LSU's loss to Arkansas may just hand Ohio State a ticket to New Orleans.
Kansas is now the unofficial No. 1, with the "Game of the Century" tonight against fourth-ranked (or third-ranked) Missouri.
West Virginia is now No. 2, with games versus No. 20 UConn and Pitt still to play.
Which leaves Ohio State—with their regular season over—and Georgia—who still has to beat Georgia Tech—to round out the Top Five.
The Kansas-Missouri winner will still have to play in the Big 12 title game, where they could possibly be upset by Oklahoma.
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If that happens, Ohio State has a chance to make it to the BCS Championship Game.
The problem is that Ohio State's season is finished. Yes, that means the Buckeyes can't possibly lose again—but it also means they can't win again to refresh the pollsters' very short memories.
Remember what happened to Michigan last year. After losing to Ohio State, the Wolverines managed to hold on to a No. 2 ranking—but Florida eventually snuck in to take the their spot.
Why?
Because the Gators played in the SEC title game, in which they impressed the fickle pollsters.
The same fate may well befall Ohio State this year. Michigan fans must be tickled by the irony.
Just for fun, let's assume that the Kansas-Missouri winner does lose in the Big 12 title game. That should, barring a West Virginia loss, lead to a WVU-OSU BCS Championship Game.
But wait—the Bulldogs!
If Georgia beats Tech and wins the SEC Championship Game (they can get there if Kentucky beats Tennessee), I can't see the Bulldogs not playing for the national title.
Like I said, Ohio State has a chance. But the Buckeyes' greatest advantage is also their greatest weakness:
They don't play again until their bowl game.
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9 months ago
Good points Erik. Pollsters do seem to have a 'what have you done for me lately' attitude when it comes to the rankings. By the way, welcome to Bleacher Report!
9 months ago
With the Tennessee victory over Kentucky, it looks like Georgia is now out of the picture. Looks like you're just hoping for an Oklahoma win or a West Virginia loss at this point. I don't see anyone else leapfrogging OSU at this point
9 months ago
Wow, looks like Missouri is going to win! All the cards are falling in place for the OSU.
9 months ago
So the rankings should come down to something like this. 1- Mizzou (that looks funny) 2- WVU 3- tOSU 4- Georgia 5- VT 6-OU 7-USC and Kansas/LSU/BC in there somewhere... If Pitt beats WVU and OU beats Mizzou and UTen over LSU who plays tOSU? Pollsters would have to choose their higher ranking between two teams that not only didn't win their conference but didnt even win their division (Kansas and Georgia), a team with serious road issues (OU), a team from the basketball conferences (WVU or VT/BC), a team that lost - at home - to a team that lost notre dame (USC- only other teams to do that N'Western, Arizona and ironically Stanford), or a team that just lost its last game or conference champ game (WVU, LSU, Mizzou- who would have lost 2x to a team also in the discussion),or a team that didnt even play a hard I-AA schedule (Hawaii)
I would think that most likely put Georgia maybe Kansas depending on how far they drop in the NC but lets say the polls push a conference champion over the divisional runner ups, that leaves you with a 11-2 OU, 11-2 VT or BC, 10-3 UTen, 10-2 USC, 12-0 Hawaii or a 10-2 WVU...
UTen is out with 3 losses, WVU is out with a loss to an unranked team in their last game, BC has too much ground to make up eve if they win the ACC, and Hawaii has got to find someone other than the I-AA school of the blind/deaf/mute to play to really be thought of...
Now we are down to VT, OU, and USC..
USC has the worst loss by far- on their home field to a 3 win team, however the have the best loss as well (if good losses are possible), u cant fault them for losing to Oregon in Oregon with Dixon... 2 of their best wins were the slightly over rated at the time (Cornhuskers and Cal), and a great win over ASU... I would think they couldnt escape the stanford loss and their NC hopes would be passed over
VT lost to the best teams and they would have gotten revenge on BC but they were blown out by LSU, and their best wins would be virgina, clemson, and BC whom they also lost to... Those wins are decent but none of them are over top 15 teams (BC wouldnt be top 15 after they lose)...Thats a decent resume but not strong enough in a normal season for NC consideration but definitely BCS worthy
OU has mediocre losses on the road once on a last second FG, and then without their starting QB... Their best win would be over mizzou twice and texas who should still be clinging to the top 25... These would not be the wins i would want to hold my hopes on but mizzou twice would like USC beating ASU twice or VT beating BC twice...but they would need style points in the big 12 champ game to make people forget their road woes (lost to Colo, Tech and played to close to ISU).. their non-conf schedule was very weak even with tulsa becoming a surprise in ConfUSA and maybe even champion...once again decent resume and not strong enough for NC consderation but definitely BCS worthy...
there it is VT or OU, I would give the edge to OU only because their last win would be over the #1 or 2 ranked team but that is a coin flip...
of course we all know the SEC enthralled media would push for a divisional runner up Georgia to go to the NC and we would have tOSU v. Georgia but the what ifs are way more fun....
9 months ago
The pollsters were correct in putting UF above UM last year, and I don't see how that makes them fickle. Tebow could take on OSU all by himself.
9 months ago
It would have been good to see a Florida-Michigan game last year. Clearly Ohio State wasn't in the same league as Florida and Michigan. Given that they are worse than they were last year it seems silly to have them in the National Title game again. Maybe Ohio State could be in a bowl game against Florida again like the Outback Bowl. The rematch would probably be good TV.
from 9 months ago
Last year Ohio State beat Michigan and you think that Michigan was better than them? One of the reasons that Ohio State lost the National Chmpionship was because Ted Ginn Jr. got injured on a celebration after the kickoff return to start the game. Florida was probably the better team but it would have been closer if the Buckeyes had Ginn. Not only is he amazing at his position but Florida would have been focused mainly on him which would have left somone else open.
Ohio State is not going to play in the Outback bowl no matter what. They have an automatic bid to the Rose Bowl at the least and if OU beats Mizz then they are going to go to the National Championship.
Let me remind everyone that this was supposed to be a growing year for Ohio State getting ready for next year and now the worst they will be ranked is third.
9 months ago
yea, the BCS sucks
by Buckfan
9 months ago
I still contend that OSU sucks. If they make it to the championship game then something is seriously wrong this season. Michigan should have stepped up and beat them so that people wouldn't even be talking about them now. I'm also sorry that Oregon lost Dixon because before that happened they were definitely the best team.
from 9 months ago
Oh God- you need medication. Oregon blows!! It's not about one player dumbass. OSU is going to go to their 3rd Tilte game in 6 years. But they suck, right? You must play soocer or something, or you breast fed for too long. Clean up you act!
9 months ago
You guys are all too stuck in the past. If either Mizzou or WVU loses, what's not to put OSU in the national championship? Are you really going to tell me that Georgia deserves to be in there ahead of them? A 10-2 division runner-up over an 11-1 conference champion? Really?
Likewise, Big 10 fans should not be complaining about ending early. I think it's actually a major advantage. If anything, it usually gives you the chance to move up in the standings as other teams lose. If you do move down, it's because other teams hadn't had the chance to prove themselves yet. Last year is an example... Michigan was #2 after the OSU game because their slate was complete and everyone else's wasn't. Florida leapfrogged them at the end because Florida had to get 2 more wins to complete their body of work. If Michigan wanted a shot at the NC, they should have beaten OSU when they had the chance.
And to the comment above: "Clearly Ohio State wasn't in the same league as Florida and Michigan"... really? I'm going to assume that was a brain lapse, and give you a chance to take out the last 2 words. It's not like Michigan proved anything in their bowl game either
from 9 months ago
Ohio State finished early, which you might think is an advantage, but to do that they played all games on their schedule without a bye week and a chance to rest/recover players. I think the fact that they played 10 straight games prior to Illinois and we're trying to prepare for both Illinois and Michigan was a contributing factor in the Illinois loss. 3 interceptions had more to do with it, natch, but a break in the schedule would've been helpful at some point.
9 months ago
Haters,Haters.
The only teams that get as much hate as Ohio State are Oklahoma and Southern California.
Go Bucks!
I'd love to see how many people commit suicide IF the Bucks play for and win the National Title.
9 months ago
Could easily happen. Missouri has to play Oklahoma, which was the only team to beat Missouri this year. They know how to do it. OSU-West Virginia would be a great game. Connecticut doesn't have nearly the defense that Ohio State has, so it would be interesting to see what WV could do against a strong defense. On the other hand, West Virginia lost to South Florida, and Pitt played them pretty well. Pitt's coached by the former Chicago Bears coach, so he's got the savvy to make it happen. On the crazy chance that Pitt beats WV (come on - who thought Arkansas was going to beat LSU? it could happen...), I think Ohio State against Missouri would be an awesome game as well. Sadly, Ohio State's QB doesn't Believe. He'll need to grow some confidence to make an impact. He also needs to learn to fake out the pass D and put some more speed on the ball so he can stop throwing interceptions. He'll be better next year, but he's definitely the weak link in the offense this year. The rest of the tools are there to beat any team - defense, running, great receivers, special teams.
9 months ago
Georgia should not be in the National Title Game discussions. They didn't just fail to win their conference -- they didn't even win their division.
9 months ago
I'd hate to see how many buckeyes committ suicide when they get rolled in the title game AGAIN!!!
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