LSU leads BCS standings, Tide falls to No. 3

For all those wondering whether there could be a rematch between LSU and Alabama in the national championship game, the newest BCS standings have spoken.

The answer: Yes, with a few pieces falling the right way.

But for this week, LSU and Oklahoma State are on a collision course to play for the BCS national championship game. The Tigers remained No. 1 after its 9-6 overtime win over the Crimson Tide on Saturday night, while the Cowboys moved up to No. 2 after its shootout win over Kansas State. Oklahoma State also has some tough games remaining, including this weekend against Texas Tech. The Cowboys also finish against No. 6 Oklahoma.

Alabama only dropped one spot to No. 3.�Undefeated Stanford remained at No. 4, but the gap between the Tide and Cardinal is negligible. The Cardinal are ahead in the human polls but behind in the computer ranking. Stanford hosts No. 7 Oregon on Saturday, so a win in that game would boost the computer average and most likely shoot the Cardinal ahead of Alabama into No. 3.

So what would need to happen for a rematch? LSU and Alabama need to win out, while Oklahoma State and Stanford lose. It is not certain there would be a rematch because much depends on the final polls. Still, the possibility absolutely exists.

This is obviously not the news No. 5 Boise State wanted to hear. The big question mark surrounding the Broncos was how they would rank after the LSU-Alabama game. An overtime win clearly meant the voters felt the Tide deserved to be ranked ahead because of their superior strength of schedule and performance against the No. 1 team in the nation.

Boise State hosts TCU this weekend in perhaps the biggest test left on its Mountain West conference schedule. The Broncos, who have a better computer average than Stanford, need plenty of help to make it into the BCS national title game. Every undefeated team has to lose, but even then LSU and Alabama may still be ranked ahead if Sunday night's standings are any indication. No non-AQ team has ever played in the BCS national title game.

No. 6 Oklahoma is 0.495 points behind Boise State. The Sooners still have No. 25 Baylor and No. 2 Oklahoma State on the schedule, so they could sneak past Boise State depending on how things shake out at the end of the season. No. 7 Oregon is just behind Oklahoma, and a win over Stanford would be big for the Ducks. But would it be big enough to jump into the championship game if everybody ahead loses?

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/52234/lsu-leads-bcs-standings-tide-falls-to-no-3

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