BCS Standings 2011: Top 4 Spots Mean Nothing with Looming Matchups

Despite all the fuss made over the first BCS rankings of the season, when it comes down to it, the top-four ranked teams cancel one another out.

No. 1 is LSU, No. 2 is Alabama, No. 3 is Oklahoma and No. 4 is Oklahoma State, and it won’t be this way for much longer.

Everything changes on November 5 when the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the Crimson Tide.

This will almost certainly be a matchup that decides who plays in the national championship game.

Every team in the SEC East already has at least one loss, and it seems likely that whichever team wins that division will go into the SEC title game with at least two losses and come out with a third.

That means that LSU or Alabama will reach the title game, but that is no surprise after seven weeks of college football.

The No. 3 and 4 teams also will square off, on December 3 to end the season. Since the Big 12 no longer has an even amount of teams and has no divisions, this will once again be the de facto conference championship game.

I firmly believe that if both the Sooners and Pokes are undefeated going into the final game, the winner of that showdown will guarantee itself a place in the BCS national championship game.

This would set up a great Big 12-SEC showdown and also leave a number of solid teams eligible for the other four BCS bowls.

Fortunately for fans of teams like Wisconsin, Stanford and Boise State, which may also run the table, a lot could happen in the remaining weeks of the season.

If any of the top four falter before and possibly even after their big games, these programs will have a great chance to jump up and earn a national title berth.