BYU Cougars: The Five Most Critical "Other" Games For Week Three

(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

The BCS is one-of-a-kind. 

Where else can you find meaning, intrigue and National Championship implications from every single game, regardless of who's playing.

Only in the BCS can teams be so tied to an intricate web of contingencies, where who you've played, who your opponents have ve played and what the margin of victory was, all somehow manage to define the strength and measure of a team.

As a result, what could be happening on a field thousands of miles away may have a greater impact than the one your team is actually playing in. 

For instance, BYU play SDSU the same week that Oklahoma faces Texas in the Red River Shootout. An Oklahoma win that day would most likey do more for the Cougars than a victory over the Aztecs.

Crazy. Only in the BCS.

For BYU, that's certainly not going to be the case this week.

The Cougars will have their hands full with a very athletic and very capable Florida State team coming to Provo.

The 'Noles have struggled a bit, losing their home opener to red-hot Miami and barely sneaking by FCS Jacksonville State at home.

Nonetheless, BYU can't overlook this team. FSU will come in hungry looking to make a statement and quickly turnaround their season.

BYU will undoubtedly attack FSU's suspect secondary and try to force Ponder and FSU to be more one-dimensional by stuffing the run. Which looks to be another weak spot for FSU.

The timing couldn't be better for the Cougars who have been lights out to start the season. On both sides of the ball. Throwing and running. Coaching and executing.

And this could their last chance to garner BCS credibility before heading into what looks to be an exhilarating conference battle.

While the FSU is by far the most critical game, it has also been the one most thoroughly covered by the media. So we'll take a look at the top five "other" games impacting the Cougars 2009 season.

Last week was a fairly disappointing week for the "other" critical five games.

Air Force lost in a close game at Minnesota. UNLV almost pulled the upset over a ranked Oregon State team from the Pac-10.

And Tulsa blew out the Lobos, although that's not such a bad thing if Oklahoma can beat the Golden Hurricane on Saturday.

The best news from last week's top five "others" was that Oklahoma looked like Oklahoma again. Even without Sam Bradford. A 64-0 demolition over Idaho State.

Here are this week's top five Cougar games outside of Provo.

1. Tulsa at Oklahoma

While the Cougars are a shoe-in for the BCS if they win out, that is still a big if. Any loftier aspirations will probably go only as far as the Sooners can take them.

Miami's win over Georgia Tech could prove just as big of a win for the Cougar's as any of the ones listed here.

Namely because the Hurricanes are a marquee opponent of two of BYU's marquee opponents (Florida State and Oklahoma).

And also because it will ensure both Utah and TCU advance in the polls. You gotta love the BCS. Where else does this stuff matter?

And there's a possibility the Seminoles could meet Miami once again in the ACC championship game.

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