BCS Standings: Is Boise State Getting Closer to Title Shot vs. SEC?

In case you were wondering why you didn't see any highlights of Boise State pounding a lowly Mountain West opponent on Saturday, it's because the Broncos had their second and final bye week of the season. They'll return to the field next Saturday against UNLV.

Meanwhile, it was a productive day for the team who was ranked fourth in the BCS headed into the week. Two teams closing in on the Broncos, Clemson and Kansas State, fell from the ranks of the unbeaten.

Last week's standings were divided into three tiers:  LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma State began to pull away from the pack, followed by Boise State, Clemson and Stanford in a close race for the No. 4 spot and Kansas State, Oregon, Oklahoma, and Arkansas in a tight battle at the bottom of the Top 10.

Spinning it forward after yesterday's results, the top three will remain the same.  Clemson and Kansas State likely will fall too far back to recover. Stanford will get a huge boost from beating USC. Even if it's not quite enough to overtake the Broncos this week, it's going to happen soon. Stanford still has difficult games with Oregon and Notre Dame in November.

The two most interesting teams in this race are one-loss Oregon and one-loss Oklahoma. Despite Oregon's loss being much more favorable than Oklahoma (better opponent, away from home, earlier in the season), the Sooners are a bigger threat to Boise State than the Ducks.

For now, let's pencil in the Alabama-LSU winner for one of the two title game spots. For the Broncos to really get in the debate, Oklahoma State and Stanford have to lose. We'll go ahead and say the Cowboys lose the Bedlam game to Oklahoma and Stanford falls to Oregon.

Oregon has three things working against them here. If LSU is No. 1, the title game would then be a rematch. If Alabama is No. 1, then how can the Ducks jump an 11-1 LSU team that beat them by double digits on a neutral field? Finally, despite not playing the Broncos this season, poll voters are well aware that Boise State swept a home-and-home with Oregon in 2008 and 2009, including holding the Ducks to eight points in the 2009 meeting.

The Sooners are a different story. They'll get a bump in the computers from playing in a tougher conference and having a win over rising Florida State outside of the Big 12. Even being one spot behind Oregon in the human polls might be enough to jump the Ducks with the help of the computers.  With the trip to Stillwater being the final significant game of the season, the Sooners will get the coveted last chance to impress voters.

What about the LSU-Alabama loser? While the chances increase each week, a rematch is still a very remote possibility. There's no need to play the game twice. Next week's showdown should mean everything.  That's what makes college football great. It's unfair to next Saturday's winner to have to play again. 

The voters had a chance to rematch Ohio State and Michigan in 2006, and most couldn't pull the trigger when push came to shove, giving Florida the No. 2 ranking. Frankly, if LSU wins in Tuscaloosa and Alabama wins a rematch in New Orleans, both by similar margins, shouldn't LSU be No. 1 since they won on the road?

Recapping, without losses by Oklahoma State and Stanford, Boise State has no chance of playing for the title. If both fall, it's going to get crazy between Boise State, Oklahoma and Oregon. The LSU issue might be too much for Oregon to overcome, and Oklahoma will have lost at home to a team that's going to finish 7-5.

Saturday was a successful day for the Broncos, but they'll need more successful days to really become a player in the national title race. As the calendar turns to November, the best news is that they're in the mix. The leaders didn't falter in 2009 and 2010, but 2011 might be different. Welcome to the playoffs.