In 2007, only a huge upset against Pittsburgh in the final week of the season kept the 'Eers out of the championship, and the road is even easier in '08. West Virginia gets to play Rutgers (without Ray Rice), Cincinnati, and South Florida at home and only has to go on the road for UConn, Louisville (without Brian Brohm), and Pittsburgh (I think they'll be better prepared this year).
The only question mark for me is an Oct. 23 game with No. 11 Auburn, but that's at home and is early enough in the season that WVU will be able to recover in the standings if they do lose. Plus, they don't have to play a conference title game, which usually helps.
I'm not saying West Virginia will be the second best team in the country at the end of the year, but I think their schedule will allow them to make it to the National Championship game, where they get pummeled by USC.
9 - Clemson (11-1, 7-1)
The Tigers have to play road games against solid conference foes Wake Forest, Boston College, Florida State, and Virginia. I say they lose at least one of those, keeping them out of both the ACC and BCS Championship games.
10 - Texas (9-3, 5-3)
The Longhorns travel to No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 14 Texas Tech, and No. 13 Kansas. They also play No. 7 Missouri at home. There are a few losses in there.
11 - Auburn (10-2, 7-1)
The Tigers get to play Georgia at home, but even if they beat them there, they'll probably have to face the Bulldogs again in the SEC Championship game. Auburn also has a non-conference road bout at West Virginia.
12 - Wisconsin (10-2, 7-1)
The good thing about Wisconsin's schedule is that they play all of their tough games at the beginning of the season. Because of this, even if they lose a couple games to Fresno State, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State or Illinois, they'll have three weeks at the end of November (Indiana, Minnesota, Cal Poly) when they should be winning, while other teams are losing, allowing the Badgers to climb the rankings. I don't think they'll get all the way to the top, though.
13 - Kansas (9-3, 6-2)
No magic again this year for the Jayhawks. They have to play South Florida, Oklahoma, and Missouri, all on the road.
14 - Texas Tech (9-3, 5-3)
The Red Raiders have road contests against Texas A&M, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
15 - Virginia Tech (11-1, 8-0)
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