I’m moving in with Becky and her cats later today, leaving on a jet plane from LaGuardia Airport at 9:00 AM Eastern time and arriving at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport at 3:30 PM Mountain time. (For those who may have lost track, my Greyhound plans bit the dust a week ago; instead, it’s Frontier Airlines.)

Arizona, here I come!

The official BCS standings are out — USC leads Ohio State by a too-close-for-comfort 1.46 points — and Rich Tellshow’s key opponents page is online, telling us exactly who to root for and against next week. Not only do we have to root for our own previous opponents, we need to root for our opponents’ previous opponents. Bwuzzuh?

Well, see for yourself. Tellshow points out, “In 2001, it was so close between Nebraska and Colorado that just one game in the [strength of schedule] decided the outcome. It could get that close again this year.”

Meanwhile, Texas Christian is officially in the Top 6! But TCU’s schedule rating is going to get even worse before the season ends, so they may need another upset or two to finish in the BCS “guarantee zone.”

From ScrappleFace: Democrats Blame Bush for Lunar Eclipse. Hee hee.

ESPN’s latest BCS analysis confirms much of what I’ve been saying in recent BCS-related posts, but it raises a couple of points I hadn’t previously commented upon. First and foremost is this one: “Don’t forget that an ugly win could be just as damaging to the Trojans as a loss. Their key to holding off Ohio State and LSU is to remain at No. 2 in both polls.” That’s very true. We don’t just need to beat Arizona, UCLA, and Oregon State — we need to beat them convincingly. A half-baked effort in Tuscon, in particular, might be enough to get us a win, yet could kill our title hopes.

Secondly, ESPN hints at potential BCS bowl matchups by noting: “If Oklahoma stays at No. 1, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl would get the first choice from the BCS pool because that game normally gets the Big 12 champ. The Rose Bowl would get the second choice if it loses Pac-10 winner USC to the title game. These parameters could make for some interesting matchups in January.” The column doesn’t go on to preview those matchups, but it does get me thinking about what might happen at the Rose Bowl in January…

Alas for those whiners out in Pasadena; their Big 10-Pac 10 tradition may have to be scrapped for the third straight year, since it appears overwhelmingly likely that either USC or Ohio State will be going to New Orleans. But if the Trojans finish #2 and Washington State wins out, the Rose Bowl might be able to stage a Michigan-Wazzu or Purdue-Wazzu showdown, which they wouldn’t mind too much.

On the other hand, if Ohio State finishes #2, we could be looking at USC-Michigan, if the Wolverines stay in the Top 12 for a BCS bowl after losing to Ohio State, or USC-Purdue, if the Boilermakers [repeat above caveat]. If neither of the Buckeyes’ victims manage to stay in the Top 12, the conference tie-in would be dead in the water.

And actually, it might be dead anyway, since it’s entirely possible the Rose Bowl might not have the luxury of choosing whatever at-large team it wants. If Texas Christian earns an automatic berth by finishing in the Top 6, and the Fiesta Bowl uses the first pick to grab some other at-large team, the Rose Bowl might be stuck with the Conference USA champ. USC-TCU or Michigan-TCU or Purdue-TCU, anyone? Sounds… thrilling. :)

NOTE: Why don’t I say “Ohio State-TCU” or “Ohio State-Wazzu” in my scenarios? Because I don’t think Ohio State is likely to win the Big 10 title but fail to finish #2. I could be wrong, and I hope I am, but I think Ohio State probably controls its destiny at this point, thanks to the stupidity of the BCS computers and the fact that a pair of Buckeye wins over Top 15 teams would definitely impress the poll voters.