandon Ore, WR Josh Morgan, DL Orion Martin, DB Brandon Flowers, DB Kam Chancellor Virginia Tech's season: The Hokies were obliterated in the second game of the season by LSU. The final score was 48-7. Tech also lost on Oct. 25 to Matt Ryan and Boston College. However, VT got revenge on that loss in the ACC Championship, beating BC 30-16 to go to the Orange Bowl against Kansas. Glennon was the throwing compliment to Taylor's running threat and Ore ran for 992 yards and nine touchdowns. No. 4 Oklahoma (11-2) Coach: Bob Stoops Notable players: QB Sam Bradford, RB Allen Patrick, WR Juaquin Iglesias, WR Malcolm Kelly, DL Auston English, DT Gerald McCoy, DB Lendy Holmes Oklahoma's season: Oklahoma lost to Colorado 27-24 on Sept. 29 at Folsom Field. After moving back into the top five, the Sooners fell again after losing 34-27 to Texas Tech on Nov. 17. However, the Sooners were still a game ahead of everyone else in the Big 12 South and earned a trip to San Antonio to play Missouri for the Big 12 title. With the Tigers in a win-and-in scenario to go to New Orleans, Oklahoma beat Mizzou for a second time in 2007. Bradford threw for 3,121 yards, 36 touchdowns and 8 interceptions while Patrick ran for 1,009 yards and 8 touchdowns. --- The 2008 BCS Championship Game: The Buckeyes put up a better fight in 2008, though it wasn't a close game. Flynn threw four touchdown passes -- including two to Richard Dickson -- as LSU scored 31 straight points after Ohio State grabbed a 10-0 lead. Wells ran for 146 yards, including a 65-yard run that opened the scoring in the first quarter. The final score was 38-24 and Miles had his first BCS Championship trophy. The Playoff matchups: No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU vs. No. 3 Virginia Tech. Just missing out: No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Missouri The semifinals: Can we take a moment to reflect on how truly bonkers the end of the 2007 season was? The final five weeks of the BCS standings each featured a different potential championship matchup and in those five weeks, seven different teams -- Ohio State, LSU, Boston College, Kansas, Missouri, Oregon and West Virginia -- were in the top two spots. On to the games. In the first semifinal, we can convince ourselves that Oklahoma is the better team against Ohio State. However, both Colorado and Texas Tech ended up 4-4 in the Big 12 that season. We'll take the team that had a fewer loss. That's Ohio State. In the second semifinal, LSU would roll over Virginia Tech. It's hard to tell how much the Hokies were propped up by the ACC, and Kansas made relatively easy work of Tech in the Orange Bowl. The final: We've got a rematch and it's hard to fathom how it could turn out much differently. While LSU's defense didn't exactly bottle up Wells, it did enough to limit Boeckman. If the Tigers do stop Wells, we don't have enough confidence in the Ohio State passing game to take advantage. LSU makes it consecutive titles for the SEC. - - - - - - - Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg

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