BCS Rankings 2012: Breaking Down How Kent State Can Make a BCS Bowl

As a college football fan I'm sure you know that the BCS is always unnecessarily complicated. It causes controversy from the top to bottom, and while it doesn't always effectively choose a national champion, it certainly gives us writers something to talk about towards the end of the season.

One team that has probably worried the higher-ups for the BCS is Kent State. The Golden Flashes have erupted to an 11-1 start under Darrell Hazell and have recently made an appearance in the BCS standings, this week slotting in at number 17.

	Team	Record
No. 1	Notre Dame	12-0
No. 2	Alabama	11-1
No. 3	Georgia	11-1
No. 4	Florida	11-1
No. 5	Oregon	11-1
No. 6	Kansas State	10-1
No. 7	LSU	10-2
No. 8	Stanford	10-2
No. 9	Texas A&M	10-2
No. 10	South Carolina	10-2
No. 11	Oklahoma	9-2
No. 12	Nebraska	10-2
No. 13	Florida State	10-2
No. 14	Clemson	10-2
No. 15	Oregon State	8-3
No. 16	UCLA	9-3
No. 17	Kent State	11-1
No. 18	Texas	8-3
No. 19	Michigan	8-4
No. 20	Boise State	9-2
No. 21	Northern Illinois	11-1
No. 22	Northwestern	9-3
No. 23	Oklahoma State	7-4
No. 24	Utah State	10-2
No. 25	San Jose State	10-2

Now I know what you're thinking, but it's really not that unlikely. Let's take a look.

This Friday, Hazell and his scrappy squad face off against a Northern Illinois team that has also surprisingly pushed into the Top 25 for the MAC championship. Right ahead of the Golden Flashes in this week's standings sit UCLA, Florida State and Nebraska, all of which, will be participating in their respected conference championships this weekend.

Why are we worried about these three teams though?

Well, in order for a mid-major school like Kent State to make a BCS bowl, they must rank at least in the Top 16 and win their conference. As of now, the Golden Flashes sit at number 17 in the latest BCS standings and with a win over another ranked opponent in Northern Illinois, combined with a loss from any of those three teams in front of them, and they could make an appearance in this year's Orange or Sugar Bowl.

Honestly, a solid win over Northern Illinois may be enough for the Golden Flashes to push past the top-16 barrier and if it does, this will go down as one of the best seasons in the program's history.

The team that will probably be hurt the most from this possible Kent State BCS bowl appearance would be Oklahoma, who would most likely be pushed out of the picture to make room for the Golden Flashes.

That's right people, Darrell Hazell and his Kent State squad control their own BCS destiny, and with a win over Northern Illinois, the Golden Flashes can punch their ticket to the biggest bowl game they've ever been to. 

And that is exactly why college football is not only the most confusing sport in the world, but the greatest.