BCS Rankings 2011: Harris Poll Shows National Championship Race is Wide Open

The first edition of the Harris Interactive Poll is finally out, and though it doesn't exactly reveal anything that college football fans haven't already picked up on, it does confirm just how wide open the race for the BCS National Championship is heading into the midpoint of the 2011 season.

Six teams garnered first-place votes in the Harris Poll, which constitutes one third of the equation used to determine the BCS rankings. LSU leads the way with 71 first-place nods, followed by Oklahoma with 24, though the Sooners check in at No. 3 behind Alabama, which picked up 17 of its own top ballots.

Wisconsin, Boise State and Stanford split the other three, while Oklahoma State got nary a nod from the amalgamation of former players, coaches, writers and athletic directors who comprise the Harris Poll.

All of which points to one simple fact—the crystal football is as up-for-grabs as perhaps it's ever been. Technically, the national title hunt extends far beyond just the six teams that picked up first-place votes in the Harris Poll. Thirteen teams in college football remain undefeated, with only four guaranteed to fall at some point this season.

Realistically, though, the BCS title game will feature two teams from among the foursome of LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, with Wisconsin, Stanford and Boise State ready to jump into the mix if something goes awry.

That situation figures to leave plenty of worthy teams shut out of the national championship picture and smarting as a result, with the usual suspects coming out of the woodwork to call for a college football playoff and bringing plenty of new converts with them.

In the end, though, fans (and bowl game executives) will be the biggest winners in this deal. Who wouldn't want to watch the winner of the Big 12 and the SEC duke it out for the national title? How about Wisconsin and Stanford going at it in the Rose Bowl? We could even see Boise State taking on the SEC runner-up in the Sugar Bowl, Oklahoma State and Oregon in a shootout in the Fiesta Bowl and the champion of the ACC (Clemson or Georgia Tech) going toe-to-toe with West Virginia in the Orange Bowl.

And that would still leave the other bowls with a pretty solid field of teams to choose from, with the likes of Michigan, Nebraska and Arkansas seeking New Year's Day invites.

However, let's not get ahead of ourselves. For now, college football fans can sit back, relax and enjoy the roller coaster ride that the rest of the 2011 is sure to be while pollsters busy themselves with sorting out teams one through 25.