BCS Standings 2011: Oklahoma State and 3 Teams Crashing the National Title Scene

The Bowl Championship Series ranking always has controversy when the first poll is released. The debate typically comes from fans of schools that were ranked too low (in their humble opinion).  

Those fans have a reason to gripe, but, they should not be worried that their team is going to miss out on a chance to play in the National Title game. 

For example, last year’s BCS rankings had Oklahoma and Oregon as the No. 1 and No.2 teams respectively when the first rankings came out. Oregon was lucky enough to survive the rest of the season undefeated. 

However, Oklahoma lost their first game after being ranked No.1. Their loss was Auburn’s gain, as the next week the Tigers leapfrogged Boise State to gain one of the two top spots in the standings. 

The Tigers would finish their regular season undefeated and No. 1 in the final BCS standings, eventually beating Oregon in the National Title game.  

In fact in 2008, the BCS rankings started with No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Alabama. By the third week of these rankings, it was No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas Tech, by a Texas Tech team that opened the BCS standings at No. 8. The final BCS rankings had No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Florida. And both of these teams had started in the BCS rankings at No. 4 and No. 10 respectively.  

The point is, if your team is in the Top 10, like Florida was in ’08, you still have as good of a shot at winning the National Championship as the team that started out at No. 1.  

So, with that being said, here are three teams that have a great chance at crashing the top spot of the BCS rankings. 

Oklahoma State Cowboys: 6 AP Poll, 7 USA Today Poll 

Oklahoma State has a road win against No. 8 Texas A&M as their signature victory of the season. The Cowboys have plenty of chances to improve their BCS ranking with upcoming games against the following ranked Big-12 teams: No. 22 Texas, No. 20 Baylor, No. 17 Kansas State and No. 3 Oklahoma. 

Boise State Broncos: 5 AP Poll, 6 USA Today Poll 

The Broncos have their lone win against a ranked Georgia team, then No. 19. After that, they do not and will not have another game against a ranked opponent. If the Broncos move up in the BCS rankings, it will be because of another team’s loss.

And, while we know that no one would wish harm on another team (wink wink), some likely to help Boise State’s efforts are Alabama, LSU and Oklahoma. Based on current projections and rumors, all of which are teams likely to open the BCS ranking on top

Stanford Cardinals: 7 AP Poll, 5 USA Today Poll 

Stanford has yet to play a ranked team this year. In fact, their only game against a ranked opponent this year will come against Oregon, when the Ducks travel to Stanford.  

If they expect to move up in the BCS rankings, they, like Boise State, will have to get help from other teams losing. 

The Broncos and Cardinals will have to hope that all three of the top teams loses at least one game in order to change their fate. Lucky for Boise State and Stanford, Alabama and LSU face off November 5, 2011. And, Oklahoma has a number of ranked teams on their upcoming schedule including Oklahoma State, who is also likely to move up in the polls.

Bottom line, there is still a lot of college football left. 

Twitter: @tjmcaloon