Predictable 1st BCS Rankings Announced; Breaking Down the Tougher Title Roads

In the the first Bowl Championship series of 2011, no one is surprised to see LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State leading the top slots. Two SEC teams and two Big XII teams remain undefeated, securing a foothold on the big prize. Boise State, Wisconsin, Clemson, Stanford, Arkansas, and Oregon are included to round out the top-10.

Two of those top-4 teams *might* finish the season undefeated. Decision making games matching this top four will certainly be the most exciting games of the mid-season. Winners who go undefeated after a conference championship game are rare still, I predict two of these teams will finish undefeated. 
The plot thickens; does Boise State have a chance? Which Clemson do we have? Could Wisconsin and Stanford *also* go undefeated?

Lets begin with Boise State. The Broncos can only do so much. If undefeated, they could face five teams leading them as their season rolls out. Boise's conference schedule does nothing to help them from here on out. Their Achilles heel remains; they are a very good team in a bad conference. The Broncos already played some tough ‘out of conference’ games this year. They will continue to play out their conference schedule, hammering opponents and hamming for style points with the BCS pollsters.

Then we have the conundrum that is the Big Ten and PAC-12. When the BCS was initially introduced, the Rose Bowl had a contract with those conferences that caused issues with their winners being bound to that game. Well, if Stanford and Wisconsin run the table we could have that again. The Badgers have some minor hurdles, but the Cardinal still has Oregon on its remaining schedule. Each team would also have a championship game, but neither should face an incredibly daunting challenge in the contest. 

Sure, Clemson remains undefeated, but they seem like one of the least likely to win out. Yesterday, they handed Maryland 45 points, then clawed their way out of the grave in the wake of an 18-point deficit. A member of the weaker ACC, Clemson shines while Florida State falls out of the top-25. Even if Clemson scores a win against Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech in the championship game, they cannot earn enough cred to jump the BCS ranks. Can Clemson finish undefeated? After the game with Maryland, I won’t gamble on it.

Kansas State is also lurking as an undefeated, but as much as Bill Snyder's return to the Little Apple is a feel good story, I don't think they can give either Oklahoma or Oklahoma State a run in the Big XII Championship. 

There's a better than not chance we'll see as many as five undefeated teams, which would absolutely throw chaos into the system going into bowls. That would leave us with as many as three after the bowls. It will surely be another conflict filled BCS season season.