Oklahoma football: BCS chances go up

Late Saturday night, far from the glow of Alabama-LSU or OSU-Kansas State or Oregon-Southern Cal, OU’s chances for a BCS bowl bid went up. San Diego State beat Boise State, and that was no small thing for the Sooners.

Boise State was No. 19 in the BCS rankings last week, and if the Broncos had won out, they were likely to do two things: 1) rise into the top 16; and 2) move past either the highest-rated Big Ten team or the highest-rated Big East team. Both Nebraska and Louisville would have had to lose to be passed by Boise State, but either was certainly possible, if not likely.

Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, right, and defensive coordinator Mike Stoops, left, talk on their headphones on the sidelines in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game against Notre Dame in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012. Notre Dame won 30-13.(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

If the highest-ranked mid-major is in the top 16 and is ranked higher than any of the automatic qualifiers to the BCS, that mid-major gets one of the four BCS at-large selections.

Now, the highest-ranked mid-major is Louisiana Tech, and with the Bulldogs finishing with Texas State, Utah State and San Jose State, they aren’t likely to get to No. 16.