BCS Rankings Week 12: No. 5 Sooners Well Within Reach of BCS

Fresh off the updated Week 12 BCS rankings, the fans in Sooner Nation should feel very optimistic. The Oklahoma Sooners, despite the most perplexing loss by any team all season, are still sitting pretty at the fifth spot.

While it may not seem like an ideal location, if you consider the teams in front of them and the makeup of the most recent BCS poll, Oklahoma in a great position to climb up the board.

Let's take a look at the four teams ranked ahead of Oklahoma and assess the Sooners' chances of working their way up the list and into the Allstate BCS Championship Game.

LSU Tigers

We'll start at the top with the unquestioned top-ranked team, LSU. Their 10.7 points against and 36.5 points for averages become even more impressive when you consider their competition.

Not only have they made it through a tough SEC slate so far, they have also impressively defeated two ranked opponents during non conference play with early wins against Oregon and West Virginia.

So that means they are a shoe-in for the BCS title game, right?

Wrong! The Tigers have the most difficult remaining schedule in the group with a home game against No. 6 Arkansas, who seems to be the only SEC team other than LSU to figure out how to score points, and a potential SEC title game against the surging No. 14 Georgia Bulldogs.

A loss in either of those games would help Oklahoma slide up one more spot. Keep in mind, you only have to get to No. 2.

Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama is the only team that can match LSU defensively, but have been inconsistent offensively and, despite playing in the same division, do not have near as impressive of a resume. Outside of a 38-14 win against No. 6 Arkansas earlier in the season, the Tide do not have much to write home about.

After not scoring a touchdown against LSU the week prior, Alabama struggled to score against a Mississippi State team with only one conference win. They led 10-0 at the beginning of the fourth quarter and needed at touchdown with 1:18 remaining to make the scoreline respectable.

Many experts seem to think a rematch with LSU is inevitable, but I think given their recent slide, relatively weak remaining schedule (Georgia Southern and No. 24 Auburn), and the fact that they will be idle during conference championship weekend all hurt their chances.

We have seen it in the past when a Big Ten team would get passed up the final weekend because they didn't have a conference championship. Oregon, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and LSU will all be playing December 3rd while Alabama watches over their shoulder.

Oklahoma currently sits right behind Alabama in the computer rankings, which make up one third of the final BCS number. If the Sooners win out, eventually defeating No. 2 Oklahoma State, it will surely be enough to jump Alabama in the computer rankings.

It will be up to the human polls at that point and I'd bet there will be enough voters that do not want to see a rematch to allow OU to edge out Alabama in the final BCS poll.

Oregon Ducks

The Ducks present the biggest challenge for the Sooners if they wish to get up to the No. 2 spot. Their defeat of Stanford last week gets a few bonus points considering the media's love affair with the Cardinal all year.

They have a tough game against USC at home next week and a laugher against in-state rival Oregon State who have at times looked like the worst team all of college football.

That will be followed by the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game which, due to NCAA sanctions preventing USC from competing, might feature a team with a losing record representing the Pac-12 South division.

What this means is that if Oregon can get by USC (no easy task), they will have two blowout wins to end their schedule and be "peaking at the right time" as the experts like to say. That kind of momentum will be hard to top for Oklahoma, especially in the human polls.

Just like Alabama, however, the Ducks will be hurt by the fact that they have already been beaten by LSU, 40-27 on a neutral field in Week 1. Many of the human voters will not want to see a rematch for the BCS title, affording more votes to Oklahoma.

The two teams are currently tied in the computer rankings. Oklahoma's tougher schedule would probably give them the edge there.

Oklahoma State Cowboys

Ahhh, yes. Bedlam. Even though Oklahoma stumbled against Texas Tech, ruining the dream unbeaten matchup, this game will still likely be for all the marbles.

A win for Oklahoma State would be the most historic in all their years, finally getting past their big brothers from Norman and earning a spot in the BCS title game. It would also end the current eight-game losing streak to the Sooners, a monkey that Cowboys fans desperately want off their back.

For the Sooners, a victory would have them playing spoiler yet again. For three consecutive seasons, the Cowboys have stormed into the rivalry game ranked in the top 12 with visions of conference titles and BCS invites dancing in their heads, only to suffer heartbreaking losses.

This is by far the best Cowboys team the Sooners have seen since Barry Sanders was roaming the field and will give Oklahoma everything they can handle. The big question mark for the Cowboys will be a defense that has allowed a few too many yards and points than they would like.

This game presents the best chance for the Sooners to jump up to that No. 2 spot in the BCS. If the Sooners can stifle the near legendary OSU offense and win convincingly, it could very well be enough to launch them over Oregon and Alabama.

The computer rankings have favored Big 12 teams all season long and an impressive win against OSU would do a lot in the eyes of the human voters.

Conclusion

So, what does all this mean? To put it simply, the Sooners have a very good chance at sneaking in the back door. Yes, the loss the Texas Tech is going to hinder them, but the teams in front of them have marks against their résumés, as well.

If Oregon, Alabama and Oklahoma all win out, we could see one of the closest finishes in the history of the BCS. The debate will be heated but each of the three teams would have legitimate arguments for and against them.

Oklahoma would have the advantage in the computer polls but it is impossible to guess what the human polls will do once the dust settles on the final weekend of play.

Here we go again!