In the most anticipated BCS standings release of the season (before the one that will come out next week), it seems Ohio State have the inside track to the second berth in the BCS national championship game, leaving Auburn and Missouri on the outside and hoping for either the Buckeyes or Florida State to slip up in order to keep the SEC in the final of College Football.

The rest of the top 25 matters less and less when the big prize is still undetermined. Ohio State have the pollsters and most of the computers on their side. Even if their next rival – Michigan State, won’t bring them the kind of points Auburn or Missouri will get for a win in the SEC championship game, it seems like the voting is going their way, and it’ll be the determining factor.

BCS		Harris Poll			Coaches Poll			Computer rankings
Rank	Team	Avg.	Prev.	Rank	Points	%	Rank	Points	%	AVG	A&H	RB	CM	KM	JS	PW	%
1	Florida State	.9948	2	1	2617	.9970	1	1546	.9974	1	1	1	4	2	1	1	.990
2	Ohio State	.9503	3	2	2488	.9478	2	1462	.9432	2	2	2	2	1	3	2	.960
3	Auburn	.9233	4	3	2422	.9227	3	1437	.9271	3	3	3	1	3	6	3	.920
4	Alabama	.8539	1	4	2262	.8617	4	1333	.8600	4	5	4	8	4	7	4	.840
5	Missouri	.8428	5	5	2231	.8499	5	1315	.8484	5	4	5	3	7	8	5	.830
6	Oklahoma State	.7629	7	6	2083	.7935	6	1248	.8052	9	8	7	9	15	5	11	.690
7	Stanford	.7069	8	7	1873	.7135	10	1034	.6671	7	7	6	6	8	10	9	.740
8	South Carolina	.7037	10	8	1841	.7013	7	1100	.7097	8	10	10	7	10	4	7	.700
9	Baylor	.6623	9	9	1778	.6773	7	1100	.7097	12	9	8	11	13	12	12	.600
10	Michigan State	.6529	11	10	1758	.6697	9	1037	.6690	11	12	13	10	9	11	8	.620
11	Arizona State	.5833	12	13	1277	.4865	13	765	.4935	6	6	11	5	6	9	6	.770
12	Oregon	.5321	13	12	1398	.5326	12	843	.5439	13	11	14	12	12	15	14	.520
13	Clemson	.5201	6	11	1444	.5501	11	853	.5503	14	16	12	15	14	16	13	.460
14	Northern Illinois	.4812	14	15	1104	.4206	18	547	.3529	10	18	9	13	5	2	10	.670
15	LSU	.4213	17	14	1258	.4792	14	720	.4645	17	20	18	19	16	18	17	.320
16	UCF	.3858	19	18	967	.3684	17	572	.3690	16	15	15	16	19	14	16	.420
17	Oklahoma	.3808	18	16	1041	.3966	15	660	.4258	17	14	16	17	25	20	19	.320
18	UCLA	.3506	22	19	779	.2968	19	473	.3052	15	13	19	14	11	17	15	.450
19	Louisville	.2630	20	17	1013	.3859	16	625	.4032	28	NR	17	NR	NR	NR	NR	.000
20	Duke	.2252	24	20	620	.2362	20	402	.2594	21	24	20	18	NR	19	23	.180
21	Wisconsin	.1988	15	21	485	.1848	21	266	.1716	20	21	22	21	18	13	20	.240
22	Georgia	.1143	NR	25	148	.0564	NR	41	.0265	19	19	NR	20	17	21	18	.260
23	Fresno State	.1006	16	22	428	.1630	22	215	.1387	28	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	.000
24	Texas A&M	.0995	21	23	290	.1105	25	121	.0781	23	NR	24	25	22	22	21	.110
25	Texas	.0666	NR	24	167	.0636	24	149	.0961	25	22	21	NR	NR	NR	NR	.040

The computers will supply enough of a jump for either Auburn or Missouri, and especially for Auburn. But will it be enough to convince the voters? Both Missouri and Auburn didn’t impress the polls too much during the season, so will a win over one another be that significant on the final day? It all depends on how hard it is for Ohio State when they play Michigan State, who are probably the best team they’ve faced all season.

How about the other bowls? It’s less about the rankings and more about winning conferences. Assuming Ohio State win and go to the national championship game, Michigan State will find itself playing in the Rose Bowl. Even if they do beat the Buckeyes, they won’t find themselves rising to one of the top two, and settle for their first Rose Bowl appearance in the BCS era and since 1988, when they beat USC.

The Big 12 doesn’t have a conference championship game, but it’s still quite open. Oklahoma State have all the cards in their hands (#6 in the standings), and need to beat Oklahoma in order to make it to the Fiesta Bowl. Why not the national championship game? Too far behind, and the numbers don’t add up. It just goes to show why Auburn and Missouri shouldn’t make the national championship game if Ohio State still win. The Big Ten, like it or not, is a AQ conference, and deserves to be treated like that, no matter how much campaigning the SEC does. Texas need to beat Baylor and hope Oklahoma win in Bedlam to win the conference.

The Sugar Bowl will have Alabama, who have a shot at the national title game if both Ohio State and Florida State lose their conference championship games. Although then the voices will be made about Oklahoma State and Michigan State, but unfortunately, it’ll create an All-SEC final for the second time in three years. The Orange Bowl, unless Duke upset Florida State, will call Clemson to its gates, hoping it doesn’t end in an embarrassment like two years ago against West Virginia.

Image & Chart: Source