Keeping up with the ’09 narratives

Two tales from Disney Sports for your consideration:

Generally speaking, I think ESPN’s Bruce Feldman’s a sharp guy – one of the few reasons I even bother to check the WWL’s website regularly – but I don’t get his bowl projections.

He’s got Boise State and BYU making the BCS.  Unless there’s been a recent change I’m unaware of, my understanding is that the only way two mid-majors could make the BCS would be if they faced off against each other as numbers one and two in the title game.  Am I missing something here?  Or does ESPN have even more clout than I thought?

And on another front, would you like a definition of “below the radar”?  How about this:  a two and one-half minute segment previewing the 2009 SEC season from Herbstreit and Musburger without a single mention of Georgia.

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UPDATE: Year2’s comment made me realize I probably need to elaborate a little bit on my comment about Feldman’s projections.  For him to be correct is going to take some remarkable circumstances all coming together this season.

First, both BYU and Boise State are going to have to run the table.  Both of them; neither one makes it in to the BCS with a loss.  That’s a much more likely scenario for Boise, which opens with Oregon and then plays a pathetic schedule, than it is for BYU, which faces Oklahoma, FSU, Utah and TCU.

Next, for him to be right, it means that Florida and Texas both have to go wire to wire at #1 and #2.  That’s more likely than BYU running the table, but still…

But that’s not all.  And here’s the trickiest part – the bowls are going to have to be in a position where they have no choice but to take the two mid-majors.  So, he’s got only one Big Ten team making the BCS, omitting Ohio State, and he doesn’t see Notre Dame winning ten games, either.

You can certainly make a case for any one of these individual items taking place, but all of them?  That strikes me as an incredible stretch, particularly the last part.  And there are some weird details that don’t add up, like how Oklahoma with two losses makes it in, but Ohio State with two losses doesn’t.  (I’m assuming records here, of course.)

What Feldman’s scenario really constitutes is a BCS trainwreck, with two undefeated mid-majors (one of which might be ranked as high as third when the dust settles) and one potentially undefeated BCS conference school (Southern Cal, which looks like he’s got beating Ohio State and Notre Dame) locked out of the title game.  Maybe that was his point.