re: BCSGuru says no rematch

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Fourteen weeks, and there seems no quelling of the debate and uproar about who deserves what in the college football landscape. That being said, however, the 2011 regular season is complete, and now our attention must turn to the BCS standings and bowls to be announced tomorrow.

The thing that is causing the most debate, of course, is the possible rematch awaiting the country in the BCS title game. And for those who are against it, do be prepared to weather the storm of the rematch, but a swaying of opinion has occurred, and for what it’s worth, Oklahoma State should be on its way to the BCS title game.

Alabama will just miss out on its chance at a rematch, finishing at No. 3, with Stanford just behind the Cowboys at No. 4.

So. Why? It comes down to persuasion. Virginia Tech needs to be replaced on ballots. Oklahoma State whipped Oklahoma up and down the field. Houston is no longer a factor. Boise State can be forgotten. Oklahoma State stands as the team most of the country (save the Alabama faithful) wants to see get a chance.

The pollsters can make up the difference. And I believe they will. There’s no need for Oklahoma State to leap Alabama. They just need to be very close. And they will be. Oklahoma State can make up some distance in the computers.

Of course, this is a simple projection, and nothing about it is absolute. There are, however, other components which are more absolute when the BCS pairings are announced tomorrow.

Oregon, as champion of the Pac-12, is headed to the Rose Bowl to face Wisconsin, the Big Ten’s conference champion.

Clemson is on its way to the Orange Bowl as the ACC champion, as the ACC is bound to the bowl unless the ACC champ is playing in the national title game.

West Virginia will likely be the recipient of the Big East’s BCS bowl bid. After sharing the regular season crown in the conference with Cincinnati and Louisville, the Mountaineers will assuredly win the tiebreaker for the conference’s bid by finishing highest among the three teams in the final BCS rankings.

TCU, if it can finish ahead of the highest ranking Big East team and ahead of Southern Miss, which is likely, and vault into the top 16 will receive a BCS bowl bid as the highest-ranking non-AQ conference champion that ranks ahead of a AQ conference champion in the top 16.

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Oklahoma State will be assured of a BCS bid. But will it be in the title game? If these projections hold up, it will be. Stanford at No. 4, will not be afforded an automatic bid to the BCS as it was last season at No. 4, but will likely be a very eligible team for any BCS bowl to select.

Boise State, Kansas State, Michigan, Houston and Oklahoma will all also likely be eligible come tomorrow. Who will take those remaining slots?Michigan is likely to cross the top 14 threshold to get into the BCS, but TCU is likely to miss out. Check out our BCS Bowl projections here.

That’s the bowl picture — it’s messy at best — but the BCS standings shouldn’t be so difficult to digest when they’re released tomorrow.

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Remember, we’ll be here to take you through all of it, starting with tomorrow’s releases of the human polls, computer rankings and BCS. Follow along all day tomorrow @BCSKnowHow and right here to stay up to the second with projections, mathematical breakdowns of all of the computers, human polls and everything in between. Then follow along this week as we break down scenarios and implications.

Got all that? Hope so.

Here’s what the BCS standing will likely look like when they are released tomorrow at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN:

Projected BCS Standings – BCS Week Eight (December 4th)

Rank Team

1 LSU Tigers

2 Oklahoma State Cowboys

3 Alabama Crimson Tide

4 Stanford Cardinal

5 Boise State Broncos

6 Arkansas Razorbacks

7 Oregon Ducks

8 Kansas State Wildcats

9 Wisconsin Badgers

10 South Carolina Gamecocks

11 Baylor Bears

12 Oklahoma Sooners

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