Scoping out the BCS

We've got our first glimpse at the BCS standings. No real surprises, except maybe Kansas being unranked in the computer average.

Here are the automatic bids...

Top 2: Texas, Alabama

Conference champs/leaders:
Big 12: [Texas]
Big 10: Penn State
SEC: [Alabama]
ACC: Georgia Tech
Big East: Pittsburgh
Pac 10: USC

Non-automatic conference in Top 12: Utah

No. 3, 4: Oklahoma

So we've got eight automatic bids, leaving two at-large picks. In the running are Georgia, Ohio State, Florida, Boise State, LSU and TCU. (Pity the lesser Big 12 teams -- Oklahoma State and Texas Tech can't get in. Conferences are limited to two BCS entries.) If it were up to me, I'd give the two slots to Georgia and Boise State. But they'll probably hand the slots to Ohio State and Florida.

If they were played today:
(Automatic placements are not labeled; guessed placements are marked as such.)
BCS Championship: Texas-Alabama. Same matchup two weeks in a row. This changes after Alabama drops one to LSU, Mississippi State or Auburn.
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech-Pittsburgh (guess). Yet again, predicting a battle of the worst of the BCS automatic bids. Tough game to call, but I lean Georgia Tech in this scenario.
Sugar Bowl: Georgia (guess)-Boise State (guess). Georgia racks up a second consecutive win against a WAC team.
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma (guess)-Utah (guess). Sooners will still have to watch out for another non-major surprise.
Rose Bowl: USC-Penn State. Penn State is crazy good, but this is the Rose Bowl. They win, but it's close.