Travis Marmon
It’s apparent that, barring a stunning upset later in the season, the winner of tomorrow’s game between Louisiana State University and the University of Alabama will determine one of the contenders in January’s BCS National Championship Game. LSU and Alabama are ranked first and second in the country, respectively, and both are undefeated. At the time of this writing, tickets for the game are being sold on StubHub for as high as $10,423.14 (plus $16.95 shipping and handling). And that’s for endzone seats with no special treatment.
But lost amidst all of the LSU-Alabama hoopla is the most exciting story in college football. Who will face the winner in the National Championship? Of the other four remaining undefeated teams, two of them seem to have the inside track. Ranked number three in the BCS standings is Oklahoma State University. The Cowboys feature an exciting offense led by quarterback Brandon Weeden and wide receiver Justin Blackmon, who is arguably the best in the nation at his position.
Oklahoma State has played the toughest schedule of the teams vying for the number two spot, but that isn’t saying much. The Cowboys have only beaten one currently ranked team, the University of Texas (Texas A&M University was ranked eighth when the teams played, but has since dropped from the rankings). However, they play 8-1 Kansas State University tomorrow and will close their season against the University of Oklahoma, which is currently number six. Both games will be at home.
Behind OSU is Stanford University, led by Andrew Luck. Until last week’s triple-overtime thriller against the University of Southern California, the Cardinal had not won a game by less than 26 points. However, besides USC, Stanford has not played any quality opponents to speak of. The Cardinal will face their biggest test on Nov. 12 when they take on the University of Oregon, the defending BCS runners-up, at home.
On the outside looking in is Boise State University, just as they are every year. I applaud the Broncos for moving to the Mountain West Conference in an attempt to improve their strength of schedule, but the only ranked team that Boise State has played (and currently the only ranked team on the entire schedule) is the University of Georgia, who the Broncos admittedly looked impressive against in their season-opening 35-21 victory. However, Boise State needs losses from Stanford and Oklahoma State to have a shot at playing for a championship, and even then they will probably be jumped by a one-loss Oregon or Oklahoma.
Even farther outside is 13th-ranked University of Houston out of Conference USA. The Cougars’ offense has dismantled opponents behind the insane statistics of quarterback Case Keenum, but a shoddy defense has stopped them from dominating their cupcake opponents. If the Cougars go undefeated, they may get into a BCS game (only to be throttled by a bigger opponent), but a national championship is out of the question.
So by all means, watch LSU take on Alabama tomorrow night. It will probably be the game of the year. But make sure you also pay attention to Stanford and Oklahoma State, because you’ll be seeing one of them on Jan. 9 in New Orleans.