The first BCS rankings of the 2011 college football season were released Sunday evening, which means we can start projecting out possible BCS bowl bids. We could speculate before, but this provides a bit more oomph to the speculation. The BCS rankings are likely going to change quite a bit in the coming weeks, but for now we have a baseline from which to start.
After week seven, the BCS rankings likely mean either Stanford or Oregon ends up in the Rose Bowl, facing off against the Wisconsin Badgers. The Rose Bowl still likes to maintain its traditional Pac-10 (not 12)/Big Ten matchup and at this point that is still possible. If one or both conferences gets a team into the national title game that would change the matchup.
For now, Stanford and Oregon are both looking at possible BCS berths but that will change before the end of the season. The Cardinal and the Ducks square off on November 12 at Stanford Stadium. Although there is a chance for some other upsets along the way, this game will go a long way to determining the Pac-12 champion.
In other projections, LSU and Alabama would play each other in the national title game if the season ended today, but of course they play on November 5. That does leave a good deal of time for some positioning before the end of the season, but November 5 gives us a very real possibility of securing one half of the national title game.