The Houston Cougars were upset victims to a Southern Mississippi team that ran over their defense, taking a 21 point lead and not letting Case Keenum play catchup. Several Houston drives stalled on 4th down in the 4th quarter, and Southern Miss returned a Keenum interception for another touchdown with minutes left to seal the Cougars' fate.
The loss means Houston is not the C-USA champ, making them ineligible for the automatic non-AQ BCS bid. The Cougars will almost certainly be out of contention for an at-large bid, either by falling out of the top 14 or, if they remain, not being selected by the Sugar, Fiesta, or Orange Bowl.
It also means that TCU has a good chance of replacing Houston as the top non-AQ qualifier. The Horned Frogs, currently #18 in the BCS standings, need to reach the top 16 (assuming they remain ahead of Big East champ West Virginia—who was 23rd going in). TCU is playing UNLV this afternoon. Houston may or may not drop below TCU—we assume they won't, though the big loss margin may drop the Cougars a lot in the polls—but the Big Ten championship loser probably will, as would Georgia if they fall to LSU. #17 Baylor could also lose to Texas to assist the Horned Frogs.
In other early action, Cincinnati held on to beat Connecticut 35-27, meaning that Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Louisville all finish 5-2 in the Big East, and the Mountaineers will almost certainly win the 3-way tiebreaker as the highest-ranked team in the BCS.
On Friday, Oregon beat UCLA 49-31 to earn the Pac-12's Rose Bowl berth. They will face the winner of the Big Ten Championship game between Wisconsin and Michigan State.
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