BCS Rankings Week 11: Oklahoma State No Safe Bet to Play for National Title

If there's anything we've learned from the 2011 college football season, it's that nobody in the BCS National Championship picture is ever safe, not even the teams sitting in the top two.

I'm talking to you, Oklahoma State.

I know, I know. Technically, the Cowboys are in ideal position to play for the crystal football. They control their own destiny, which is about as much as any team with title dreams can hope for at the start of November.

What's more, Mike Gundy has a collection of players who are capable of controlling that destiny and, more importantly, aren't afraid to do so, especially on offense. Brandon Weeden has looked every bit the Heisman Trophy contender he was touted as coming into the season. Justin Blackmon still looks like the best receiver in college football but is far from the only good pass-catcher in Stillwater, as he's flanked by Tracy Moore and Justin Cooper.

And lest you think the Pokes are one-dimensional, don't forget about their terrific trio of 'backs, with Joseph Randle leading the way and Jeremy Smith and Herschel Sims chipping in behind him.

But it's going to take a lot more than a never-ending supply of points to get OK State to its first-ever BCS bowl to compete for its first-ever national championship.

Some defense would certainly help. The Pokes rank 77th in the nation in points allowed and surrendered 45 to a Kansas State squad that averages 33 per game this season and had managed just 17 the week prior, in a 41-point loss to No. 6 Oklahoma.

Which reminds me, the biggest sticking point that could keep OK State away from New Orleans is that season-ending Bedlam Game against the arch rival Sooners.

No easy task, considering the Pokes haven't beaten the team from Norman since 2002 and sport an all-time record of 16-82-7 against OU.

Now, by no means am I suggesting that the Cowboys won't play for the national title or that they're doomed to add to the long history of disappointment on which the football program rests.

Rather, it's difficult to deny the sneaking suspicion that OK State may well trip and fall.

Because as great as it would be to see the Pokes playing for all the marbles, it's important to remember that the Yellow Brick Road to New Orleans is paved with potholes.

Just the sort of potholes that the Pokes have been fortunate to avoid so far, but of which there are many yet to come.

Rank	Team	BCS Average
1	LSU	.9931
2	Oklahoma State	.9447
3	Alabama	.8836
4	Stanford	.8749
5	Boise State	.8473
6	Oklahoma	.7978
7	Oregon	.7708
8	Arkansas	.7452
9	Clemson	.6435
10	Virginia Tech	.5913
11	Houston	.551
12	Penn State	.484
13	South Carolina	.453
14	Kansas State	.381
15	Georgia	.370
16	Texas	.366
17	Michigan State	.337
18	Wisconsin	.305
19	Nebraska	.279
20	Auburn	.210
21	Georgia Tech	.209
22	Southern Mississippi	.204
23	Cincinnati	.187
24	Michigan	.177
25	Baylor	.071