By Terry Bowden, Yahoo! Sports
August 29, 2006
Season Preview featuring Terry Bowden:
ACC | Big East | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-10 | SEC
Notre Dame | Best of the rest | Sweet 16 | More
The addition of one more Bowl Championship Series game would seem to provide additional opportunities for teams from outside the six "BCS conferences" to make it into one of the BCS games. This has been stated as one of the main reasons for adding another game.
Don’t count on it. The reason is that you probably have to go undefeated if you are going to finish in the top 12 of the BCS standings and be guaranteed a spot – and that still might not be enough. I don’t care what conference you’re in – it’s hard to go undefeated.
Anyway, there are four teams that possibly could go undefeated this season that are not in conferences which earn an automatic BCS spot: TCU and Utah from the Mountain West, Boise State from the WAC and Tulsa from Conference USA. They, along with my other predicted non-BCS conference champions, head my list of the best of the rest.
 | 1. TCU Horned Frogs (MWC) Team
page | Schedule | Roster | Sporting News preview
The only non-BCS team to make the top 25 this year is TCU. The Horned Frogs look like the team with the best chance of getting into a BCS bowl. Last year, if not for an upset loss to SMU, the Horned Frogs would have gone undefeated.
With a talented young quarterback returning in Jeff Ballard and a fast, aggressive defense, TCU should be even better this year. One reason the Horned Frogs are so difficult to beat is that they almost always win the turnover battle (they led the country last season).
The season will come down to a three-game stretch in late September: at home against Texas Tech and BYU and on the road at Utah.
|
 | 2. Utah Utes (Mountain West) Team
page | Schedule | Roster
Utah had five losses last year, and it could have won them all. The Utes finished the season impressively with victories over BYU and Georgia Tech in the Emerald Bowl.
Fifteen starters return along with three very capable quarterbacks. Brian Johnson started 10 games before injuring a knee and being replaced by Brett Ratliff, who won the final two. Oklahoma transfer Tommy Grady also showed during spring ball that he can get the job done. But Utah’s biggest asset might be free safety Eric Weddle, who was last season's Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. There are four stumbling blocks on the schedule in UCLA, Boise State, TCU and BYU.
|
 | 3. Boise State Broncos (WAC) Team
page | Schedule | Roster
Much rests on the shoulders of senior quarterback Jared Zabransky. Although he is 20-5 as a starter, he must play with more consistency than he displayed last season. The defense will be led by the WAC’s best linebacker duo in Cory Hall and Colt Brooks.
With the departure of head coach Dan Hawkins all eyes will be on Chris Peterson. He must show he can keep Boise State at the top of the WAC. The schedule is favorable for another WAC championship and possibly running the table with Fresno State and Pac-10 foe Oregon State at home.
|
 | 4. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (Conference USA) Team
page | Schedule | Roster
In its first Conference USA season Tulsa took home the bacon with a 44-27 win over UCF in the championship game. With 16 starters back the Golden Hurricane again look to be the favorites to knock off the Golden Knights in the title game.
Quarterback Paul Smith will be the foundation of a balanced and explosive offense, and nine starters are back on a defense that caused 36 turnovers last season. The non-conference schedule is easier this year, with no school from a BCS league.
|
 | 5. Northern Illinois Huskies (MAC) Team
page | Schedule | Roster
Northern Illinois came within one point of beating Akron in the MAC championship game last year, leaving the Huskies hungry to take the next step in the upcoming season. Senior tailback Garrett Wolfe is the biggest weapon on offense. Wolfe is coming off consecutive seasons with more than 1,500 yards rushing.
Both senior Phil Horvath and sophomore Dan Nicholson are solid at quarterback. The defense, with seven starters returning, is still young but has plenty of talent to develop as the season progresses. Not playing Akron during the regular season should lead to another showdown against the Zips in the conference championship game.
|
 | 6. La. Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (Sun Belt) Team
page | Schedule | Roster
If momentum means anything then the Ragin’ Cajuns should roll to the Sun Belt championship. ULL won its final five games of last season – the first time it had won five games in a season since 1996 – and shared the conference title. The Ragin Cajuns' strength again should be their dangerous option attack, which led to the seventh-best running game in the nation in 2005.
|
 | 7. Navy Midshipmen (Independent) Team
page | Schedule | Roster
Navy is not in the running for a conference championship or (probably) a BCS game, but after winning 18 games the last two years you have to give the Midshipmen some love when it comes to the best of the rest. Plus, this team is going to be better than the previous two and should head to a fourth straight bowl appearance.
| Terry Bowden is Yahoo! Sports' college football analyst. For more information about Terry, visit his official web site.
Send Terry a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast. Updated on Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006 5:44 pm, EDT Email to a Friend | View Popular
|
