BCS Rankings 2011: 5 Teams We'd Love to See in the BCS Championship

Eight weeks of the 2011 college football season are in the books. With just five games remaining for each team, crunch time has officially arrived.

As each week passes, more mysteries are unraveled. Overachieving teams come back to Earth, and underachievers find their groove at just the right time.

Certain teams will undoubtedly stick around. This season, LSU and Alabama are head-and-shoulders above everyone else. The best of the best will be determined Nov. 5 when the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa to face the Crimson Tide.

Many teams playing many different styles and taking many different paths to reach one common goal. One shot at the BCS National Championship. The crown jewel of college football.

Here are five teams we would like to see playing in the big one at the end of the year:

Clemson Tigers

The Clemson Tigers have ripped off eight straight wins behind quarterback Tajh Boyd and wide receiver Sammy Watkins.

Three of the Tigers' eight wins were against ranked opponents. The Tigers defeated Florida State, Virginia Tech and Auburn earlier in the season.

Clemson certainly has the resume. Victories over Georgia Tech and South Carolina could put the Tigers' resume up there with the best of the best.

The Tigers may not be the most talented team in the nation, but their offense alone is worth watching.

Boyd's dynamic dual-threat ability combined with Watkins' freaky play-making ability gives the Tigers one of the best quarterback-wide receiver duos in the country.

If Clemson were in the national title game, it could easily turn into a shootout.

Prolific offense makes for an exciting college football finale.

Stanford Cardinal

Andrew Luck's decision to return to Stanford in 2011 appears wise so far. Stanford is 7-0 through Week 8. The Cardinal are ranked No. 4 in the newest AP poll.

The Cardinal rank second in the nation in scoring offense and fourth in the nation in scoring defense. These numbers are inflated because of a lackluster schedule, but the Cardinals are a very good team nonetheless.

Week 9 brings USC up on Stanford's Pac-12 slate. This will be a test for the Cardinal in front of a hostile Trojan crowd.

Remaining games against Oregon and Notre Dame will also test the Cardinals' worth.

When the regular season concludes, Stanford will be undefeated. They are a very fundamental football team and they happen to have the most NFL-ready player in college football.

Luck returned to Stanford to get his degree. He may have a chance at a national championship and a Heisman Trophy before all is said and done.

Boise State Broncos

The Boise State Broncos are 7-0 and hold the No. 5 ranking in the Week 9 version of the AP poll.

A No. 5 ranking is very good, but not if you're Boise. The Broncos watched Oklahoma and Wisconsin fall in Week 8. Before they could get excited, Oklahoma State and Stanford slipped by them into the third and fourth spots in the poll.

As a college football fan, how can you not pull for the Broncos at this point?

There is always going to be the weak schedule argument. Sure, the Broncos do not play anyone outside of their one marquee non-conference matchup. However, how many wins does a program have to accumulate before they are just good?

Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore might be a robot. He has out-of-this-world accuracy and runs the Broncos' offense with a mechanical efficiency.

Barring a fluke, the Broncos will be undefeated at the end of the season. Arguing in their favor is futile at this point.

It's time to give this team a shot to either put up or shut up.

Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama is 8-0 heading into their Week 9 bye week. Following the bye week, Tuscaloosa will become the epicenter of college football in Week 10 when LSU comes to town.

The Crimson Tide have victories over three ranked teams this season. Their utter dominance over their opponents has been staggering at times.

The Tide have the top ranked scoring defense in the nation. Allowing less than seven points per game is absurd. Even a bad offense would find success with that sort of protection.

Thanks to Trent Richardson, the Tide don't have a bad offense. The Heisman hopeful has carried the unproven passing attack with his consistency week in and week out.

The argument could be made that the real national championship is being played Nov. 5 in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

No matter the outcome, the Tide are too talented and too well-coached to miss a chance for another national championship.

LSU Tigers

The LSU Tigers are 8-0. The Tigers will get a break in Week 9 before they have to travel to Tuscaloosa for the biggest clash of the college football season.

LSU's resume is bulletproof. Five victories over ranked opponents combined with the merit of a standard SEC schedule gives LSU the most impressive array of wins in the nation.

Offensively, the Tigers are solid but not excellent. Their passing attack shows flashes of big-play ability, and their run game is underrated. Spencer Ware and Michael Ford form a formidable two-headed monster in the Tigers' backfield.

The LSU defense, on the other hand, is out of this world. If not the best unit, one of the top two defenses in the entire nation. The Tigers have athletes at all three levels, and their secondary depth creates havoc for opposing signal-callers.

LSU has looked dominant to start the season. The Week 10 clash with Alabama will be a major test. Win or lose, the Tigers are the class of the country so far this season.