For the BCS Favorites, It's All About Survival

SBN's Texas blog, Burnt Orange Nation has their own thoughts on the newly-released rankings and for Texas, Florida, and Alabama, it all starts with a simple task:

Despite the fact that none of the top three teams brought their "A" games on Saturday, all three survived and advanced. For Florida, Alabama, and Texas that is all it's about-survival. The top three in all polls don't need to worry about style points; all they need to do is win. The potential collision of an undefeated SEC champion vs. Texas for the national championship remains a possibility.

It's true; amidst all the crowing about fairness when discussing the BCS system, that one, simple truth too often goes overlooked. Among the favorites, more often than not, if you win, you're in. And for this year's crop of college football heavyweights, that's certainly true. If Texas runs the table, they'll make the title game; if Florida and Alabama do the same, whichever team emerges victorious from the title will be their opponent. It's that simple.

If that doesn't happen... Then things get a little complicated. As they take a look at some of the other dark horses:

The Contenders:

1. USC (5-1; BCS 7): The Trojans escaped South Bend and appear to be in excellent position to back into the national title game should the top teams stumble. I say appear because I'm not so sure that they don't need more than a little help. Should Texas lose, USC is in decent shape but would they be more deserving than an undefeated Big 10 champion or an undefeated Big East champion? I'm not so sure. Should Florida and / or Alabama lose, wouldn't a one-loss SEC champion still be higher ranked and more appreciated by the computers than a one-loss USC? I think so. In my opinion, the Trojans need to start worrying about style points and impressive wins over Oregon State and Oregon in the next two weekends would be a good place to start.

Next Games:, 10/24 Oregon State; 10/31 @ Oregon, 11/7 @ Arizona St

2. Cincinnati (6-0; BCS 5): The Bearcats are the surprise of the season. Cincinnati wasn't even ranked in the pre-season and after less than two months are ranked in the top five of the first BCS standings. Tony Pike's injury doesn't appear to be serious and even without him, Cincy should have no trouble over the next couple of games. College football has been crazy already...with wins over West Virginia and Pittsburgh and an undefeated campaign, who knows.

Next Games: 10/24 Louisville, 10/31 @ Syracuse, 11/7 Connecticut

Need Help:

1. Boise State (6-0; BCS 4): Why so low? Cause they're Boise State. As BZ mentioned last week, this may be as high as they can get. Major conferences teams like Cincinnati, Iowa, and USC are all likely to jump the Broncos in the weeks ahead.

Next Games: 10/24 @ Hawaii, 10/31 San Jose State, 11/6 @ La Tech

2. Iowa (7-0; BCS 6): Vegas may not believe in the Hawkeyes but they don't have to. Road trips to East Lansing and to Columbus are all that really stand in the way of an improbable undefeated season. I think Iowa will have no trouble jumping Boise State and Cincinnati in the weeks ahead, as long as they keep winning.

Next Games: 10/24 @ Michigan State, 10/31 Indiana, 11/7 Northwestern

Check out their extensive analysis here, as it's all excellent, and they examine the favorites in more depth, as well as highlighting some dark horses like LSU and Penn State as potential BCS party-crashers. November should be a very exciting month for college football fans everywhere.