Only three options remain for Ohio State's opponent...

Sadly, one of them is not Notre Dame. I love my Irish and I would take the opportunity of playing Ohio State if it came to it, but no, with Michigan no longer having any more games left on their slate, they have essentially locked out the Irish.

I cannot erase a 26-point loss to Michigan, at home with a clear conscience.

For me, there are now only three options left for Ohio State's opponent... USC should they win out, Arkansas and/or Florida should they win out or Michigan if neither wins out. USC hosts Notre Dame and travels to UCLA. Florida travels to Florida State and Arkansas "hosts" LSU in Little Rock. Both the Hogs and Gators will meet in Atlanta on December 2nd.

If your a USC fan, cheer on your team.
If you like Arkansas or Florida, cheer for your team and Notre Dame.
If you like Michigan, cheer for Notre Dame to beat USC, LSU to beat Arkansas, and Arkansas to beat Florida.

Here are the standings with wins over BCS bowl-eligible teams in the first set of parenthesees followed by their opponent's combined record in the second set.

1. Ohio State (6) (71-69)
2. USC (7) (63-47)
3. Florida (6) (65-46)
4. Michigan (5) (80-60)
5. Arkansas (4) (52-65)

Those are the national champion hopefuls, everyone else is jockeying for position in the other BCS bowls. Yes, Arkansas is below Michigan, but the Hogs will add LSU's 9-3 and Florida's likely 11-2 to their slate if they win out. Suddenly they would have six wins over BCS winners and a 72-70 overall opponents record. Good enough to get over Michigan? I would say yes.

6. Louisville (4) (62-48)
7. Notre Dame (4) (64-60)
8. West Virginia (3) (51-53)
9. Wisconsin (3) (42-69)
10. Rutgers (3) (52-53)
11. Boise State (1) (45-66)

Group Two of the BCS chasers. Louisville becomes the benefactor of Cincinnati's win over Rutgers. Should the Scarlet Knights go down in defeat at West Virginia then the Mountaineers and Cardinals would be tied with UofL getting the BCS bid thanks to their November 2nd win. Notre Dame will go regardless, either as a justified 11-1 with a win over USC or as the 10-2 media darling/whipping boys who will praise/complain for six weeks about the Irish presence in the BCS. West Virginia is a big LSU fan, hoping Arkansas will lose out from here and end up with three losses, perhaps opening up a BCS at-large bid. Wisconsin is done, as one conference can only send two members. Rutgers would need to reverse fortunes and beat West Virginia, making them the champions of the Big East. Boise State needs to just win at Nevada and they will qualify for a BCS game finishing in the top 12.

12. Auburn (5) (72-52)
13. Texas (4) (66-49)
14. LSU (4) (65-56)

Auburn's season is over while LSU and Texas could add one and two (Texas) more wins over BCS bowl teams. The BCS only takes the top 14 teams and these could be the last qualifiers as non-champions. However, LSU and Auburn could get locked out by Arkansas and Florida.

15. Boston College (4) (61-55)
16. Oklahoma (3) (59-54)
17. Georgia Tech (2) (55-60)
18. Virginia Tech (3) (58-55)
19. Wake Forest (2) (43-60)

Someone will win the ACC but it won't be Virginia Tech who got locked out by Georgia Tech this past weekend. The Yellow Jackets could strengthen their resume with a win at Georgia this coming weekend. Oklahoma could finish at 10-2 and be at least an option for a BCS at-large.

20. TCU (1) (43-62)
21. BYU (0) (53-64)
22. Hawaii (0) (45-68)

The march of the non-BCS two-game losers. Hawaii can at least point to having lost to an undefeated Boise State team. TCU has the Texas Tech win keeping them above the fray. All the opponent records are not flattering.

23. Nebraska (4) (64-52)
24. Clemson (3) (62-60)
25. Tennessee (3) (69-52)