BCS Standings: LSU and the Five Teams with the Best Chance to Win It All

With eight weeks of the 2011 college football season in the books, the BCS Title picture is clearer than it was in August, but still pretty hazy. There are eight undefeated teams still alive. However, some top 10 teams are feeling much better about their odds than others, for good reason.

As such, here are the five teams with the best chance of winning the 2012 BCS Championship.

5. Stanford Cardinal

The Cardinal has a huge game coming up in three weeks against the Oregon Ducks. If Andrew Luck and company can win that game, they can possibly jump the Boise State Broncos, though it's not a sure thing. Stanford should be No. 6 in this week's BCS Standings. Since only two of the teams ahead of them play each other, they will need some help to get into the BCS Championship game

4. Clemson Tigers

The Tigers came in at No. 7 in the initial ranking, but with the Oklahoma Sooners and Wisconsin Badgers both going down, we can safely assume they will be No. 5 this week. If Clemson can beat the South Carolina Gamecocks and possibly the Virginia Tech Hokies in a rematch in the ACC Championship, I have to imagine they'll have the strength of schedule to jump the Boise State Broncos. Then they would need either the Oklahoma State Cowboys or the winner of the LSU-Alabama game to lose, and they would be in.

3. LSU Tigers

LSU has looked like the best team so far this season, but they still have a very tough road ahead. Everyone assumes that the game against Alabama is a de facto BCS Championship semifinal, but the Crimson Tide still have to play the Arkansas Razorbacks and (if they win out) the SEC East Champion as well. And that game against Alabama is in Tuscaloosa.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide

The Crimson Tide of course have the aforementioned "game of the century" against LSU, along with the Auburn Tigers and a potential SEC Championship Game opponent. While they have an easier remaining schedule than LSU, there are still certainly bumps in the road.

1. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Oklahoma State is in control of their own destiny. They have three games against ranked opponents remaining. If they can beat the Kansas State Wildcats in two weeks, they have a road trip to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders before the season finale against the Oklahoma Sooners. However, they still have an advantage over LSU and Alabama, in that the latter two have to play each other. If the Cowboys can keep playing as well as they currently are, they'll make it to the big game.