The Sweep

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Kellen Moore (left) had his way with the Oregon defense.
AP

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The BCS Buster Express is overflowing. It seems like every week, someone new jumps on, someone else jumps off.

Fresno State? Au revoir. Boise State? Welcome back.

East Carolina? It was fun while it lasted. BYU and Utah? We'll be sure to keep Nov. 29 circled.

If the current trend continues, pollsters and/or BCS bowl committees may be faced with a unique decision come Dec. 6. In the past, it was dicey even landing one non-BCS team in the final top 12. What happens if there are two contenders? Or even three?

It's a question worth pondering following Boise State's rousing 37-32 upset win over No. 17 Oregon at Autzen Stadium. The Broncos led 37-13 at one point. Granted, the Ducks were down to their fifth-string quarterback (literally -- freshman Darron Thomas entered in the second half, becoming the fifth Oregon QB to play this season, and threw for three touchdowns), but that didn't stop the Broncos' freshman QB, Kellen Moore, from torching the Ducks' defense for 385 yards.

It's hard to believe that, of all teams, we got caught sleeping on Boise, the poster team for all mid-majors, but that's due in large part to the fact the Broncos lost their bowl game last season ... to East Carolina.

It may be that the BCS elimination process is not as simple as I made it sound at the beginning of this piece. Should the Pirates really be written off for good following their overtime loss at N.C. State? They still have two pretty big wins on their resume, though West Virginia is losing credibility by the week.

Meanwhile, how much should BYU be rewarded for whooping up on a UCLA team that is being exposed as lousier and lousier by the week? (Mind you, the Cougars have outscored their foes 103-0 since Jake Locker's ball toss ... not too shabby). Utah, which posted a nice last-minute road win over 3-0 foe Air Force on Saturday, is hanging its hat on a win over what may be the worst Michigan team in decades.

If, by chance, two mid-majors finish the season eligible for BCS at-large berths -- say BYU and Boise -- will a Fiesta or Rose Bowl voluntarily choose the second, knowing those schools' strong travel histories?

As of now, all we can speculate about is the rankings. My inclination is that BYU (previously 14th) and Utah (previously 20th) should stay ranked right about where they are; ECU (previously 15th) should drop, but not all the way out of the polls; and Boise deserves to debut somewhere between BYU and ECU.

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