BCS Rankings 2011: LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State Control Own Destiny

Amidst the muddled mess that is the BCS six weeks into the 2011 college football season, there has emerged a select group of four top-flight contenders that, if all goes as expected, will yield the two teams that will play for the BCS National Championship Game.

Those four? LSU and Alabama from the SEC and Oklahoma and Oklahoma State from the Big 12.

Each of these teams sits comfortably in the Top 10 of the USA Today Coaches Poll and the Harris Interactive Poll, the first edition of which was released this week. These polls constitute two-thirds of the equation for the BCS rankings, with six computer rankings comprising the final third.

As such, these "Big Four" should all find themselves quite comfortably positioned in the BCS rankings when the initial Top 25 is released on Oct.16.

At this point, LSU sports the strongest resumes, with four wins over ranked opponents, three of which came away from Baton Rouge.Then comes Alabama, with three wins over Top 25 teams, followed by Oklahoma with two, over a defunct Florida State team and an overmatched Texas squad, and then Oklahoma State with their one shining moment at Texas A&M.

The Tigers and the Crimson tide could probably each withstand a loss and still reach the BCS title game, thanks to their strong schedules, though the same cannot necessarily be said for the Sooners and the Cowboys.

Of greater import, though, is what these teams do from here on out.

LSU and Alabama will face off on Nov.5 to essentially decide the SEC West, while Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will play in the Bedlam game Stillwater on Dec. 3 in what is shaping up to be the de facto Big 12 Championship.

Thus, by season's end, at least two of the four will inevitably be removed from the crystal football equation.

Of course, all of these points could be rendered moot in short order. LSU has a tough home game against Auburn before hitting the road to Tuscaloosa, Oklahoma has three games against ranked opponents—at Kansas State, home against Texas A&M and at Baylor—before booming into Stillwater, and Oklahoma State still has to tackle the Wildcats and the Bears, as well.

The only team that gets off scot-free here is Alabama, which only needs a win at Ole Miss and at home against a banged-up Tennessee team before the Bayou Bengals come to town.

Now, if I had to pick two teams to emerge from this mess to play in New Orleans for the BCS title, I'd go with Alabama and Oklahoma.

Assuming the Tide roll over the Tigers in November, they'll finish up with Mississippi State, Georgia Southern and Auburn in the annual Iron Bowl. LSU, on the other hand, would still have to beat Arkansas at home to hang on in the SEC West, even if The Hat caps a big win over Nick Saban's squad.

In the Big 12, Oklahoma has the tougher schedule, with three games against ranked opponents on the road, but Oklahoma State's ineptitude on defense, combined with the Pokes' long and unsettling history of disappointment, has me leaning toward Landry Jones, Ryan Broyles and an underrated Sooners defense to take care of business on the way to the Superdome.

And, taking it one step further, I'd have to go with the Crimson Tide bringing home their second national title in three years, and the sixth in a row for the SEC, with an exciting, hard-fought victory over OU.