BCS Rankings: Can Undefeated Stanford Pass Undefeated Oklahoma State?

What we know: The winner of the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide controls their BCS championship destiny.

What we don't know: The team behind them that controls their own destiny to meet the winner of this one.

The Oklahoma St. Cowboys and the Stanford Cardinal are the only two real contenders for that second spot at the moment, but it's hard to differentiate who will win the bid over the other. Too many factors are in play and too many opponents remain. Stanford might see the horizon, but they're not quite ready to claim that they can be team number two in the conference.

OSU is still way ahead of Stanford in the computers; the Cowboys are ranked number one, the Cardinal number six (although it's a vast improvement from the previous week after their victory over USC). OSU still has to play one-loss Kansas State and one-loss Oklahoma, which would probably trump Stanford beating USC, Oregon and Washington (where probably only one of those teams will even hit two losses). Considering strength-of-schedule is a huge component of how the computers deserve to be tops, undefeated Oklahoma State is probably going to edge Stanford at the end.

So if Stanford wants to edge Oklahoma State, they'll probably have to win the other two-thirds by an overwhelming margin. It's starting to look like the Cardinal will have a good shot.

After their dramatic victory against the Trojans, Stanford edged Oklahoma State in the Coaches Poll and is hot on their trail in the Harris Poll. An impressive finish to the season (beating Oregon, Notre Dame, and likely Arizona State) will go a long way toward keeping the momentum going.

Right now though, the Cardinal are a bit behind the Cowboys in the overall BCS rankings, which probably means they aren't in control of their own destiny. Tbhey'll need one last team to stumble ahead of them to be assured that winning out means they get the chance to win last.