College Football 2011: The 10 Worst Potential BCS Championship Game Match-Ups

The month of August is only a flip of the calendar away, which means that fall camps are soon to start, which also means—wait for it—that the 2011 college football season is almost here!

(Commence wild hootin', hollerin', whistlin' and clappin'...NOW!)

Everyone will have their eyes fixated on a successful campaign, with a select few teams aiming for a berth in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game at the Louisiana Super Dome in New Orleans Jan. 9.

Say what you will about the BCS, it has yielded some rather tasty national title match-ups since its inception, though, to be fair, not all of them have panned out to be the exciting contests as which they were originally billed. Just ask Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Texas, all of whom have been handled quite easily in previous games with the coveted crystal football on the line.

Not to be a "Debbie Downer" or anything, but let's have a look at some potential national title tilts for the upcoming season that could very well produce less-than-exciting outcomes for the casual college football fan.  

Oklahoma vs. LSU

Oklahoma and LSU could realistically meet again for the BCS National Championship given that both are pegged to be in the top five of the preseason polls.

The Sooners and Tigers last matched wits back in 2004, when Nick Saban, then the head coach in Baton Rouge, earned the first national title on his resume with a rather underwhelming 21-14 victory over Bob Stoops' boys, who were led by Heisman Trophy winner Jason White.

Should lightning strike twice, the two teams would face off in New Orleans just as they did last time around, though this time the two sides won't have to worry about talk that USC should've supplanted one of them, given the Trojans will once again be disbarred from postseason play.

Boise State vs. Utah

Bowl game rematches are rather prevalent on this list in large part because many of them just weren't that compelling the first time around.

Boise State and Utah met just last year in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas in what was one of the most highly anticipated non-BCS match-ups of the postseason.

The game turned out to be a 26-3 beat-down of the 20th-ranked Utes by the 10th-ranked Broncos, which was fitting given that Boise State will essentially be filling Utah's spot atop the Mountain West when the new season gets underway.

Should the Utes and the Broncos emerge undefeated from their new conferences (the Pac-12 for Utah), they could potentially meet for the national title in what would likely the most regionally skewed game in the history of the BCS. 

Michigan State vs. Alabama

Michigan State and Alabama won't likely be changing conference allegiances anytime soon, though they pose a much stronger possibility of re-enacting a stinker of a bowl in the BCS title game in 2012.

The Crimson Tide are widely considered to be one of the top two teams in the nation heading into the 2011 season while the Spartans figure to contend in the newly expanded Big Ten.

None of that will matter much if these two teams run the table all the way to the Louisiana Superdome to relive the 2011 Capital One Bowl in which the Tide absolutely spanked Sparty, 49-7. 

Virginia Tech vs. Stanford

No game putrified the BCS last year quite like the Orange Bowl, which pitted Andrew Luck and Stanford against Tyrod Taylor and Virginia Tech in what devolved into a 40-12 shellacking in favor of the Cardinal.

Luck will be back, but Taylor won't, which means that any miracle run by these two teams back to the BCS would likely end in a manner that is similarly unattractive to observing fans not affiliated with either side.

And that even ignores the Hokies' past history of playing for the national title, as they did back in 2000 when not even the fleet-footed Michael Vick could do much to close what turned out to be a 17-point gap in a disappointing loss to Florida State in (you guessed it!) New Orleans.

West Virginia vs. Stanford

Despite being the de facto favorite to win the Big East this season, West Virginia would need a lot of help along the way to reach the BCS National Championship Game in Dana Holgorsen's first season at the helm.

Should the Mountaineers push through the distraction created by the ouster of last year's head coach Bill Stewart, they could potentially face Stanford in the BCS Championship Game.

Such would make for a rather awkward match-up, given that a likely victory by a substantial margin for the Cardinal would put quarterback Andrew Luck in the strange position of celebrating his own accomplishments while consoling his father, Oliver, who just so happens to be the athletic director at West Virginia.

Texas vs. Florida

Speaking of awkward, what would happen if Texas and Florida somehow overcame their anticipated quarterback woes to somehow meet in New Orleans for the BCS National Championship Game?

Gators first-year coach Will Muschamp spent three seasons in Austin as Mack Brown's defensive coordinator and coach-in-waiting before taking off for the head gig in Gainesville in December. 

That meeting of coaches in the middle after the game figures to be a particularly uncomfortable one, regardless of who wins. 

Nebraska vs. South Carolina

If quarterbacking ineptitude is what you seek in the BCS National Championship Game, then you'd have to root pretty hard for a showdown between Nebraska and South Carolina at the Louisiana Superdome in early January.

The Gamecocks will have plenty of offensive talent, with Alshon Jeffery at wide receiver and Marcus Lattimore at tailback, though Steve Spurrier may have some trouble deciding between the troubled Stephen Garcia and the untested Connor Shaw under center.

Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers will rely on their Blackshirt defense to get to the national title game while Taylor Martinez tries to rediscover his missing mojo.

Arizona State vs. Texas A&M

If sloppy play overall is your bag, then look no further for an ideal BCS Championship Game pairing than Arizona State and Texas A&M.

The Sun Devils would have won a few more games last season if not for quarterbacking, between Steven Threet and Brock Osweiler, that was so prone to tossing the pigskin to the opposing team while putting the ball on the ground nearly twice per game.

Believe it or not, Dennis Erickson's team was bested in that category by the Aggies, who posted just over 2.2 fumbles along with 1.2 interceptions per contest.

Should these two teams face off, the national title could very well come down to a simple measure of which team turns the ball over slightly less. 

Oregon vs. Ohio State

A rematch of the 2010 Rose Bowl isn't likely to take place in the BCS National Championship Game, if for no other reason than the fact that Ohio State will be without Jim Tressel and Terrelle Pryor this season, both of whom have since left Columbus amidst a seemingly never-ending series of broken rules of compliance missteps.

Oregon might soon find itself in similarly hot water should the NCAA find that head coach Chip Kelly was in the wrong when he paid recruiting consultant Will Lyles a cool $25,000 for access to high-level recruits in Texas, including Heisman Trophy finalist LaMichael James.

However, the unlikely pairing of Oregon and Ohio State under such circumstances would be a field day for clever folks and those who like to poke fun at college athletics, with the "Lame Duck/Buck Bowl" as a pretty good starting point.

Notre Dame vs. Pretty Much Anyone

Despite being guaranteed a spot in a BCS bowl with nine wins in any given season, Notre Dame has yet to win a big-time bowl game since the system was first established prior to the 1998 season.

The Fighting Irish are 0-3 in BCS bowls, losing by a combined score of 43-116, or, if you prefer, by an average margin of 24.3 points per game.

Brian Kelly will be hard-pressed to get the Irish to the BCS in just his second season given the tough schedule they'll face, but on the off-chance that he not only gets them there but lands a spot in the biggest game of them all, be sure to place your bets on whoever Notre Dame ends up facing.