The final college football matchup for the 2012-13 season, BCS No. 1 Notre Dame vs BCS No.2 Alabama, definitely brings back an old school feel to college football. Most experts are picking Alabama to win, but many are predicting it will be a closer game than the opening line spread. 

Both teams in the 2013 BCS National Championship have been battle tested this season. 

Notre Dame had to win two games in overtime and a slew of other close games. The Fighting Irish only allowed one goal-line rushing touchdown all season which came against the Sooners. The most rememberable goal line stand came against Stanford along with controversy. 

Three of the final five games for Alabama were tightly knitted. The Tide's games against LSU, Texas A&M, and Georgia were all decided by five points or less. Alabama went 2-1 versus those opponents with the only loss coming against Texas A&M and Heisman QB Johnny Manziel.  

Each team has a rich college football history. Alabama has won two of the last three BCS national championships, but Notre Dame has not won a national title since 1988. Despite the many other high-octane spread offenses in college football, the Tide and Fighting Irish have etched their way to the top this season by way of defense and top caliber linemen on both sides of the ball.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said at a recent press conference, “And in keeping with the venue where we are, you have two blue chip stocks that are going to go against each other." (DecaturDaily.com)

The Fighting Irish are obviously led by their defensive front and star linebacker Manti Te'o who acquired a hoard of awards this season. Despite the stellar defense of the Tide, Alabama's top talent is on the offensive line spotlighted by a trio of soon to be NFL players in Barrett Jones, DJ Fluker, and Chance Warmack.   

Alabama looks to have the edge on Notre Dame in just about every category, but that does not necessarily mean they will be the victor. As I often tell others, remember this is college football. When there are big games between closely matched teams, anything can happen. The SEC has won six straight national titles, but historically speaking, the Tide are just 1-5 against the Irish. I figure the luck of the Irish will be the curse of the SEC. Why? Because this is college football. 

I am intensely thorough in covering college football and the parity, a word often used in this sport, is growing more and more each season. Basically, all the favorites in BCS Bowl games could lose in an upset, but of course, the trick is figuring out which ones. 

I would say that Notre Dame, Louisville, and Northern Illinois are all underdogs with a good chance to win, but I could also see the Cardinals and Huskies being blown out which is what many other experts and bettors believe to be the outcome. 

Northern Illinois and Florida State both had late season coaching departures. NIU lost head coach Dave Doeren to NC State at the same position and former FSU defensive coordinator Mark Stoops took the head coaching position at Kentucky (Coaching Carousel). The Seminoles are thought of as the more talented team and have a statistically top notch defense, but the Huskies should have a larger chip on their shoulder. This game could end in a blowout victory for Florida State or a dramatic close win for Northern Illinois.   

Louisville is a talented team, but young which is one reason for the close games and upset losses this season. Florida has done a great job of winning, but not always impressively. UF just barely managed to eke out a victory against Louisiana-Lafayette and the talent of the Cardinals matches up better with the Gators than most give them credit. If highly prospected QB Teddy Bridgewater can move the ball for Louisville with accurate passes, then the Cardinals can pull it off. But if the Florida defense led by safety Matt Elam keeps him in check, the running game and defense of Louisville will have trouble picking up the slack. 

Oklahoma is slightly favored against Texas A&M, but I am picking the Aggies to win the Cotton Bowl. It has been some time since the Sooners have won a big game as well as I am just not confident in quarterback Landry Jones as a clutch player. And really, who wouldn't pick Aggies QB Johnny "Football" Manziel. Jones has thrown eight interceptions over the last eight games of the season while Manziel threw just two picks in the last five games. This should be a fun bowl to watch. 

The Fiesta Bowl and Rose Bowl features match ups with opening lines under double digits. But I still believe that Oregon should have no problem handling Kansas State. If the Ducks get an early lead as they do so often, the Wildcats will have difficulty keeping up with their style. 

Stanford should also take care of Wisconsin, but the Badgers did look good in the Big Ten Championship. Wisconsin running back Montee Ball will need another great outing to give his team a chance, but Stanford has the third best rated defense in rushing yards allowed per game.

In many ways, bowl games are highly unpredictable, because it largely depends on which team "shows up" to play. I am predicting some big upsets since I can be a rebel at times, but I would only take my Irish pick to Vegas, especially to beat the spread. 

Boy oh boy, this is the weekend the BCS pollsters and computers get tested when the final BCS Standings for 2012 are revealed. ESPN's Brad Edwards showed real uncertainty in his Bowl projections last night and CBS Sports' Jerry Palm has Northern Illinois out of the BCS top 16 by just .0021! The real truth is that there is hope for the Huskies, but how much is really unknown.

The losses by BCS No. 12 Nebraska and No. 16 UCLA is what have given the Huskies hope. They also defeated BCS No. 17 Kent State in a dramatic double overtime victory for the MAC Championship on Friday. Boise State, at 20 for week 14, also has an outside chance to bust the BCS. 

Of course, news of NIU coach Dave Doeren's announced departure to NC State may hurt them in the polls some, but there were very unfortunate tragic occurrences on Saturday that kept a lot of minor news off sports tickers on most channels. However, human polls in the BCS seem to not give much credit to non-BCS teams. Since it is so close and to contradict the others, I am projecting Northern Illinois in to bust the BCS at the 16th spot, but we will know more mid-day today and officially when the BCS Standings come out Sunday night during the BCS Selection Show at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN. 

Three of the top five teams in the final BCS Standings could be SEC teams, but at least three of the top six will be. Palm has Kansas State securely projected at fifth while I am not as sure of it since I have Georgia at the five spot with the Wildcats on the bubble, but Palm has been on target. 

In my opinion, I have been one of the most informative BCS analysts over the past two seasons and fairly accurate, but the most accurate is Jerry Palm. Brads Edwards is off more than Palm, but has gotten better some this season and has waffled more when he has been uncertain rather than give out wrong projections. 

I will post updates after the Coaches Poll mid-day release time and after the official BCS Standings are announced. Updates will be listed below in this post or you can bookmark the Projections page. 


***Update Dec 2 Sunday 3:20 PM ET***
Official AP top five: 1 Notre Dame, 2 Alabama, 3 Ohio State, 4 Florida, and 5 Oregon. Official USA Today Coaches Poll top five: 1 Notre Dame, 2 Alabama, 3 Oregon, 4 Florida, and 5 Georgia. The projected Coaches Poll top five was correct and Georgia is just 20 points behind Oregon for the fifth spot in the AP Poll top five. UCLA dropped to 19th from 16th in the Coaches Poll and Nebraska dropped to 21st from 13th while Northern Illinois is ranked 16th.  The BCS Selection Show is going to be very interesting. CBS Sports' Jerry Palm has Northern Illinois projected at the 17th spot in the BCS Standings, just .0033 behind projected No.16 Nebraska and .0051 behind UCLA, projected at 15. Both Nebraska and UCLA lost Saturday with the Cornhuskers being humiliated by Wisconsin. I am sticking with my projections, but NIU may get shut out of the BCS by an extremely small margin. If the Huskies do make it, then they will be in the Orange Bowl. 

***Update Dec 2 Sunday 5:35 PM ET***
According to Bleacher Report, Northern Illinois to play Florida State in the Orange Bowl!!! I was the only expert that I know of to have them projected early this morning!!!

***Update Dec 2 Sunday 9:38 PM ET***
Official BCS top five: 1 Notre Dame, 2 Alabama, 3 Florida, 4 Oregon, and 5 Kansas State.
Official BCS Bowls: BCS National Championship- 1 Notre Dame vs 2 Alabama, Sugar Bowl- 3 Florida vs 21 Louisville, Fiesta Bowl- 5 Kansas State vs 4 Oregon, Rose Bowl- 6 Stanford vs Wisconsin, and Orange Bowl- 15 Northern Illinois vs 12 Florida State. 


Follow College Football Universe late Saturday nights and early Sunday mornings for projections before the official polls are released.

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Even though there is now more certainty about the BCS Championship, there are still plenty of BCS Bowl berths up for grabs. After Louisiana Tech lost to Utah State in week 12, the hope of a BCS Buster looked to be over, but then Kent State snuck up on the BCS. 

If the Golden Flashes win on Friday, the BCS Bowls could look a little awkward. Florida could end up playing Rutgers or Louisville instead of Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl and Florida State could end up playing Kent State instead of Rutgers or Louisville in the Orange Bowl. Kent State will receive an automatic bid if they finish in the top 16 and above another BCS automatic qualifier conference champion. There are no Big East teams ranked in the BCS Standings. The winner of Louisville at Rutgers will be the Big East automatic qualifier.

Other than losing, the only other thing that may keep Kent State out of the top 16 is if UCLA pulls off the upset against Stanford. If the Bruins beat the Cardinal, they would both most likely remain in the top 16 which would keep the Golden Flashes, currently at 17, out unless other upsets occur. 

Remember all the huffing and puffing about the rivalry game between Texas and Texas A&M being knocked off the schedule? They may play again sooner than expected since they are projected to play each other in the Cotton Bowl. There are still other scenarios. LSU could make it to the Cotton Bowl as well or Alabama if they lose in the SEC Championship. The Aggies could also play in the Capital One Bowl, but I am still projecting them to be in the Cotton Bowl. 

For the full bowl schedule and BCS selection procedures, there are links posted after the projections. All BCS Bowls are projected along with three non-BCS Bowls.

Championships and other important games this week with BCS ranking and USA Today point spread: 

Thursday: 
Louisville at Rutgers, Scarlet Knights by 2

Friday: 
MAC Championship, 21 Northern Illinois vs 17 Kent State, Huskies by 6.5
Pac-12 Championship, 16 UCLA at 8 Stanford, Cardinal by 10

Saturday:
11 Oklahoma at TCU, Sooners by 8
18 Texas at 6 Kansas State, Wildcats by 11
SEC Championship, 2 Alabama vs 3 Georgia, Crimson Tide by 8.5
ACC Championship, 13 Florida State vs Georgia Tech, Seminoles by 13
Big Ten Championship, 12 Nebraska vs Wisconsin, Cornhuskers by 2.5

Projection if favorites win: 1 Notre Dame vs 2 Alabama
Projection if Georgia and other favorites win: 1 Notre Dame vs 3 Georgia
Bowl tie-in: BCS number one vs BCS number two

Projection if favorites win: 5 Oregon vs 6 Kansas State
Bowl tie-in: Big 12 Champion vs at-large team

Projection if favorites win: 4 Florida vs 11 Oklahoma
Projection if Kent State and other favorites win: 4 Florida vs Rutgers
Bowl tie-in: SEC Champion vs at-large team 

Projection if favorites win: 8 Stanford vs 12 Nebraska
Bowl tie-in: Pac-12 Champion vs Big Ten Champion

Projection if favorites win: 13 Florida State vs Rutgers
Projection if Kent State and other favorites win: 13 Florida State vs 17 Kent State
Bowl tie-in: ACC Champion vs at-large team

Projection if favorites win: 9 Texas A&M vs 18 Texas
Projection if Georgia and other favorites win: 2 Alabama vs 18 Texas
Bowl tie-in: Big 12 team vs SEC team

Projection if favorites win: 3 Georgia vs 19 Michigan
Bowl tie-in: SEC team vs Big Ten team 

Projection if favorites win: 7 LSU vs 14 Clemson
Bowl tie-in: ACC team vs SEC team