BCS Rankings: Oregon's Early Loss Won't Keep Them from BCS Rematch with LSU

You never want to fail in the sprint that is the college football season. But if you are going to lose a game, you better make damn sure you do it early in the season. 

The BCS may be a great many things, but forgiving has never entered the lexicon of attributes we have placed on the ranking system. It is time that we do. 

The BCS can be extremely forgiving, they just need time to forget past transgressions. This is no more prevalent than in the tale of the 2011 Oregon Ducks. 

Consider that both the Ducks and Cardinal both have one loss and only one of them has even a glimmer of hope in contending for a title. 

The Ducks adhered to one of the rules that goes ignored in college football. Don't lose late. In what has been a wild season that we just might consider among the best in recent history, the BCS has had to practice some very forgiving ends as the teams are computed. 

Consider that the one outlier to this rule is currently playing in the Top 5. Alabama lost late and may still pull off the coup of the decade in sneaking back into BCS Title contention. 

On Saturday, fans were treated to one of the more exciting aspects of college football. An national giant with a Heisman shoe-in was trounced, essentially ending their hope of winning a title this season. 

At the same time, a program that was considered dead a couple months ago is suddenly back in the race. The Oregon Ducks dispatched of the assumed best in the West this past weekend. 

In doing so, they have moved within spitting distance of the team that was supposed to have killed any chance they had of BCS prestige this season. 

As the No. 4 team in the nation, the Ducks have the very real possibility of playing in the title game against the LSU Tigers, a team that destroyed them in the season opener, and was supposed to have destroyed their chances for a title. 

It seems you can lose and play for a title in a season of perfect teams, but you have to be sure to lose early, just like the Ducks have done.