BCS Rankings: Re-Power Ranking the 1-Loss Teams After Oklahoma State Upset

Welcome to chaos.

With the Oklahoma State Cowboys stunning loss to the Iowa State Cyclones, the 2012 BCS Championship race is officially a mess.

The undefeated LSU Tigers rank ahead of everyone else at this point. But what about all of those one-loss teams fighting for the second spot in the title game? Where do they stack up?

In the event of 2007-caliber madness ensuing, differentiating between teams that are currently ranked No. 5 or No. 6 could be important. As such, here are the power rankings for the nine one-loss teams in college football, which occupy the No. 2 through No. 10 spots in the most recent BCS standings.

9. Boise State Broncos

The Boise State Broncos are out of the BCS title race, and their fans know it. Unlike just about any team in a BCS conference (other than perhaps the Big East), the Broncos have no margin for error.

I rank them as the lowest one-loss team for three reasons:

1. They lost two receivers (Titus Young and Austin Pettis) to the NFL, which undoubtedly makes them worse than last year.
2. The only good team they've beaten is the Georgia Bulldogs, who despite bouncing back to a 7-2 record and No. 14 ranking haven't beaten anyone themselves (how is it possible for an SEC team to play seven straight games against unranked competition?).
3. In playing such a weak schedule, they should have been extra-ready for a tough game like the one they lost to the TCU Horned Frogs. I don't want to hear a word about missed field goals. They were out-gained by 150 yards in that loss.

8. Stanford Cardinal

Perhaps it seems unfair to rank a Stanford Cardinal team that beat Virginia Tech soundly in the Orange Bowl last year behind the Hokies now, but I'm using the eye test (and looking at how teams are trending).

The Cardinal amassed a point differential of about 1,000 early in the season against consistently weak opponents before escaping a triple-overtime game against the USC Trojans three weeks ago.

However, they were unceremoniously brought back down to earth last week when they were dominated at home by the Oregon Ducks. I think Oregon is very good, but Stanford was still woefully unimpressive in the biggest game of their season.

I think the loss of Jim Harbaugh (who is a heck of a coach, it turns out) is certainly reason enough to consider the Cardinal a notch below where they were last year.

T-7. Arkansas Razorbacks

The Arkansas Razorbacks only loss came against the Alabama Crimson Tide, but it was an ugly one. The Razorbacks were out-gained by over 170 yards and turned the ball over twice.

Since then, Arkansas should probably have lost two games. They came back from down 18 to beat the Texas A&M Aggies and were bailed out against the Vanderbilt Commodores by a red-zone fumble that was returned 93 yards for a touchdown.

However, Arkansas has looked solid in the last two games, stomping the South Carolina Gamecocks and Tennessee Volunteers.

Still, they have to play the LSU Tigers in two weeks, which really makes this ranking moot. If they win, they will jump to the top, and if they lose (as I'm confident they will), they will no longer be in consideration.

T-7. Virginia Tech Hokies

The one good thing about the Virginia Tech Hokies loss to the Clemson Tigers is that it seems to have woken up quarterback Logan Thomas.

Running back David Wilson has been good all season, rushing for over 100 yards eight times. Now, despite a very slow start to the season, Thomas has become an offensive machine himself, throwing for 12 touchdowns (with just two interceptions) and rushing for eight more since the Clemson loss.

If it weren't for all the injuries that have ravaged the defense, the Hokies would be fighting for one of the top spots among one-loss teams. They will likely get a chance to avenge their one loss in the ACC Championship game.

5. Clemson Tigers

This team is only ranked No. 5 because they beat the Virginia Tech Hokies head-to-head. Right now, my money would be on the Hokies in a rematch.

The Tigers have struggled mightily the last few weeks after a hot start to the season, in which they beat ranked teams in three consecutive weeks, looked like a serious BCS title contender and had a good shot to go undefeated.

They had to climb back from an 18-point deficit against a bad Maryland Terrapins team a month ago, they lost to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at home two weeks ago, and they barely escaped the Wake Forest Demon Deacons last Saturday. I think it's safe to say Clemson is trending downward.

4. Oklahoma Sooners

As ESPN's Rece Davis said last week, how on earth did this team lose to the Texas Tech Red Raiders?

Other than that one game, the Oklahoma Sooners have been dominant all season. They beat a pretty good Florida State Seminoles team on the road and absolutely dominated the Texas Longhorns and Kansas State Wildcats.

Still, after the way the 5-5 Red Raiders were embarrassed by the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Oklahoma's loss does not look good. Oklahoma would have to kill their in-state rivals to have a chance at getting back into the BCS title race.

3. Oklahoma State Cowboys

After the tragic crash that claimed the lives of two of their women's basketball coaches, the Oklahoma State Cowboys should probably have rescheduled last night's game. But that would have created a mess, the entire schedule would have been thrown off, etc. And hindsight is 20/20.

It's unfortunate to see the Cowboys' (who have never even been to a BCS bowl) championship hopes dashed in such a fashion. A tough 24 hours for Cowboys' fans, I'm sure.

2. Oregon Ducks

I've been saying the Oregon Ducks would be back in the BCS title race since before the clock ran out at Cowboys' Stadium, and now they finally are.

Oregon has been nothing short of dominant since their loss to the LSU Tigers in the season opener. The Ducks have won every game by at least two touchdowns, including last week's showdown with the Stanford Cardinal.

Just like the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Ducks game against LSU could have gone either way. Oregon out-gained LSU by 62 yards in that game. They were done in by turnovers, namely a Kenjon Barner muffed punt that LSU returned for a touchdown and consecutive fumbles from freshman De'Anthony Thomas, who was forced into the game when both Barner and LaMichael James were fighting cramps.

Oregon is a very good team, and they are one Alabama slip-up from being back in the BCS Championship game in consecutive seasons.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide

Not much needs to be said here. The Crimson Tide has won every game by double digits this year except for the one against the LSU Tigers. Alabama obliterated the No. 6 Arkansas Razorbacks 38-14 and coasted to a 27-11 win on the road against the prelapsarian Penn State Nittany Lions.

And the LSU game was one where they could have easily jumped out to what would likely have been an insurmountable 12-0 lead if they hadn't had such considerable struggles in the kicking game.

Sorry, folks, but thanks to the Oklahoma Sooners, Clemson Tigers, and now Oklahoma State Cowboys' losses to inferior opponents, this is the second-best team in the country, and we are almost certainly going to get stuck with a rematch of the lame... I mean, game of the century.