Southern Cal, LSU, Oregon and Bama are everyone’s favorites to walk home with the 2012 title and we all know it. We even know Florida State, Oklahoma and Georgia are going to be squads to watch closely in the title hunt. But entering 2012, who has the chance to do what 2010 Auburn did—come from outside of the norm to contend for a BCS title?

Looking around the nation, there are a few teams that have some of the pieces required to get into the running until late in November. As is always the case in the great sport of college football, a few bounces one way and we could be looking at team speeding into the final weekends of the year with a BCS Championship appearance resting squarely on their racquet. These four teams aren’t perfect and teams like South Carolina, Michigan State and Kansas State will also be in the mix.

If the “sure things” stumble, there will be some hungry, talented teams on the next tier waiting to climb the rankings and get a shot at the crystal ball.

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