Will Ohio State Be Passed Over for 2013 Title Game?

Going into this past weekend's games, the major college football BCS ranking system, which ultimately decides who gets to play for the national championship with the top two ranked teams playing for the title, had the top five teams ranked as follows:

#1 Alabama
#2 Florida State
#3 Ohio State
#4 Auburn
#5 Missouri

Alabama, FSU, and Ohio State each was undefeated while Auburn and Missouri each had one loss on their records.  Alabama, Auburn, and Missouri are all members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which has produced the national champion in each of the past seven years.  So the SEC has a great deal of weight when it comes down to which teams are ranked the highest.  That's important to keep in mind when considering what just happened yesterday in college football.

Alabama lost a thrilling, tight game to Auburn...which now means that the SEC has no undefeated teams left.  Meanwhile, Florida State and Ohio State remained undefeated as they won their games (Ohio State's victory was a one-point squeaker).  Missouri also won their contest.  So now FSU and Ohio State are the remaining two major colleges that are undefeated...the common sense conclusion would be that these two will face off for the national championship.  But wait...

Alabama is now out of the picture for a national championship, but Auburn and Missouri will play each other next week for the Southeastern Conference championship.  Whoever wins this game will gain a great boost in their BCS status because of the strength of the opponent that they beat.  And I'm afraid that this, combined with the already slanted deference given to SEC teams in the rankings, may well result in the winner of that game vaulting ahead of Ohio State...even though Ohio State has yet to lose a game this year.

I'd hate to see a scenario where an undefeated team from a major conference like the Big Ten doesn't get to play for the national championship while another team who has a loss on their record from the SEC does, but it looks as if this may well happen.  The only way I see this not happening is if Ohio State loses to Michigan State in the Big Ten championship game next week, or in the extreme improbability that FSU would lose to Duke in their ACC championship game.

Urban Meyer took over coaching duties at Ohio State University last year and took them to an undefeated record.  But then they were under probation for rules violations under the previous coach and were ineligible for championships or bowl games.  And he has yet to lose this year, too!  Wouldn't it be something if Ohio State went undefeated again and were denied a shot at the championship...when they were one of the two undefeated teams left?  Incredibly, this travesty of the championship process looks to be a distinct possibility...