After a Week of Upsets, Could BYU Play for the BCS Title?

When this season started, I was extremely optimistic that the BYU Cougars were most definitely in the driver's seat to crash the BCS.

But this Sunday, I found myself in a very intriguing conversation with my family. We were actually talking about BYU possibly playing for the National Title!!

Now, I don't want to get ahead of myself or anyone else, because I know it is only Week 6 and so many things still have to fall into place for the Cougars to have a shot. But after so many upsets in Week 5, the Cougars are in a position to strike.

Five teams that were ranked higher than the Cougars lost, including previous No. 1 USC.

So in turn, BYU jumped from No. 11 to No. 8. But Week 5 should just be a taste of what could be coming, because six of the seven teams in front of BYU in the polls play each other.

Some teams even have two games remaining against top 10 opponents. Here is a brief look at the very tough schedule ahead for teams in front of BYU.

1. Oklahoma: No. 5 Texas, No. 16 Kansas, No. 7 Texas Tech, and No. 21 Oklahoma State.

2. Alabama: @ No. 4 LSU and No. 14 Auburn

3. LSU: @No. 12 Florida, No. 11 Georgia, No. 2 Alabama, and Ole Miss.

4. Missouri: No. 21 Oklahoma St., @ No. 5 Texas, and No. 16 Kansas.

5. Texas: @No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Missouri, No. 21 Oklahoma St., @No. 7 Texas Tech, @No. 16 Kansas.

6. Penn St.: @No. 18 Wisconsin, @No. 14 Ohio St.

7. Texas Tech: @No. 16 Kansas, No. 5 Texas, No. 21 Oklahoma St., @No. 1 Oklahoma.

So looking at all of this, it is very clear that, for any of these teams, going the rest of the season undefeated is going to be extremely difficult.

I wouldn't put my money on any of them. The one I say has the best chance would be Penn State. But they have struggled to beat the likes of Michigan and Ohio State in recent years, so we will see how that plays out.

But for the sake of the article, we will assume all of the aforementioned teams lose at least one game.

So let's just run through the rest of the season and what needs to happen. BYU, of course, needs to take care of their business in the Mountain West Conference, the way they have for two consecutive years.

Their toughest games are all on the road, against TCU, Air Force, and then the season finale versus Utah. Hopefully, for BYU's sake, Utah will be able to get through the conference schedule undefeated as well, no doubt putting them in the top 10 as well.

Then, when the two teams met, not only will it be a heated rivalry game, but BCS and possible National Championship hopes will be on the line.

If the Cougars are able to beat Utah, that would give them the quality win they needed over a Top Ten opponent. Now with that resume, you would think that there is no way the Cougars could be denied a shot at winning the Crystal Ball in the National Championship game.

Well, you would be mistaken. If a team somehow makes it out of the SEC with just one loss, then look for that team to jump the Cougars. The same goes for any team in the Big 12. USC could also jump BYU later in the season if they are able to keep it together.

Even though the Pac 10 is weak and they shouldn't, we all have to factor in that it happens to be USC and that's the way it is. In the Big East, USF could also be undefeated come December and could quite possibly pass the Cougars. We will just have to wait and see.

I would give the Cougars a 10 percent chance of making it to the championship game, even though they have a legit resume to post up against anyone in the country. The BCS will stop at almost nothing to leave BYU out of it.

Now, 10 percent isn't much, but it is still a chance. With as tough as the Big 12 and SEC are, you could very well see the conference champion having two losses, and that would make BYU's case even stronger.

So BYU fans will have to swallow some pride and cheer for Utah all the way up until Nov. 22, when the two teams meet. Then we will just have to wait and see what happens.