BCS Rankings 2011: 10 Teams Most Likely to Make the BCS Bowls

The first BCS Rankings are out, and it is time to talk about which teams are near-locks to make the BCS Bowls. The processes are simple for making the Bowl Championship Series:

1. The six power conferences make an appearance if they win their conference.

2. Any non-automatic qualifier ranking in the Top 12 will make a BCS Bowl if they are ranked ahead of any conference winner.

3. No BCS conference can have more than two teams.

4. Notre Dame has an automatic berth if they finish in the final Top Eight of the BCS Standings.

If there is any confusion, you can read the bible of the BCS for yourself. So, without further ado, here are the 10 teams most likely to play in the BCS Bowls.

Boise State Broncos

Remaining schedule: Air Force, at UNLV, TCU, at San Diego State, Wyoming, New Mexico.

Need a lock to make the Bowl Championship Series? With their mediocre remaining schedule, Boise State is a near-guarantee. 

The Broncos have two games against UNLV (113th) and New Mexico (118th) that are ranked among the worst teams in the nation, according to the latest BCS rankings.

Air Force is a solid middle-of-the-pack Mountain West Conference team, however they have suffered consecutive losses and their defense is not up to par.

A bit better, San Diego State is in the same line, although TCU could be ranked by the time they play each other on November 12.

Boise State should be three-touchdown favorites in every weekend outside of their game against the Horned Frogs. There is no Nevada on the schedule this season, so I like the chances of the Smurf Turfs.

They may need a ton of help to get into the BCS National Championship, but they are a near-mortal lock to make a BCS Bowl if they continue to run the table.

Clemson Tigers

Remaining Schedule: UNC, at Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, at NCST, at South Carolina.

Yabba-Dabba, doo! These Tigers are the clear-cut favorites to win the ACC this season, and right now there are questions as to who will challenge them.

I suppose Virginia Tech could give them a solid game in the ACC Championship, but they romped them by three touchdowns in Blacksburg not too long ago.

Georgia Tech or North Carolina could also possess a decent challenge, but I haven't been impressed by those two teams yet.

The bottom line is that these Tigers are on a collision course with South Carolina on the road to determine their undefeated season. Can their hated rivals end their perfection? 

Unfortunately, they may not have the schedule to get a shot at the title, but they will be one of the bigger favorites to play in a BCS Bowl (Orange).

West Virginia Mountaineers

Remaining Schedule: at Syracuse, at Rutgers, Louisville, at Cincinnati (Paul Brown Stadium), Pitt, at USF.

The likely Big East winner may have a cake walk towards their first BCS Bowl appearance since 2007-2008.

Geno Smith leads the best offense in the conference, and it is not even that close. Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey are All-World receivers in Big East standards, and they have been slicing and dicing opposing defensive backfields apart.

Who is going to knock off this team? Nobody in the Big East has the explosive offense (4th in passing O) that Dana Holgorsen has. Even if they were to lose one game (doubtful), I seriously doubt another Big East team has less than two losses.

Anyone could make their own dream case of how West Virginia fails to make a BCS Bowl, but until Geno Smith lays a big egg, you can't go against the kid.

Note: Despite awful loss against Syracuse, I still go with Geno and the boys as I think runner-up will have two losses. Who do you have winning Big East?

Alabama Crimson Tide

Remaining Schedule: Tennessee, LSU, at Mississippi State, Georgia Southern, at Auburn.

The Tide may have the most talent in America, and you have to believe Nick Saban will have his troops ready to go on their November 5 battle against LSU.

The winner, of course, will be the front-runner for the BCS National Championship, as the SEC is geared up for what could be their sixth straight title. 

Even if Alabama were to lose at home against LSU, they would more than likely be a lock to still play in the BCS Sugar Bowl representing the SEC. 

Here is another team I would take my chances with, confidently saying that they are a near-lock to play in some sort of BCS Bowl come New Year's time.

LSU Tigers

Remaining Schedule: Auburn, at Alabama, Western Kentucky, at Ole Miss, Arkansas (Fri).

The schedule left for the Bayou Bengals is not very tough if you somehow exclude the Game of the Century. However, that is a game the entire state of Louisiana is looking forward to against the Crimson Tide.

Win or go home, as they say, as a loss would cost the team an opportunity at an SEC Championship, as well as a likely BCS National Championship.

LSU has been accustomed to playing in BCS Bowls, although it has been a few years since their last appearance.

They were so close last year, as a loss to Arkansas on the road at the end of the season decided who earned their Sugar Bowl berth.

That could likely happen again, if the Tigers trip up against Alabama. However, this team has all the talent in the world to knock off every foe on their slate.

The SEC always gets two teams in the BCS, and here is one of your prime suspects.

Oklahoma Sooners

Remaining Schedule: Texas Tech, at Kansas State, Texas A&M, at Baylor, Iowa State, at Oklahoma State.

The teams found above are not exactly amazing, although there could be a few possible road bumps on the way. Oklahoma's game with Kansas State in Manhattan could be a College Gameday destination, and a home game against the Aggies won't be easy.

Ryan Tannehill could get into a shootout with Landry Jones, although the Sooners defense should play a large role in that game (as well as every game).

The biggest road test is clearly their final game against Oklahoma State at Bedlam, as the winner could be playing in the BCS National Championship.

Even if the Sooners do miraculously trip up (they look unbeatable right now), they will still land in a BCS Bowl (Fiesta).

Wisconsin Badgers

Remaining Schedule: at Michigan State, at Ohio State, Purdue, at Minnesota, at Illinois, Penn State.

Five roads are not exactly the keys to success. However, these Badgers have been battle tested for the past few seasons.

Wisconsin will be favored in all of their remaining games, and although this weekend at Michigan State may not go as planned, they are still huge favorites to represent their division at the Big Ten Championship played at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 3.

They have dominated the competition thus far, although nobody has stood out as being any good. (I'm still on fence about Nebraska for right now.) If the Badgers roam into East Lansing and knock off Sparty, then the BCS National Championship whispers will surely come about.

Either way, Wisconsin is nearly a safe bet to make another appearance in a BCS Bowl this holiday season.

Oklahoma State Cowboys

Remaining Schedule: at Missouri, Baylor, Kansas State, at Texas Tech, at Iowa State (Fri), Oklahoma.

Will you jump ship if they lose to Missouri today? I am buying into the Cowboys' chances of making a BCS Bowl, despite never having appeared in one yet.

Their offense is setting records nearly every week with the pitch and catch from Brandon Weeden to Justin Blackmon. However, Josh Cooper and Hubert Anyiam have stepped up their games and they have made these Pokes one of the most explosive teams in the nation.

Even if they go 10-2, I would still think they get an edge over a 9-3/10-2 Stanford/Michigan/Michigan State team, since their schedule is tougher. 

Plus, they have not even lost a game yet, and they do get to host Oklahoma in the final game of the season, which could determine more than just an appearance in a BCS Bowl.

Oregon Ducks

Remaining Schedule: at Colorado, Washington State, at Washington, at Stanford, USC, Oregon State.

The Ducks may have a loss on their hands against an extremely talented LSU team, but they are still the favorites to represent the Pac-12 in my books.

They do have to go on the road against both Washington and Stanford, but I really think they will knock off the Cardinal in Palo Alto on November 12.

If they were to lose that game, then I would gladly eat crow—with Stanford being the obvious team to represent the conference. However, the Ducks' offense is way too explosive to ignore. 

They ran for over 300 yards against what was expected to be a challenge from Arizona State. Luckily, ASU has a legit offense, or else they would have lost that game by 30-plus.

The Ducks defense could become an issue, but they are a quick group that makes game-changing plays when it matters most.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Remaining schedule: USC, Navy, at Wake Forest, Maryland (Landover), Boston College, at Stanford.

I feel like the remaining schedule for the Irish is like one of those physical education exams that was about how to play a specific sport. In other words, easy as pie! 

Notre Dame will be heavy favorites in every single game until they travel to Palo Alto (slated as six-point underdogs) in Andrew Luck's final collegiate game.

Obviously if the Golden Domers get a double-digit (or perhaps a blowout) win over Southern California, it would most likely propel them to the Top 20 in all of the polls. 

The bottom line is that the Irish need to run the table going into the Stanford game and then be able to knock the Cardinal off. That final game should be a play-in game for a BCS Bowl, assuming Stanford were to have lost out on the Pac-12 championship.