BCS Rankings: Why Ryan Broyles' Injury Will Put Oklahoma State in BCS Title Game

Even though Oklahoma State has had a tremendous season to date, climbing up to No. 2 in the recent BCS Standings, one major roadblock still remains between the Cowboys and a spot in the BCS Championship Game.

That roadblock is known as Bedlam. The team is Oklahoma, and to say they've had Oklahoma State's number is putting things mildly.

Instead, a better analogy would be that Oklahoma is to Oklahoma State is what kryptonite is to Superman.

The Sooners own a career 82-16-7 edge over the Cowboys dating back to 1904. In more recent terms, Oklahoma State hasn't beaten Oklahoma since 2002, when they won for the second consecutive time in the series.

This year will be different though. Oklahoma State will win the Bedlam Game and go on to play for the BCS Championship.

For one, the game is being played in Stillwater. Even though Landry Jones and company have gone there in the past and come away winners, with the way the Cowboys are playing at the moment, having that game at home gives them an advantage.

But that's not the biggest reason why the Cowboys will win.

That reason is the knee of Sooners star wide receiver Ryan Broyles.

Broyles, the favorite target of Jones, was one of the top three receivers in the nation before tearing his ACL in the Oklahoma win over Texas A&M on Saturday.

While that is troubling news for the Sooners, for the Cowboys that's one less major weapon to deal with. Any time you take 83 receptions, 1,157 yards and 10 touchdowns out of the lineup, it's big for a defense.

As it stands now, the Sooners will bring the third-best passing attack (380.9 yards per game) in the nation and the sixth-best scoring offense (45.4 points per game) into Stillwater. While the Sooners still have a ton of other weapons that the Cowboys will have to deal with, not having Broyles will impact the Oklahoma attack.

With one less major weapon to deal with, the chances of the Cowboys playing for a championship grow significantly.

The facts are that Jones' best games have come at home, and while he is on a tear at the moment, going into Stillwater without his favorite target will impact the Oklahoma offense.

There's a chance that Oklahoma may feel the effects even before then.

The Oklahoma State defense isn't as bad as most people would like to believe. Not having to deal with Broyles makes the task just a little bit easier.

While the Sooners would like nothing more than to be the team to keep Oklahoma State from playing for the BCS Championship, this year it isn't going to happen.

The Cowboys will find a way to defeat Oklahoma, and without having to play in a conference championship game, they will go on to represent the Big 12 Conference in the BCS Championship Game.