A national champion in Boise?

So what needs to happen in order for Boise State to jump two spots and play in the BCS Championship Game? Glad you asked:

1. Win and win with style » Obviously a one-loss team from the WAC does not make the title game. The conference has only one other team — Idaho — with a winning record, so Boise State must win all its remaining games convincingly to even be considered for the title game.

2. Oregon must win the Pac-10 » Boise State played their toughest game of the season on Sept. 3 on the blue turf. The Broncos beat Oregon, 19-8, and their BCS dreams were set in motion. Oregon, ranked No. 11 in the BCS standings, has won every game since its loss to the Broncos including wins over two ranked teams — Utah and California. An Oregon win over USC at home on Halloween would help Boise State’s strength of schedule and eliminate any possibility of the Trojans jumping Boise State in the BCS rankings.

3. One SEC upset » It would be shocking if an SEC team does not play for the national title, but two teams from the same conference have never played in the BCS Championship Game. Boise State would probably need the loser of the Florida-Alabama SEC Championship Game to already have a loss entering the game. Alabama still has to play LSU and at Auburn while Florida’s toughest game is at South Carolina.

4. A Longhorns collapse » Texas squeaked by Oklahoma, 16-13, but still has several tough games ahead — at Missouri, at Oklahoma State, against Kansas and the Big 12 Championship. For Boise State to have hope, Texas must lose at least one of those games and possibly two.

5. Avoid being jumped » It would be tough for an undefeated WAC champion to end the season ahead of an undefeated Big East or Big Ten champion so Cincinnati and Iowa would probably have to lose a game at some point. An undefeated TCU team also could sneak ahead of Boise State because the Mountain West — with BYU and Utah being ranked — is the strongest mid-major conference, by far.