Two more upsets further muddy dirtiest BCS picture ever seen

SAN ANTONIO -- Six computers and 174 voters suddenly have to face this season's ultimate question.

Which two teams are less mediocre than the rest?

Chase Daniel and Missouri fall flat in their BCS title bid. (AP)

You wanted excellence, you got chaos as the unthinkable happened Saturday night when No. 1 Missouri choked and No. 2 West Virginia gagged in the waning hours of the last night of the college football regular season. What is left for the BCS to sort out is the biggest dogpile since Michael Vick was free.

Ohio State seems a safe bet as the new No. 1, its second stay there this season. That's why Ohio State fans John Vaughn, his wife and their four children came to the Alamodome wearing Buckeyes jerseys. They got their wish, watching Oklahoma beat No. 1 Missouri 38-17 in the Big 12 title game.

"Who do we play? Are we going to play LSU or are we going to play USC?" Vaughn asked. "This has been a crazy season."

The common assumption was that Ohio State would play LSU in the BCS title game in New Orleans. If Ohio State gets in, it will be playing in the Big Easy because of the big easy. It did not face a top 20 opponent all season (at game time in AP). The last time it didn't play at least one team in the top 20 was 1936, the first year of the AP poll.

It won a conference rated No. 6 by Sagarin with a schedule rated No. 73 by BCS guru Jerry Palm. And this is the nation's best team?

We'll find out for sure Sunday night when the final BCS standings are released. Until then, let the speculation run wild. The top five in the BCS going in was Missouri, West Virginia, Ohio State, Georgia and Kansas. LSU was seventh with USC at No. 8 and Oklahoma at ninth.

"Oklahoma and USC will not be good enough computer teams," Palm said. "That's what I'm going with."

But if we've learned anything this season it is to take nothing in the BCS for certain.

"It's an uncomfortable position, I think, all of us sitting here trying to persuade everyone," said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, whose team is trying to come off the pace to play for it all.

"But in the end, let's look at it ..."

So he did, in his postseason news conference, ticking off the reasons why Oklahoma deserved a shot.

This is a season when no team really deserves it. All of them have at least one embarrassing wart on their mug the size of Delaware. But at least there are six still in it thanks to the two losses at the top. West Virginia was the seventh No. 2 team to go down this season, losing to unranked Pittsburgh. Missouri's loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship ensures that No. 1 will change hands for the fifth time since Oct. 6. The overnight question for those computers and voters in the Harris (114 voters) and coaches' poll (60 voters) after three months, countless upsets and almost as many teams at No. 1 was who is not in the national championship race?

Callers are standing by to take your requests at the end of the wildest season in the BCS' 10-year history -- and maybe of all time.

Here are the contenders:

• Ohio State (11-1) seems safe to finish in the top two -- maybe -- after finishing its season two weeks ago.

• LSU (11-2) has lost the No. 1 ranking twice and, for a few hours, its coach on Saturday. Minutes before taking the field for the SEC title game, Les Miles had to deny a report that he was leaving for Michigan.

If the tumblers fall right, he and the Tigers might be leaving for New Orleans soon.

• Normally a loss to stumbling Stanford would disqualify any team. Not USC (10-2), which is getting a lot of best-team-in-the-country-right-now play.

• Dogpile? Vick? There's your Georgia (10-2) reference. The Bulldogs are in contention after finishing its season a week ago.

• Oklahoma (11-2) just beat No. 1 by 21 points. If you ignored the polls and voted from your heart right now, how do you deny the Sooners? They are the only one of the six to beat a No. 1.

• ACC champion Virginia Tech (11-2) might have the best losses of any team in the six pack. The Hokies were blown out by LSU and lost late to Boston College.

For the first time in modern history it seems certain that a team with two losses will play for the national championship. There is also the possibility of a split national championship.

Stoops has a vote in the coaches' poll. Only half-kiddingly, Stoops said he would call his voting buddies in the poll to stump further.

"No. 1, of course," he said when asked where he'd vote his team, "if I want to be let back in Oklahoma.

Poll Assuming Ohio State lands one bid, who else will play in the national title game?   42%  LSU     14%  Hawaii     6%  Kansas     16%  Georgia     11%  Oklahoma     6%  Southern Cal     6%  Virginia Tech     Total Votes: 75436

"Some teams are sitting at home not playing anymore," Stoops added. "We're sitting here playing the No. 1 team in the country. It wasn't just me. Everyone else voted them No. 1 all week too."

Oklahoma actually beat Missouri twice, both times while the Tigers were ranked in the top 11. That had to mean something after having last say on the field and in the interview room.

But the Sooners also had an embarrassing loss at Colorado and lost by seven at Texas Tech after quarterback Sam Bradford was knocked out of the game with a concussion.

LSU lost to teams (Kentucky and Arkansas) with a combined nine losses. Will the voters forget USC being the victim of the biggest point-spread upset in history, losing to the Cardinal?

Pittsburgh became the 13th unranked team this season to beat a top-five ranked opponent. The only other one among the contenders is Ohio State (Nov. 10 to Illinois). How's that for a résumé buster?

"I think it's a close horse race with no clear front-runner," Vaughn said.

How to celebrate a maybe, kind of, title berth?

"We're probably not going to go get real tanked right now," he said, looking at his wife and four small children.

The same couldn't be said for Columbus, Baton Rouge and the voters and computers that have to decide this mess.