Alright, we're through the quarterfinals. Here are your results:
#1 Alabama 21, #8 Penn State 16 (Monday)
#5 USC 20, #4 Florida 17 (in a dramatic last-second comeback) (Tuesday)
#3 Texas 38, #6 Utah 6 (Wednesday)
#2 Oklahoma 52, #7 Texas Tech 35 (Thursday)
So the Semifinals are set:
Fiesta Bowl: #2 Oklahoma vs #3 Texas (Next Monday)
Sugar Bowl: #1 Alabama vs #5 USC (Next Tuesday)
Meanwhile, another new, off-the-cuff rule: all losing quarterfinalists get a spot in a BCS bowl. I like it! That means your remaining BCS bowls are...
Rose Bowl: #4 Florida vs #8 Penn State
Orange Bowl: #6 Utah vs #7 Texas Tech
Yes, that puts three Big 12 teams in BCS bowls, but...that's just the way it works out. If three teams make the quarterfinals, it's only fair. It's also fair (to me) that if a MAC or Sun Belt champion ever does pull off an all-time upset in the first-round, they get rewarded not only by probably being drubbed in the quarterfinals, but also by getting a big-time "celebrate us" spotlight. How cool would it be to see a Ball State in the Rose Bowl versus a Penn State or Ohio State? It would rule...to me, anyway. I'm probably the only person who thinks this way, so I'll stop talking.
That would make the other Big 12 bowls shape up like this:
Cotton: Oklahoma State vs Mississippi
Gator: Nebraska vs Clemson
Holiday: Missouri vs Oregon
Alamo: Kansas vs Northwestern
In the end, two overall bowl slots (BCS bids, no less) are lost with this method, but everything else works out (to me). The bowls maintain a good amount of their luster, the playoffs create both a) undebatably fair national title matchups and b) super-duper exciting BCS games (An old-school 'Bama/USC Sugar Bowl? Awesome. An OU/Texas rematch? Awesomer.)
Anyway, semis on Monday.