A lot still needs to happen and I know Dean and Jon are rolling their eyes that I am even bringing this up but by winning out, is it even possible for NU to get into the BCS Championship game?
Currently we are #14 in the BCS and we need to move ahead of 12 teams to be in the top 2.
Big 12 Teams
In order to have a shot, we need to beat Missouri and win the Big 12 Championship. This moves us above 2 teams(Mizzou and OU).
Pac 10 Teams
Stanford
I am going to assume that a one loss NU team would jump a one loss Stanford team in the final standings. Win in the Big 12 Championship would likely allow NU to jump Stanford in the AP which should be enough to move ahead of them in the BCS as well. (They may even be able to jump Stanford this week)
Oregon
They need to lose (at least) 1 game but don't have the easiest schedule remaining. They are favored by 7 this week @ USC and will probably be favored by less than 10 points @ California, vs Arizona, and @ Oregon State. A loss this week may not drop them below NU but with no Conference Championship, another 1 loss team may be able to jump them in December.
Teams from Non-BCS conferences
Boise State
Boise would need to lose because they would be the most difficult undefeated team of the 3 to jump. Boise will be favored in all their remaining games but their best chances to lose will be 1) @Nevada on Nov. 26th (Boise will be favored by around 7), 2) @ Idaho on Nov 13 (Boise will be favored by around 14). They will likely be favored by 3 touchdowns or more in their other 3 games
TCU and Utah
They play each other on Nov. 6th which will take care of one of them. TCU will be favored by 20 or 30 points in every other game so we need Utah to beat TCU. If Utah wins out, NU would still probably jump them based on strenth of schedule.
Big 10 Teams - Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State
Best Chances to lose
Michigan State - @ Iowa, @ Penn State
Wisconsin - @ Michigan, Northwestern
Ohio State - @ Iowa, Michigan, Penn State
Nebraska fans need to root for Iowa (as hard as it is) and Penn State. It will be impossible to jump MSU if they win out but there might be a chance to jump Wisconsin or Ohio State
SEC Teams - Auburn, Alabama, LSU
Best Chances to lose
Auburn - Really only one tough game left (@ Alabama on Nov 26th). Even with a loss we probably won't jump them.
Alabama - @ LSU, Auburn
LSU - Alabama, @ Arkansas
2 of these 3 teams will knock each other out. Assuming the SEC winner comes out of the West (either of these 3 teams), it is likely that a one loss SEC winner would be in the BCS Champ game for sure.
It is possible (but not probable) for NU to get into the BCS game (likely vs SEC champion). Iowa beating MSU, Nevada beating Boise, Utah beating TCU and Oregon losing (hopefully multiple games) are the keys. If any one of these things does not happen, we really don't have a chance.
What we need to root for this weekend
(Obviously NU has to beat Mizzou)
1. Iowa has to beat Michigan State. If MSU wins, they should run the table which would all but guarantee an SEC Champ vs Boise/MSU BCS game
2. USC vs Oregon - Oregon doesn't have to lose this week, with 2-3 more chances to slip up, but it wouldn't hurt.
3. Air Force vs Utah - I think we can jump Utah without them losing (currently #8) but teams ahead of us losing always helps. Air Force let us down last week against TCU but they are always a tough team to play.
4. Every week we need to root for Boise and Auburn to lose and Oklahoma to win.
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