Possibly the biggest regular season game of the year will be played on Sept. 13, when Southern Cal hosts Ohio State. If the Trojans can get by the Buckeyes, it's relatively smooth sailing from there. USC gets to play Oregon, Arizona State, California, and Notre Dame at home and doesn't have to travel to a preseason Top 25 team all year.
Even if Southern Cal loses to OSU in September they'll have enough time to climb back up the rankings by the end of the year. I believe USC will beat West Virginia (see below) to capture the National Championship.
3 - Ohio State (10-2, 7-1)
Even if the Buckeyes can travel cross country and beat USC in front of more than 100,000 rabid Trojan fans they'd still have to be nearly perfect against a tough Big Ten schedule. Which includes road games versus No. 12 Wisconsin and No. 19 Illinois, as well as home bouts with No. 22 Penn State and No. 24 Michigan.
I think OSU will lose to USC and drop at least one of those four conference games, which will keep them out of the BCS title game.
4 - Oklahoma (11-1, 7-1)
The Sooners have a pretty favorable schedule because they play all of their really tough games (Texas, Kansas, and Texas Tech) at home. However, with eight games against teams who received votes in the preseason poll and another difficult matchup in the Big XII Championship (probably against Missouri), OU is bound to lose a game.
In the end, I think they are going to be one of those teams rooting for Pittsburgh to knock off West Virginia at the end of the year again. When it's all said and done, I think the Mountaineers have a better shot at running the table than Oklahoma.
5 - Florida (10-2, 6-2)
The Gators play No. 18 Tennessee and top-ranked Georgia on the road. With games against No. 6 LSU, South Carolina, and Florida State, as well, Florida will be lucky to lose just twice.
6 - LSU (9-3, 5-3)
The road games aren't as easy this year for the defending champs. The Tigers travel to No. 11 Auburn, No. 5 Florida, and South Carolina. They also have to play Georgia and Alabama at home.
7 - Missouri (11-1, 7-1)
The Tigers have road bouts with Nebraska and Texas, as well as home games against Illinois and Kansas. Even if they can get through all of that, they'll probably have Oklahoma waiting for them in the Big XII title game.
8 - West Virginia (12-0, 7-0)
The Mountaineers were the big winners when Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College jumped ship a few years ago to go play in the ACC. With the departure of those three powerhouses, WVU was left with a relatively easy path to the BCS title game every year.
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