It is already November, which means it is about time that Ohio State loses and moves out of the way for legitimate contenders to play in the BCS National Championship Game. I am, of course, talking about Oregon and LSU, among other teams that could easily beat Ohio State.

The bad thing is that Ohio State only has two games remaining in its season without any Big Ten championship game. If the Buckeyes win both of those games, they will be 99.9 percent guaranteed to return to the national championship game. The good news is that our Illini and the surging Wolverines have a chance to knock off the No. 1 team in the country. The Buckeyes’ season finale will be in Ann Arbor against a Wolverines team with vengeance on its mind.

So I am going to be optimistic and say that Ohio State will lose one of those games and bless us with the national championship game that the fans deserve. That, of course, would be Oregon against LSU. These two teams have proven over the last month that they are the class of college football. And if Ohio State does what it is supposed to do and loses, then we will not have the BCS debacle that happened last year (at least they got it right, though).

While this season has not lacked parity, everything is finally being sorted out. The preseason No. 2 team, LSU, is loaded with talent, especially on defense. And Oregon has proved to be the best in the Pac-10 and features two of the top offensive players in the country in Heisman front-runner Dennis Dixon and running back Jonathan Stewart. If these two teams meet in the championship, expect a clash of the titans with a top offense going against a top defense with everything on the line.

However, that would be way too simple of an end to an already wacky college football season. We have seen way too many top teams go down to think Oregon and LSU will have a walk in the park to winning the remainder of their games. Although both teams have relatively easy remaining schedules, Oregon still has to play at UCLA, and LSU will have to play Arkansas and the SEC East champion. While that race is still wide open, the Tigers will likely find a tough matchup against Florida, Georgia or Tennessee.

That’s not to say that if Ohio State loses a game, Oregon and LSU will be the automatic Nos. 1 and 2.

Keep in mind Oklahoma is lurking behind with just one loss that came from a Colorado field goal as time expired. West Virginia is still in the hunt, but the Mountaineers are hurt by playing in the weaker Big East Conference.

And then there is the biggest question mark in the country: Kansas. Believe it or not, the Jayhawks are still undefeated and fourth in the BCS. They will struggle to catch LSU or Oregon because they do not play Oklahoma or Texas in the regular season. Kansas will play No. 7 Missouri to end the season, and if they remain undefeated the Jayhawks would play Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game. Oklahoma and Missouri are fifth and sixth, respectively, in the BCS standings.

If one-loss Oklahoma is still considered to have a chance at reaching No. 2 in the BCS, how can you leave out a Kansas team that runs the table? The Big 12 is obviously down this year, but Oklahoma and Missouri are very good teams, and this is a Kansas team that just hung 76 points on Nebraska.

I’m still going to go with my gut and say Oregon plays LSU for the crystal ball. But if Kansas wins out, there is going to be a lot of controversy picking two one-loss teams over the undefeated Big 12 champion.

Kevin Olsen is a senior in Communications. He can be reached at [email protected]