College Football Rankings 2011 Week 2: 3 Teams Whose BCS Dreams Are over

Week 2 of the 2011 college football season proved to be devastating to more than a few teams' postseason aspirations. So many squads remain viable for but 10 spots in BCS bowl games, though these three shouldn't bother holding their breath for a berth.

Georgia

It's tough to fault Georgia too much for its 0-2 start to the year. Losing a "neutral site" game to a non-conference foe as formidable as Boise State is nothing to be ashamed of.

Of course, the Bulldogs did have something of an advantage in their season opener, given that it was played in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome, which, last time I checked, is much closer to the UGA campus in Athens, Ga. than it is to, well, anything in Boise, Idaho.

Losing by two touchdowns to the Broncos, with both teams sporting their hideous Nike Pro Combat uniforms, doesn't help the Dawgs' case much either.

The bigger problem, though, comes in Saturday's home loss to South Carolina. A win over Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks would've given Mark Richt and company a clear leg-up in the race for the SEC East crown. Instead, the Dawgs find themselves a game back of the defending division champs, with Tennessee and Florida on the up-and-up.

What's more, getting to a BCS bowl out of the SEC figures to be an issue of numbers more than anything. Even if Georgia comes in second in the division and has a good record at the end of the season—say, 9-3 or even 10-2—it would still have to vie with the other also-rans in the SEC West to garner any legitimate consideration for a BCS berth.

On the bright side, Georgia has one of the easiest schedules of any team in the conference, with games against LSU, Arkansas and Alabama all omitted.

Then again, the Bulldogs have plenty of work to do just to get themselves back up to speed in time to tackle all the tough games they do have on tap. 

Mississippi State

Like Georgia in the East, Mississippi State finds itself already down 0-1 in the West, though with a much tougher climb back to the top than the other Bulldogs.

For one, Dan Mullen's squad will have to move on quickly from its disappointing 41-34 loss at Auburn on Saturday, with a home game against No. 2 LSU coming up on Thursday. The schedule also features dates against No. 12 South Carolina, No. 3 Alabama and at No. 14 Arkansas.

Which is to say, things don't figure to get much easier from here on out for MSU.

And unlike Georgia, which really has only one or two chief competitors in the East, Mississippi State has to concern itself with the Crimson Tide, the Razorbacks and both sets of Tigers (LSU's and Auburn's) if the Bulldogs are to sneak their way into the SEC Championship Game.

At least they'll get to fatten up on the likes of Louisiana Tech, UAB, Kentucky, Tennessee-Martin and Egg Bowl rival Ole Miss to get themselves bowl-eligible. 

Missouri

After seeing No. 21 Missouri struggle to score against Miami (OH) in their season opener, it was pretty clear, to me at least, that the Tigers weren't going to be able to hang with the elite teams in the Big 12 this time around.

That point was made evident on Friday night, when Mizzou lost on the road to Arizona State in overtime, 37-30. Certainly not a bad loss for Gary Pinkel's team, given the quality of the opponent, the hostile environment, with the whole crowd at Sun Devils Stadium dressed for a "blackout," and the fact that Mizzou's starting quarterback was making his first start away from home.

And to his credit, James Franklin performed valiantly in defeat, throwing for 319 yards and connecting on two touchdown passes in the final 12 minutes of regulation to even the score at 30 apiece.

But the BCS doesn't award extra merit to teams with additional moral victories, of which the Tigers figure to have plenty after playing the likes of No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 7 Texas A&M later on in the season.

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