Auburn is likely to be the nation's top-ranked team with two weeks in the next two weeks against Alabama and South Carolina. But it's the bowl projection the Tigers could end up with a pair of losses that would be really interesting.
The Auburn winning out scenario is easy: the Tigers will be playing for a national title in the BCS National Championship Game, likely against Oregon.
With a loss against Alabama, though, things get murkier. It's likely that that loss will knock Auburn out of the top three in the BCS rankings, but Auburn could jump past undefeated TCU and Boise State teams with a win in the SEC Championship Game; at least, the Tigers would lock up a Sugar Bowl berth by beating the Gamecocks in Atlanta after losing to the Crimson Tide. That jump to the national championship, though, might even be possible should the Tigers beat Alabama and lose to South Carolina. And the latter scenario would produce a bizarre outcome in which the Tigers lose the SEC's automatic BCS berth and still play for a national championship.
With two losses, though, Auburn might not even make a BCS bowl. South Carolina would earn the SEC's automatic bid, and BCS bowl officials would be able to choose any of Auburn, LSU, or Alabama as at-large teams from the SEC. And would Auburn, on a two-game losing streak, be a more appealing choice for the Orange Bowl than LSU or Alabama?