Kansas Moves to #2 in BCS

MORRISTOWN, New Jersey (Ticker) -- In this most improbable of college football seasons, Kansas is now in position to play for the national championship - if it can win two more games. The Jayhawks took advantage of losses by Oregon and Oklahoma to climb to No. 2 in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings released Sunday night. Louisiana State, which has clinched a berth in the Southeastern Conference championship game, held on to the top spot for the second straight week.

The Tigers have a BCS average of .9904 out of a possible score of 1.000. LSU (10-1), which closes its regular season against Arkansas on Friday, is first in all three components - the Harris Interactive and USA Today coaches' polls and the computer rankings.

Kansas, which is 11-0 for the first time in the program's 117-year history, garnered a score of .9488 and has a sizable lead over No. 3 West Virginia (9-1). The defeats by Oregon and Oklahoma pulled three other one-loss teams back into the national championship picture - Missouri (10-1), Ohio State (11-1) and Arizona State (9-1), who are fourth through sixth in the BCS standings, respectively.

On Saturday, Kansas hosts Missouri in a crucial game that will decide the Big 12 North Division title. The winner advances to the Big 12 title game while the loser will be knocked out of national championship contention. The top two teams in the final BCS rankings, which will be announced on December 2, will play for the national title in New Orleans on January 7.

Oregon (8-2) fell eight spots to No. 9 after a 34-24 loss to Arizona, and Oklahoma (9-2) plummeted six notches to No. 10 following a 34-27 defeat to Texas Tech. As the only unbeaten team in a BCS conference, Kansas can punch its ticket to New Orleans by winning it final two games. Despite the one loss, LSU ranks ahead of Kansas due to its strength of schedule and likely also controls its own destiny. While the Jayhawks keep winning, they do not have a signature victory, but that will change if they beat Missouri in the annual "Border War" game. Missouri, whose only setback came to Oklahoma, likely would move into the No. 2 spot with a win over Kansas.

Ohio State and Arizona State probably have one of two routes into the national championship game. They would need either a loss by LSU - this week or against Tennessee or Georgia in the SEC championship game - or the Kansas-Missouri winner to fall in the Big 12 title clash. Despite the loss to Texas Tech, Oklahoma can win the Big 12 South title with a victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday. Then, the Sooners would have an opportunity to ruin the title hopes of either Kansas or Missouri.