While there won't be a rematch of last year's BCS National Championship, one team might be able to return to its spot in the year's final college football game. With the shocking loss last night of Oklahoma State to Iowa State, the Cowboys went from the No. 2 team in the country competing for the national title to just another one-loss team vying for a BCS bowl game. And that means that someone else can now enter the equation.
Consider the Oregon Ducks. They lost the first game in the season to LSU 40-27 when the teams were No. 3 and 4 respectively in the AP Top 25. Since then, the Ducks have reeled off 9 consecutive wins, including a 7-0 Pac-12 record, and are now back in the national title picture. The major win on their resume is a takedown of Andrew Luck and Stanford just two weeks ago that allowed them to jump other one-loss teams like Oklahoma in the BCS standings.
Alabama, LSU and even the Sooners could stand in their way as of yet, but the Ducks also have some good games left on the schedule (especially the USC match-up tonight at 7pm CT). If they're able to hold steady and keep voters believing in them, the Ducks could return to the national championship game across another SEC power like last year (Cam Newton's Auburn club) in a display of coast-to-coast powers. If so, Chip Kelly will have Iowa State to thank for dropping the biggest obstacle in their way.