Week ten of the 2011 college football season is in the books and we are getting a bit better idea of the structure for the BCS bowls that are at stake. Oklahoma State has moved into the number two position, but faces a tough remaining stretch including games on the road against Texas Tech and home against Oklahoma. If they can run the table they will head to New Orleans for the BCS national championship game, but that remains a tall order.
For the Stanford Cardinal, this coming weekend against Oregon could make or break their BCS dreams. The Cardinal continue to battle for a shot at the national title game, but they also have the Rose Bowl in their sights as a fall-back option. A win over Oregon locks up the Pac-12 North Division and home field advantage in the inaugural Pac-12 conference championship game.
More importantly for Stanford, a win over Oregon potentially vaults them ahead of Alabama into third in the country and keeps them in lock-step with the Oklahoma State Cowboys for that second spot in the national championship game in New Orleans. All Stanford can control is the games in front of them. As long as they can keep winning, good things can happen.
LSU has a tough schedule ahead of them as well, but is looking like one half of the national championship game. The Rose Bowl would likely take the winner of the inaugural Big Ten championship game for one half of the Rose Bowl. Penn State holds a solid two game lead in the Leaders Division, while Michigan State holds a slim lead with a huge game this weekend against Iowa.