The final 2011 BCS standings are out, and my, is there some controversy to be had! Check out how things shook out with the final BCS rankings of 2011, and check out where the best teams in America are heading for their bowl games…

Current BCS Rankings & BCS Standings (as of 12/4/2011)
All BCS Rankings Will Be Updated As Soon As New Rankings Are Released

There is no surprise that the LSU Tigers have ended the year as the No. 1 team in the country. They are the only team in the land that finished the year with an undefeated record, and they are deserving of the perfect 1.0000 ranking that they have going into the National Championship Game.

The debate has come at No. 2, though. The Tigers have already beaten the Alabama Crimson Tide once this season, in Tuscaloosa, no less. That being said, Alabama is almost certainly the second best team in the nation, and at least by the standards that the BCS has set, the system has worked and it will put the two best teams in the country against one another even though they have already met.

The big losers of course, were the No. 3 Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Pokes have a huge argument, and they have to feel shafted out of the National Championship Game. They absolutely blasted Oklahoma in Bedlam, and unlike Alabama, they were a conference winner. The problem that Okie State had this year was its one brutal loss, a defeat to the 6-6 Iowa State Cyclones. That being said, the Cowboys have a nice little consolation prize playing in the Fiesta Bowl, though there is a question just how excited the team is going to be for the game when the biggest prize was missed out on.

It should come as no surprise that the Stanford Cardinal were also a long way’s out of the National Championship mix, almost a full tenth of a point out. However, the Cardinal, just like Okie State, have a nice consolation prize in the Fiesta Bowl, and if last year’s romp in the BCS was any indication, there is no reason to think that Stanford will be anything less than awesome in the desert.

Both the No. 6 and No. 7 teams in the BCS rankings, the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Boise State Broncos were left out of the BCS. Arkansas knew that it was ineligible for the BCS as the third team out of the SEC (and the SEC West, no less), while Boise State was pretty much just praying that the BCS would take it in the last at large spot.

The Orange Bowl had two teams that were ranked outside of the Top 14, which really closed off the opportunities for a number of other teams on the inside of the Top 14. The Clemson Tigers moved up to No. 15 in the rankings by winning the ACC, while the West Virginia Mountaineers ended up as the only ranked team from the Big East at No. 23.

The Rose Bowl pits the No. 5 Oregon Ducks against the No. 10 Wisconsin Badgers, the winners of the first annual Pac-12 and Big 10 Championship Games.

The shocking team to be picked for the BCS was the No. 11 Virginia Tech Hokies. V-Tech lost twice to Clemson this year, and hardly anyone thought that it would snare a spot in the BCS. The Sugar Bowl picked the Hokies, though, and they are going to pit them against the lowest ranked at large team, the Michigan Wolverines.

And now we talk about the big losers of the year…

It is obviously that the team that has to be scratching its head is the Kansas State Wildcats. The Cats finished up the year at No. 8 in the BCS, and they were passed over for a team ranked No. 11 and one ranked No. 13. What more did this team need to do this year? Its only brutal loss was at home against Oklahoma, while it also nearly beat Oklahoma State in Stillwater. The Baylor Bears and Oklahoma Sooners were also eligible for at large consideration as the No. 12 and No. 14 teams in the final BCS rankings. However, the ACC got the final nod instead of the Big XII, something that is going to be questioned for quite some time by BCS haters.

Mid major teams won’t be represented in the BCS this year, yet another reason for all of the movement to the conferences with BCS tie-ins. It is clear that the Houston Cougars screwed themselves over by losing the C-USA title game to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Conference USA finished with teams ranked No. 19 and No. 21 though, giving the conference not just one, but two teams ranked ahead of the first team in the Big East.

The same problem occurred in the Mountain West. Boise State knew of its fate already, but the TCU Horned Frogs had to think that they were Sugar Bowl bound after watching Houston lose on Saturday. That being said, the Horned Frogs couldn’t move up the two spots necessary to get into the Top 16 in the land, which left them out of the BCS.

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Current BCS Standings (as of October 25, 2009):

2009 BCS Predictions (as of October 20, 2009):

Well let the controversy begin or at least that is what the BCS Standing major goal is to accomplish right? In case you missed it, the first BCS Standings were released this week for college football. Will this finally be the year we have such a catastrophe in the BCS Polls that it finally causes a playoff to be adopted in college football? We think it could be for a number of reasons. Most importantly is that one of the non major conference teams will be undefeated and when say non major we mean outside the SEC and Big 12. Boise State, Cincinnati, and TCU all have really good chances to end the season undefeated. Of course if any team ends the year undefeated they have the right to make their claim for a National Title especially after Utah thumped Alabama in the Sugar Bowl last year. All of this expectations and predictions may be a little premature. However rest assured in early December after all the Conference Title games have been played, the BCS will implode and cause some major disappointments for college football enthusiasts. Check out these big BCS Standings predictions.

BCS Standing Prediction #5 – TCU and Iowa will fade.

TCU is catching a lot of attention as there is a lot of people who think they can run the table. The Horned Frogs have a very talented defense that will keep them in every game they play this season. However, they have some big games left on the schedule against BYU and Utah. The TCU offense will have to step up if they are to run the table and quite honestly they do not have the firepower to keep up with those explosive scoring teams. TCU may get a win out of those two games, but they will lose at least one knocking their chances for a BCS Bowl out of the picture. Iowa is in a similar boat as well. The Hawkeyes keep winning in less than convincing fashion, but their momentum is running on thin ice. The Iowa offense is not moving the ball very well and they rank outside the top 75 in total offense with just 351 yards per game. In fact the offense has just produced 24 points per game this season as well. While the Big Ten teams are not known for huge offensive numbers, they are known for strong defenses. The Hawkeyes offense will be stopped in their tracks and it could be as early as this weekend on the road at Michigan State. If that does not knock them off track, the Buckeyes will get their chance to do the deed at the Horseshoe.

BCS Standings Prediction #4 – The SEC will sport two BCS Bowl Berths

Well this is a pretty easy prediction. Florida ranks number 1 in the standings and Alabama holds down the number 2 spot. In fact they are exactly vice versa in the AP Polls. It is a fair argument to say they are the best two teams in the country and are on a huge collision course for the Georgia Dome that will host the SEC Championship game. There is not any team left on either schedule that poses any big threats. Of course Florida has looked vulnerable while the Tide has rolled. Even if one falls to an upset they will meet in the SEC Championship. The winner will be fighting for the SEC’s 4th straight National Championship and the loser will still earn an at large berth in one of the other 4 BCS Bowl Games.

BCS Standings Prediction #3 – No. 20 Pittsburgh will earn a BCS Bowl Berth

The Pittsburgh Panthers may be well down the BCS Standings at this point in the season, but they will make a climb to the top. Despite being a fairly average team, the Panthers conference schedule sets up beautifully for them to win the Big East. Pittsburgh already suffered a loss to North Carolina State this year and will likely suffer another out of conference defeat when the Fighting Irish come to town in a few weeks. However, those losses will keep the in conference games in perspective and not allow any upsets. West Virginia and South Florida will both have a good chance to take down Pittsburgh, but the Panthers will have just one Big East loss when they host Cincinnati in their final game of the year. QB Bill Stull and freshman running sensation Dion Lewis provides Pittsburgh with plenty of weapons to take on Cincinnati. Plus Cincinnati star QB Tony Pike is questionable for his arm to stay healthy. Pittsburgh may have anywhere from an 8-3 to 9-2 record when they host the Bearcats in the season finale. However, there will only be one conference loss giving the Panthers the opportunity to win the Big East at home and they will get the job done.

BCS Standing Predictions #2 – USC quest for 5th straight Rose Bowl will end

USC has been to the Rose Bowl the last 4 straight season and 5 of the last 6 years as well. The Trojans have won 7 straight Pac-10 titles and have reached and has reached a BCS Bowl Game in every year of that impressive stretch as well. However, we are sticking to our early season prediction that USC will not win the Pac-10 title this season. The Trojans got a big win over California, but the Golden Bears are not the team we thought they would be. However, the Oregon Ducks will play the spoiler role. Oregon is still the only team left in the Pac-10 that has not suffered a conference loss and they control their own destiny in terms of a BCS Bowl Game. The Ducks also hold a big advantage as they will get USC at home on October 31st. That will be a huge game for both sides and we still like Oregon to pull out the victory. However even if USC wins and they experience another slip up as they are accustomed to experiencing, Oregon will still make it to the Rose Bowl ending the Trojans impressive run.

BCS Standings Prediction #1 – Boise State will shake up everything

If the other BCS Busters can not get the job done, the Boise State Broncos should throw a wrench into everything this year. Boise State faced one of their biggest remaining challenges towards perfection this past week with a 28-21 victory over Tulsa. Out of the remaining 7 games on the schedule, only Idaho owns a winning record. However, the Broncos are not likely to give into the upset bug like so many others will experience during the latter part of the year. QB Kellen Moore has the offense under control with 16 touchdowns to only 2 picks this season along with 1,404 yards. Hawaii and Nevada are potential teams that could pull of the upset along with Idaho. However, it does not seem things will work out so perfectly for the BCS as it has in year’s past. The Broncos offense will run the table against the weak pass defenses of the WAC and they will be undefeated when the BCS puts a 1 or maybe even a 2 loss team in the BCS Championship game instead.

BCS National Championship Odds From BetUS (as of October 20, 2009):
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Earlier in the week I discussed how crazy the BCS has gotten keeping the Texas Longhorns out of the Big 12 Championship game. Instead of Texas, Oklahoma is playing in the Big 12 Championship despite the Longhorns 45-35 win this season. The national media has assumed that the winner for the SEC Championship game would go on to play in the BCS National Championship. However, taking a closer look at the computer ratings things may be even more bizarre.

The Florida Gators are ranked #2 in the AP top 25 polls but come in as the #4 team in the BCS rankings. The popular speculation is that Florida would go play in the National Championship given they could defeat #1 Alabama. Although, with last weeks jumbled BCS rankings keeping Texas out of the Big 12 Championship a win for Florida still might not be enough to put them in the National Championship.

Texas is ranked #3 in the BCS Standing slightly behind Oklahoma at #2. The Sooners jumped the Longhorns last week in the standings by .0128 and that put the Sooners into their conference championship game over Texas due to the Big 12 tie breaking rules. The Big 12 rule for tie breakers state that the highest rated team in the BCS will win the tie breaker. So despite Oklahoma not be able to defeat Texas head to head, they will still represent the Big 12 South in the championship game.

Can you imagine how mad the state of Texas has been this week? Texas has been kept out of the Big 12 Championship game and their chance to earn a spot in the National Championship game was taken away as well. Texas has been ahead of Oklahoma since the BCS ranking were released until last week which mattered most. Last week BCS standings determined the fate for the Longhorns, considering the Big 12 Championship will be held this weekend. Texas again felt like their chances have been stolen from them and there was nothing they could do to prevent it.

Not so fast Texas faithful, taking a closer look at the BCS rankings things might actually not be so bad. Keeping Texas out of the Big 12 Championship may have in fact benefited them as much as playing and winning the championship game. Florida trails Texas in the BCS Standing by .0328 a pretty fair margin. Florida is an 8.5 point favorite to defeat the undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide. Assuming Florida does win the SEC Championship, it may not be enough to jump the ahead of a Texas team that does not have to play this weekend. The Longhorns computer ranking should not change while Florida’s ranking may not be able to overcome the .0328 deficit placing Texas and most likely Oklahoma in a rematch for the National Championship.

Florida trails Texas by .160 in the computer rankings for the BCS while holding pretty even with Texas in the Harris and USA Today polls. If the Gators do pull off the victory over Alabama, they will definitely get some help from the Harris and USA Today polls which are human voters. However, the computer rankings that has to do with other things like strength of schedule will still favor Texas, but by how much? The Gators would have to receive a big help from the computers to overtake the Longhorns.

Then again things may not be that controversial after this weekend if Alabama wins and Oklahoma loses. However, that will be tough for both of those things to happen. Florida as mentioned before is more than a touchdown favorite to win their game while Oklahoma is a two touchdown favorite to win the Big 12. In a perfect world, Alabama and Missouri will win and the BCS will again dodge another missile targeted to take down the BCS rankings forever. However, this year it will not happen. The chances of both Alabama and Missouri winning are bout as good as Ohio State beating an SEC team in a championship game. Even if Alabama can pull of the win over Florida, Texas fans will still feel like they have been robbed of an opportunity to play for the title. An opportunity they have earned.

Be sure to check out the free and premium college football picks from the expert handicappers at Bankroll Sports.  The Bankroll Sports handicapping duo of Henry Ness and Wade Sterling will have premium releases for a variety of this weekend’s Conference Championship games.  Click here to purchase premium service picks from our handicappers.  Also, be sure to check out our ncaa football top 25 previews for this weekend’s college football matchups.