College Football Rankings: 3 of the Top 10 Teams That Won't Be in BCS Title Mix

For better or worse, rankings in college football hold a lot of water. Along with computer rankings, they have huge bearing on which teams will be fighting it out for the national championship at the end of the season.

This early in the season, it's easy to get excited about your favorite team being in the top 10, but you should pump the brakes if you are a fan of one of the following three teams, as your team won't be a part of the mix for the BCS title.

No. 3 LSU

LSU has been winning, thanks to its stout defense and an opportunistic offense. Unfortunately for the Bayou Bengals and their fans, that can't go on forever in a conference as tough as the SEC. 

Their game later in the season against Alabama will be key. Both are ranked in the top five, but that won't be the case after one of them loses that game.

They have the talent to be in the race for the national title, but they will get caught up in a numbers game in the SEC. Their game against the Crimson Tide will be the biggest test, but there are any number of other games they could lose.

No. 7 Oklahoma State

The Cowboys easily have the best team in the Mike Gundy era and maybe in the history of the program, but it won't be enough to keep them in the national title picture.

Their tests start with a Week 4 matchup against Texas A&M. The teams are pretty evenly matched, but the Aggies defense will make the difference.

The tough games don't end there for OSU. It also has its annual Bedlam Game against Oklahoma lurking at the end of the season. A possible undefeated season could end up being a two-loss season very easily.

The Texas A&M Aggies will be the surprise national title contender from the Big 12, not the OSU Cowboys.

No. 10 Oregon

The Oregon Ducks are already on the outside looking in thanks to their Week 1 loss to LSU. With a few more wins, they will get back into the picture, but it won't last.

On Nov. 12, they will drop their second game of the season, this time to the Stanford Cardinal, the new class of the Pac-12.

Oregon is here to stay as a national title contender in the grand scheme of things, but 2011 won't be its year.