BCS Standings 2011: Will the BCS Work or Fail This Season?

The fact that we even have to question whether or not the BCS will get it right on a yearly basis is reason enough for every college football fan to complain. But, based on the past history of the Bowl Championship Series, only the fans of the handful of teams that get left out will cry bitter tears around the first week of January. 

Given the amount of currently undefeated teams that have a real shot at staying undefeated through November, there's a good chance that the BCS is on the verge of another massive failure. 

Four of the top eight teams in the nation will play each other in November, but the possibility remains that there will be six undefeated teams—five from BCS automatic qualifying conferences—at season's end. 

The fanbases at Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State should go ahead and send their thank you cards to the BCS office for their very favorable initial BCS ranking.

While the top two are likely to be more than deserving of a shot at a national championship, by definition, at least three of the remaining four undefeated teams should get a shot as well. 

The BCS can shrug off Boise State with little repercussion. Sure, Broncos' fans will be up in arms, and a few of their allies will rally in the Mountain West Conference champion's support, but by and large the belief is that the system will have worked if Boise is the only undefeated team left out of the mix.

That's not so if the both the Big Ten champion, hypothetically Wisconsin, and the Pac 12 champion, presumably Stanford, are both undefeated and have to settle for a Rose Bowl appearance and a shot at finishing the season as the No. 2 team in the nation.

Oh, and what about Clemson? The ACC might not be as historically significant as the Big Ten and Pac 12, but an undefeated team from a BCS automatic qualifying conference deserves so much more than a prestigious bowl game and a nice little trophy at season's end. 

The BCS apologists are still holding out hope that it will all work out prior to the first Sunday in December, when the bowl pairings are announced.

Between now and then, Stanford still has to play USC, Oregon and Notre Dame. Wisconsin still has road trips to Ohio State and Illinois. Clemson has to go on the road three times in the final four weeks of the season. 

Each of those teams would have to win a conference championship game to stay undefeated as well. 

So, there's definitely still a chance that it will all work out and we'll have to hear BCS proponents brag about the system all offseason long. But there's little doubt that we'll be right back here at the same time next season, questioning whether or not the BCS will fail as it has in the past.