BCS Standings 2011: Ranking the Top 5 Championship Contenders

The Week 12 BCS standings were released last night, and to nobody’s surprise, the Oregon Ducks were the big winners this week. After absolutely throttling Stanford for a second year in a row, the Ducks moved all the way up to No. 4 in the rankings, and they’re now within striking distance to possibly make it back to the national championship game.

The way it’s shaping up right now, it looks like the championship race will come down to six horses in the home stretch—LSU, Oklahoma State, Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Oklahoma State are both 10-0 and hold their own championship fate in their hands, but each team still has one big matchup with a top-10 team remaining.

After watching undefeated teams go down week after week since the BCS standings were first released, you have to wonder if the Tigers and the Cowboys can avoid an upset and actually make it to the title game.

These final three weeks should be exciting, and a lot can still happen, but for now, here’s how I’d rank the top five national championship contenders.

1. LSU Tigers

There’s been one constant in this year’s ever-changing BCS rankings, and that’s been the LSU Tigers, who have remained No. 1 since the standings first came out back in Week 8.

The Tigers found a way to get it done in the big “Game of the Century” against Alabama, and now they only have two roadblocks standing between them and New Orleans—a Thanksgiving weekend showdown with Arkansas and the SEC championship game.

LSU has proven that they can handle adversity and still find a way to win, and it’s hard to bet against this team right now, considering the type of swagger and attitude they’ve played with all season.

We know the defense is up to snuff. The only question that remains is, can this team get enough consistent play out of the quarterback position?

The burden will fall on the shoulders of Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee to step up and guide this team to the big game, but they’ve definitely got all the proper pieces around them to make it happen.

2. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden’s Heisman hopes got a big boost when Andrew Luck slipped up this past Saturday. Now all Weeden has to do is notch two more victories, and the trophy may very well be his.

This year, Weeden has been the catalyst of one of the most powerful offensive juggernauts in college football. The Cowboys currently rank second in the country in scoring offense and third in total offense, averaging 51 points and 565 yards per game.

The dangerous offensive trio of Weeden, wide receiver Justin Blackmon and running back Joseph Randle is enough to make any defense cringe.

Sitting at No. 2 in the country, Oklahoma State now controls its own championship destiny, but the Cowboys must figure out a way to finally beat in-state rival Oklahoma in the Bedlam game, something they haven’t done since 2002, if they want to make it to New Orleans.

This offense is certainly a force to be reckoned with. Now we just have to see if Weeden and the rest of the Pokes can handle the pressure of being the No. 2 team in the country for the stretch run of the season.

3. Oregon Ducks

Everyone has been talking about a possible LSU-Alabama rematch in the national championship game, but up until last night, nobody seemed to be discussing a possible LSU-Oregon championship game rematch. That all changed after the Ducks embarrassed Stanford on its home field and moved up to the No. 4 ranking in the standings.

This isn’t the same Oregon team we saw back in Week 1 that ran into an LSU buzzsaw in Arlington. The Ducks are really starting to fly now that running back LaMichael James is fully recovered from an elbow injury and quarterback Darron Thomas is playing up to his potential.

Oregon has one of the most explosive offensive attacks in the country, and the fact that the defense is really starting to pick it up a notch only makes this team even more scary.

They may need a little bit of help to get to the national title game, but right now, the Ducks are playing championship-caliber football. It will be interesting to see if they can make it back to the big game and right their wrong from last year.

4. Alabama Crimson Tide

If Alabama had a decent field-goal kicker or a tight end with stronger hands, it would sit at No. 1 right now. But as it stands, Alabama is going to need some help if it wants to make it to the national championship game.

All Nick Saban’s squad can do is finish off strong in the final few weeks in the “Not So Game of the Century” against Georgia Southern and in the Iron Bowl against Auburn, and hope that somehow the SEC West falls in their favor.

Alabama’s defense is without question the most talented and imposing unit in the country, and the Tide have one of the best offensive weapons in the game with Heisman-candidate running back Trent Richardson.

None of that will matter, though, if the team is sitting home on December 3 instead of playing in the SEC championship game.

5. Arkansas Razorbacks

After two mediocre performances at Ole Miss and Vanderbilt (those 12:21 kickoffs on the road can be killers), Arkansas has been absolutely rolling these past two weeks, and it seems that the Razorbacks offense is now starting to click on all cylinders.

There’s not a receiver corps in the country that’s deeper and more talented than the one Arkansas puts out on the field, and with surging quarterback Tyler Wilson now really starting to develop and mature as he gets more comfortable in the offense, the Razorbacks are starting to hit their stride.

No. 1 LSU better not make their reservations in New Orleans just yet, because the Tigers defense will get all it can handle from Arkansas’ offense on Thanksgiving weekend.

If the Razorbacks can find a way to pull off the upset, and if Alabama drops its final game at Auburn, then there would be no tie-breaker needed, and it would be the Razorbacks who would ultimately represent the West in the championship game.

If Arkansas beats LSU, finishes 12-1 and wins the SEC, the Razorbacks would certainly have a legitimate case to make it into the national championship game.

The Wildcard: Oklahoma Sooners

The Oklahoma Sooners have three really big things going for them right now: They’re 8-1, they play in the conference that’s getting the most respect from the BCS computers and they have a date with the No. 2 team in the country, in-state rival Oklahoma State, on the last weekend of the season.

But they also have two really big things going against them as far as their national championship aspirations are concerned: They have a horrible-looking home loss to Texas Tech on their resume, and they’ll have to somehow find a way to finish out the season without their best overall player, wide receiver Ryan Broyles, who went down for the year with an ACL tear back in Week 10.

The Sooners shouldn’t overlook this weekend’s road trip to Baylor, because quarterback Robert Griffin III can be absolutely lights out at home, but it’s obvious that the team is most focused on the big Bedlam game at the end of the season.

If Oklahoma wins out, beats No. 2 Oklahoma State and finishes 11-1, it will be interesting to see how high they jump in the rankings, and if they can actually make it all the way into the national championship game.