I hate the BCS. Let me start with that, in the interest of full disclosure. But it's what we have to work with and I, like you, am interested in who the next national champion in college football will be. The current BCS standings came out today and the list of candidates for a BCS title game berth is shorter and shorter.
Atop the list is Florida State. The Seminoles have just two hurdles in their way of a BCS title shot: Hurdle number one is beat the Duke Blue Devils. Duke is an underdog by nearly 30 points, so...yeah. The next hurdle is keep Jameis Winston from being arrested. I don't know what the state of the ridiculously slow investigation related to a potential sexual assault is, but investigators in the case should, as my pops would say, do something "or get off the pot."
Ohio State has an equally easy to understand path to the BCS championship game. Their path involves beating Michigan State in the Big 10 title game. I don't mean winning the football game, I mean beating them. Pummel them with fists, sticks, rocks, whatever. That's their thing now. The Ohio State Blackeyes...that's their new nickname.
If Ohio State loses that game or, OK, OK, if a team named after the Devil can somehow beat Florida State, then things get really interesting. The next three teams in line are from the SEC. If one of the other teams loses and #3 Auburn wins the SEC championship game, they will have an opportunity to invoke the NCAA's "SEC champion automatically goes to the national championship game no matter what" clause. If #5 Missouri beats Auburn in the SEC championship game, they likely won't go to the title game. They aren't one of the SEC's marquee brands–Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Florida–and thus can't invoke the SEC champion clause. I know, you're thinking Auburn is better than Alabama, Missouri is better than Auburn, ergo, Missouri deserves a shot at the BCS banner, but that's using deductive reasoning, which has no place in the BCS picture.
If Missouri wins and either Ohio State or Florida State loses, Alabama will advance to the BCS championship. Don't think it will be the first time a team that didn't win their conference still went to the BCS title game because it isn't. But how can a team that isn't the best team in its own conference lay claim to being the best team in the country, you ask? There's that stupid deductive reasoning again!
And you need not go further than Missouri. Oklahoma State and Stanford have a none percent shot at the BCS championship. They could win their respective conference championship games by 900 points and not get chosen, even if all of the teams ahead of them lose–which is impossible, but we've established the fact that logic has no place in the BCS. Based on recent BCS formulations, beating teams like USC, UCLA and Arizona State or Baylor, Texas Tech and Oklahoma is only slightly better than beating high school teams. I mean, aside from producing the occassional Adrian Peterson or Aaron Rodgers, I'm not sure why the Pac 12 and Big 12 are even conferences in the BCS's eyes.
Best case scenario: Florida State and Ohio State both win AND avoid criminal charges and meet in the championship game. Worst case: Both lose, Auburn and Missouri play to a scoreless tie and Alabama is crowned the champion by default because, let's face it, the third best team in the SEC could beat Oklahoma State and Stanford combined, right?
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