BCS Rankings: Oklahoma State's Flawed Defense Makes Cowboys Overrated BCS Team

After LSU's big win over Alabama Saturday night, the No. 3 Oklahoma State Cowboys are in position to take over the No. 2 spot in this week's BCS standings.

The Cowboys dodged a dagger Saturday night in Stillwater, surviving No. 14 Kansas State in a Big 12 shootout, 52-45.

The 45 points were the most the Cowboys have given up all season and raise serious questions about whether Oklahoma State is a worthy national championship contender.

Although the Cowboys boast the nation's second-best passing and scoring offense, they rank 77th in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score more than 28 points per game on average.

Oklahoma State hasn't had any trouble scoring on the opposition, as they can beat defenses through the air with the brilliant quarterback to wideout combination of Brandon Weeden to Justin Blackmon and on the ground with their 170 rushing yards per game.

That being said what would happen if Mike Gundy's ball club was pitted against a dominant SEC defense like that of LSU's?

Oklahoma State would likely find yardage and points tough to come by against the Tigers on a neutral field, or anywhere for that matter.

LSU would be favored heavily as a team that can score 36 points per game while allowing a little more than 10 to some of the best teams in the country.

Meanwhile the undefeated No. 4 Stanford Cardinal have plowed through their Pac-12 schedule while allowing under 17 points per game, quite impressive given the quality of offenses they've faced so far.

And similarly to Stanford, No. 5 Boise State is undefeated behind a scoring solid defense, which oddly enough ranks directly behind Stanford's, 12th-best in the nation.

One can easily make that argument that these two teams feature offenses that are every bit as lethal as Oklahoma States, and defenses that overwhelmingly exceed that of the Cowboys.

Unless Oklahoma State tightens up it's D, it won't even be in the BCS conversation at season's end, having lost to any one of it's last three opponents.