BCS Bound: Navigating the Road to New Orleans

A quick look at how the top-ranked teams can land in the BCS Championship Game...

1. Ohio State

Still the legitimate No. 1. All the Buckeyes have to do is win out.

I don't think Penn State's all that great, but a win on the road vs. a Top 25 team merits respect.

If the Buckeyes lose, though, they likely won't climb back into the national championship mix:

A) It's too late in the season to regain the No. 1 or No. 2 spot.

B) If you look at their schedule and not their team name, you wouldn't think they were the No. 1 team.

Down the stretch, OSU has to play Wisconsin and Illinois at home before traveling to Ann Arbor to face the hottest team in the country.

Not exactly easy street.

2. Boston College

Don't read too much into Thursday's win.

While I credit the Eagles for pulling it off and have a lot of respect for Virginia Tech, I don't know how much longer BC can keep up this magical run.

And unfortunately for the Eagles, winning out may not be enough.

They need to hope for at least an LSU loss. I'm not saying that if they win out they won't be in the championship game, but it'll definitely be close.

The Eagles certainly aren't going to gain much leeway by running the rest of their schedule—though a win at Clemson would be nice.

Bottom line is that they'll need to win out and beat their opponent in the ACC Championship Game. The Eagles had better hope they don't see Virginia Tech again, as the Hokies will be looking for payback.

The most likely opponent is the winner of Virginia Tech and Virginia on November 24th.

3. LSU

The Tigers need to win all of their remaining games—including the SEC Championship Game.

Don't forget that LSU could also move up if Ohio State were to fall.

An interesting point: Both Florida last season and LSU in 2003 were able to jump into the No. 2 slot in the BCS after beating good teams for the SEC title.

LSU may not have that opportunity this year, because the SEC East is battered and bruised .

If you're LSU, you have to root for No. 10 Georgia to win out en route to Atlanta.

4. Arizona State

ASU is hurting for human respect these days.

They'll probably need LSU to lose to move up to No. 3...and then MIGHT be able to slip by BC without a BC loss.

Even then they'd need some help from the human polls.

Winning out would mean beating Oregon and USC. In that case, ASU might need only an LSU loss to jump to No. 2.

An Ohio State loss to Michigan probably wouldn't help. A Sun Devils win over Oregon could vault them ahead of LSU in the human polls. 

5. Oregon

Oregon is in a pretty similar boat as ASU.

If they beat the Sun Devils, the Ducks might be able to jump LSU for No. 3 in the human polls—requiring them to win out and hope for a BC loss.

Short of that, they'd probably need both LSU and BC to lose.

6. Oklahoma

If they win out, OU will at the very least move up to No. 5 in the BCS.

They have an edge with human poll voters right now—which helps but because they won't play anyone of consequence until the Big 12 Championship Game. They'll probably need Kansas to win out to give them style points.

The Sooners need the winner of the Oregon-ASU game to lose down the stretch. They also need LSU and BC to go down.

Knowing college football—all of that isn't as unlikely as it sounds.


 * I'd like to add that it's a little unfair that an undefeated Kansas team can't make it to the BCS Championship Game.

It would be one thing if were were talking about a Boise State—but any team playing in the Big 12 deserves to be there if they're undefeated.