BCS Standings Open Thread: 11.4.12

So close, and yet so far away.

Notre Dame needed triple overtime to beat 4-5 Pitt. Alabama scored in the final minute to beat LSU in Baton Rouge. If the Fighting Irish and the Crimson Tide had lost, K-State would likely be No. 1 in the BCS standings, and could assure a berth in the national championship game by winning out.

But that didn't happen, and we're (sort of) back where we were. I say "sort of" because Notre Dame has fallen off as a serious contender for now, and other than obviously deficient USC, has no chance to impress the rest of the season.

So at this point, it's really between K-State and Oregon for No. 2, as long as Alabama doesn't slip up against Texas A&M or in the SEC Championship Game. And the Ducks gained a little ground in the polls and

will likely move past Notre Dame to No. 3 in the BCS standings.

At this point, the question is whether Oregon will gain enough computer juice from closing games against Stanford, Oregon State, and whomever they face in the Pac-12 Championship Game. The key word there is "computer juice." Oregon could certainly gain points in the human polls vis-a-vis K-State, but not very many. If the Ducks pass the Wildcats, it will be on the strength of computer improvement over the final month of the season. In other words, it's not "the narrative" that could screw K-State at this point. It's the very computer rankings that K-State has been relying on for its lead over Oregon thus far.

There's been a lot of doom and gloom about the narrative and the perceived DISRESPECT! we've been receiving from the national media. To put it bluntly, I don't see it. We're getting as fair a shake as anyone at this point.

Here's the bottom line. If K-State and Oregon win out, it's going to be pretty difficult to look at their comparative resumes objectively and say "yes, this team is definitely better than the other." It would be perfectly reasonable to conclude, based on Oregon's resume and impressive margins of victory, that the Ducks are the better and more deserving team. It would also be reasonable to conclude the opposite.

But that conclusion is out of your hands. We can quibble that Oregon holds its lead in the human polls only because of the absurdity of preseason polls and poll inertia, and that a fair evaluation of the two teams' resumes, the votes should be split between the two. Unfortunately, we don't have that system.

So let's turn to what we can control. With tiebreakers, K-State essentially holds a two-game lead on the field in the Big 12. With one more K-State win and one more loss by both Texas and Oklahoma, the Wildcats can clinch the Big 12 title. I'll remind those of you who need reminding that this would be K-State's second Big 12 championship, and third conference championship in its history. That's a significant accomplishment in itself.

And of course, there's the small matter of whether Collin Klein can (and whether or not he should) play next week against TCU. At full strength, the Horned Frogs shouldn't be a match for K-State, but without Klein it's questionable whether K-State can score enough against a stout Horned Frogs' defense.

So for now, celebrate 9-0. Celebrate being No. 2 in the BCS standings in November. And know that if K-State handles its business and finishes 12-0, there's still a good chance they'll play for it all in Miami. It's really not worth worrying about what may come to pass at this point.