BCS Rankings: Predicting the Top 10 Teams of the First BCS Poll

We’re only four weeks into the 2011 college football season, yet we’ve already seen some big shakeups in both polls.

Some teams are surging up the rankings, while others look like they’re about to fall off the edge of the cliff.

This first month has provided us with some great games, some exciting upsets and a few hints about what we should expect in the near future.

As conference play officially commences this weekend, it’s time to really get down to business and start separating the contenders from the pretenders.

We’ll have to wait until Week 8 to find out the results of the first BCS rankings, but that doesn’t have to stop us from speculating.

If I were putting together my own personal BCS rankings, here are the 10 teams that would make the cut.

1. LSU Tigers

Wow.

That’s the only word I could think of after watching the Tigers physically out-athletic my alma mater West Virginia on Saturday night.

Yes, I know they’re still a little on the young side, but the talent level on this team is just ridiculous.

The Tigers' defense is developing into the type of monster that we saw from the 2009 Alabama team.

Les Miles has the formula down pat.

Ride a strong two-headed running back tandem with Michael Ford and Spencer Ware, let the defense shut down the opponent and then hope QB Jarrett Lee can manage the game effectively and not make any critical mistakes.

Sure, it’s sort of boring in this era of high-flying spread offenses, but sometimes, boring wins.

We’re only four weeks into the season and already the Tigers have taken down three ranked opponents away from home.

Until someone can step up and actually knock this team off, there’s no reason to believe that LSU isn’t on the fast track to New Orleans for this year’s title game.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide

Mark who?

Alabama RB Trent Richardson has broken out of his Heisman-winning predecessor Mark Ingram’s shadow and defied even the highest of expectations, racking up 441 yards on the ground and scoring nine TDs so far.

With Richardson toting the rock and a suffocating defense that shuts down every opponent it goes up against, it’s hard to see anybody besides LSU beating this Alabama team.

Sure, there are concerns about QB A.J. McCarron in big spots, but, so far, the young sophomore signal-caller has developed as expected.

Unless McCarron implodes, the Tide should roll into the big Nov. 5 matchup against LSU undefeated.

3. Oklahoma Sooners

There are a ton of great passing combinations in college football this year, but I’m not sure if I would take any of them over Oklahoma’s dangerous duo of QB Landry Jones and WR Ryan Broyles.

Jones and Broyles are two of the most dangerous offensive players in the country, and they’ve got the type of talent to carry the Sooners through the season unscathed.

Yes, it’s true the Oklahoma defense needs a little work, but in the coming weeks the unit should come together and gel.

Jones and Broyles alone are enough to make any defense look foolish, but when you add in all the emerging weapons that the Sooners have, it’s almost not even fair to think about what this team is capable of doing in a given game.

As always, the matchup with Texas on Oct. 8 will be a battle, but if the Sooners can survive that one, they’ll head into the stretch run of the season in very good shape.

4. Oklahoma State Cowboys

There’s probably only one passing duo that I would even think about taking over the Jones-Broyles combo, and that’s Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon.

Even without Dana Holgorsen calling the shots, Weeden and Blackmon have picked up right where they left off from last season.

The Cowboys rank second in the country in passing offense, averaging 415 yards per game.

The scary part is the Cowboys have found a perfect replacement for departed running back Kendall Hunter with stud sophomore Joseph Randle.

Yes, the defense is still shaky, but when you’ve got an offense that can roll up yards and points like this one, you can beat anybody in the country, including your in-state rival.

5. Stanford Cardinal

So far, college football’s golden boy, Andrew Luck, has lived up to his big billing.

Through three games, Luck has already thrown for 786 yards and eight TDs, and he doesn’t look like he’s going to slow up any time soon.

New head coach David Shaw has had a nice, easy month to get his feet under him, and he’s now starting to get a good feel for where his team’s strengths and weaknesses are.

The Cardinal defense has looked deceptively strong against poor competition, but we'll have to see how they handle the likes of Oregon and Notre Dame.

Even if the defense comes back down to earth a bit, this Luck-led offense is still good enough to put up enough points on anybody that they’ll have to face this season.

Stanford will have a few tests along the way but the Cardinal should go into the big game against Oregon on Nov. 12 with an unblemished record.

6. Wisconsin Badgers

Multidimensional quarterack Russell Wilson has made a seamless transition from North Carolina State to Wisconsin, and so far he’s got the Badgers' offense rolling like a freight train, averaging 48 points and 532 yards per game through the first four weeks.

Wilson has looked like a star, throwing for over 1,100 yards and 11 TDs and the ground game, led by Montee Ball and James White, has been as effective as expected, averaging 245 yards per game.

The problem for Wisconsin is that its September resume is weak. Beating UNLV, South Dakota State, Northern Illinois and Oregon State is not going to impress the voters.

That will change this week, though, when the Badgers welcome No. 8 Nebraska to Camp Randall Stadium.

If Wisconsin can get through the Cornhuskers, it will help to solidify the team’s legitimacy.

7. Boise State Broncos

Hey, remember Boise State?

They’re the team that beat up Georgia on opening weekend and then went back to Idaho to go into hiding until November.

The Broncos have certainly fallen out of the national spotlight since their big Week 1 win, but they just keep rolling right along, piling up blowouts.  

The fact that Boise doesn’t have any marquee games until November is going to hurt them, but as long as they keep winning, Kellen Moore and the boys should stay right in the thick of things.

8. South Carolina Gamecocks

If there’s one player in college football who I would never, ever want to have to tackle, it’s South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore.

Lattimore is one of the the most naturally gifted and physically imposing specimens in the country, and he’s the type of back the Gamecocks can ride all the way to Atlanta.

WR Alshon Jeffery has been a bit of a disappointment so far this season, but he should bounce back as the season wears on.

If South Carolina can tighten up its run defense, this team has to be the favorite to win the SEC East.

9. Oregon Ducks

After an early setback against LSU, Oregon has rallied and looked like the same offensive juggernaut we saw back in 2010.

The Ducks are averaging 52 points and 533 yards per game behind the play of star back LaMichael James and second-year starting quarterback Darron Thomas, who has improved mightily as a passer.

The defense still has some concerns, and the lack of a true go-to receiver could come back to bite them. As it stands now, however,  there’s no reason to believe that the Ducks won’t be in the running with Stanford in the Pac-12 North division.

10. Clemson Tigers

After big victories over Auburn and Florida State in back-to-back weeks, Clemson is quickly becoming one of the fastest-rising teams of the 2011 season.

The Tigers have two ultra-dangerous offensive weapons in speedy running back Andre Ellington and emerging freshman sensation receiver Sammy Watkins.

QB Tajh Boyd is maturing in his first year as a starter and starting to look more and more like the 5-Star recruit we saw coming out of high school.

The Tigers are one of the fastest and most athletic teams in the country, and if they can pull off a trifecta by beating Virginia Tech in Blacksburg this weekend, they’ll have the whole country’s attention.