BCS Bowl Predictions: Best Teams That Will Be Left out of BCS Games

The take-home lesson from the latest round of BCS standings is that the SEC is overwhelmingly the best conference in the country, and the Big 12 is awfully good in its own right. That situation means that a lot of less-deserving conference champs will beat out some very good teams for spots in the BCS bowls.

Of all the teams likely to miss the five biggest postseason games, this trio has put up the most impressive performances for the year:

Oklahoma State Cowboys

Obviously, if the No. 4 Cowboys win out, they’ll be the Big 12 champs and have nothing to worry about as far as the BCS. However, the pick here is that Oklahoma will beat OSU in Stillwater in the season finale.

In that instance, both Oklahoma State and No. 3 Arkansas will have taken a loss to a high-ranking opponent (assuming the Razorbacks don’t pull off a miracle at LSU next week). Presuming that they fall by comparable amounts, the Cowboys will just barely miss the BCS, while Alabama, Arkansas, Houston and Stanford get the four non-AQ bids.

Boise State Broncos

No, the Broncos haven’t played the elite schedule of an SEC or Big 12 team, but their one signature win did come against SEC East champion Georgia. More to the purpose, they’re going to be the only one-loss team from any conference that won’t find themselves in a BCS bowl (thanks to unbeaten Houston taking the non-AQ conference spot).

Kellen Moore’s team could probably beat at least two AQ conference champs, regardless of which Big East or ACC school comes out on top. Nevertheless, they’ll be on the outside looking in when it comes to the best of the January showcases.

Kansas State Wildcats

Very quietly, K-State has climbed all the way back to No. 11 in the BCS rankings. Their only two losses came to No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 9 Oklahoma, and they’ve beaten both No. 18 Baylor and No. 25 Texas.

Collin Klein’s run-heavy offense is probably headed to the Alamo Bowl, where they’ll steamroll some overmatched Pac-12 representative. Of course, if Oklahoma State does win their showdown with Oklahoma (leaving the Sooners with three conference losses), the Wildcats will jump up to the Cotton Bowl and a far more entertaining matchup with an SEC squad like Auburn.