Can we all take a second to gives thanks for Ohio State’s loss Saturday? Really though, now we all won’t be forced to watch the perennially overrated Buckeyes get rolled in the BCS National Championship Game, simply because they were ranked highly in preseason polls.

Even with their own loss, Nebraska falling to Texas and Nevada dropping one to Hawaii, there are still 10 undefeated teams left in college football. I don’t know how true this is, but that sure seems like a lot of perfect teams for this late in the season. The question now is who will be left standing to play for the title? What if there are more than two undefeated teams? Will we have to hear more anger targeted at the much-maligned Bowl Championship Series?

Well, everyone enjoys predictions, so I’m going to go ahead and make some.

1. Oregon will go undefeated and play for the national title… against Boise State. I’m not saying this because it is what I think should happen–I don’t believe Boise State is one of the two best teams in America, but no one left on their schedule can beat the Broncos. Oregon has some challenges–a trip to USC, a home date with Arizona and of course the Civil War in Corvallis.

2. That prediction is predicated on the fact that the nation’s best conference–the SEC– will not send a team to the championship game. Essentially the teams will beat each other up so no one goes undefeated. The conference’s two unbeaten teams–Auburn and LSU–play each other next week. There is no way LSU will go undefeated with the Mad Hatter, Les Miles, running the show. Eventually his luck will run out. Auburn, on the other hand, may enter the final weekend of the season without a blemish, but the Iron Bowl is at Alabama this year, and the Crimson Tide would like nothing more than to ruin Auburn’s shot at the championship.

3. Multiple undefeated teams will miss out on the national title game. Oklahoma could end up perfect, which would mean the Sooners would hand Oklahoma State and Missouri (who are currently undefeated) losses along the way. The same goes for TCU, whose only remaining challenge is a date with fellow unbeaten Utah. The winner of that game, which I believe will be the Horned Frogs, could be locked out of the BCS title game along with Oklahoma. Michigan State could also finish perfect, but that would likely mean a trip to the Rose Bowl for them. (That could be a date with Stanford if the Oregon-Boise State championship game holds up).

4. That brings me to this prediction: Stanford will play in the Rose Bowl. This may be Stanford’s only shot at a BCS bowl because it is unlikely to be selected as an at-large BCS team because of its lackluster fan support (see many of my previous columns for further explanation of this phenomenon). In order for Stanford to go to the Rose Bowl, not only would it likely have to win out, but it also needs Oregon to go to the championship game and play a team from a non-automatic qualifying conference (basically Boise State, TCU or Utah). If a non-AQ team isn’t in the title game, it will be headed to the Rose Bowl in lieu of a Pac-10 team. So oddly enough, go Boise.

I know. I’m not really going out on many limbs with these predictions. I also want to remind everyone that this is not what I think should happen; it is what I think will happen. When it comes to that national championship game, the Ducks will reign supreme. Revenge will be had for last season’s defeat in Boise. As for the rest of the BCS bowls, here you go:

Rose Bowl: Stanford vs. Michigan State

Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma vs. TCU

Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Alabama

Fiesta Bowl: West Virginia vs. Auburn

This column went to press before the BCS standings were released on Sunday.

Daniel Bohm couldn’t get through a column without taking a shot at Stanford’s fan support. Help him find something else to rant about at [email protected].