NCAA College Football BCS Standings

NCAA College Football BCS Standings

Oklahoma State came oh-so-close to the #2 spot and a shot at the national title, but fell just short of 'Bama.

As expected, the national title game will be a LSU/Alabama rematch. (So if Alabama wins the rematch by three, are the two teams co-champions?)

Oklahoma State finished third, Stanford fourth, therefore Stanford gets the automatic bid since OSU is already in the BCS group by virtue of its Big 12 championship. Those two teams will play each other in the Fiesta Bowl.

We already knew that Wisconsin will play Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

TCU did NOT make it to #16, which is what they needed to do in order to qualify for an automatic bid. They made it #15 on both human polls, but the computer rankings dragged them down. Therefore, there were two at-large bids available instead of one. Those two slots went to #11 Virginia Tech and #13 Michigan, and they will end up playing each other in the Inconsequential Bowl, aka the Sugar Bowl.

#15 Clemson and #23 West Virginia will meet each other in the Even More Inconsequential Bowl, aka the Orange Bowl.

These are the other teams that were in the at-large pool formed by the top 14:

#6 Arkansas was not eligible for the BCS series because of the "limit two teams per conference" rule.

#7 Boise was by-passed for teams from major conferences.

#8 Kansas State. They command a small media audience, but they were rated #4 in the nation by the computer systems!

#9 South Carolina was not eligible for the BCS series because of the "limit two teams per conference" rule.

#12 Baylor, with an explosive offense, is far more exciting than either Virginia Tech or Michigan, and their QB is in the Heisman short list.

#14 Oklahoma. There were just too many better teams ahead of them in line, including two from their own conference.

So who got screwed? Maybe nobody. Here's why. If I had been running the Sugar Bowl, I would have wanted Baylor for sure, because they are really fun to watch. But I can't really get them. It is not possible to take Baylor over Kansas State, because Kansas State is in the same conference and was stronger in every way. KSU finished higher in the conference; KSU finished higher in the national rankings; KSU beat Baylor head-to-head (36-35).

So then should I take Kansas State? The problem is that Oklahoma was also in the at-large pool, and Oklahoma totally destroyed KSU (58-17). Do I take the loser of that lopsided game over the winner? No. Plus I'm just not enthusiastic about Kansas State's ability to sell tickets and command TV viewers.

So I look elsewhere.

By eliminating those three teams, I am left with only three choices: Virginia Tech, Michigan, and Boise. Boise is from a minor conference and commands no national audience, so I'm left with the other two. I'm also left with a very boring game.

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The non-BCS Cotton Bowl will probably end up the big winner in the situation. It will probably end up with #8 Kansas State against #6 Arkansas. Big 12 vs SEC. Those teams are actually rated #4 and #5 by the computers, which makes this the third best post-season game, even though it's not part of the championship series.

As ol' Mel Allen would say, "How about that?"