After a wild weekend in college football, the latest BCS standings have been released, with Houston still on the outside looking in despite their 7-0 record. The Cougars are ranked No. 17 with a weighted average of .3676, by far the lowest of the eight undefeated teams in the FBS.
Their biggest hurdle is their schedule, as Conference USA has no other ranked teams to boost Houston with either the computers or the pollsters. And with UCLA in the midst of a collapse likely to cost Rick Neuheisel his job, the Cougars' lone win over a team in a BCS conference has lost its luster.
The BCS is contractually obligated to take the highest ranked team from a non-AQ (automatic qualifier) conference if they are ranked in the top 12 at the end of the season. And even with their depleted schedule, Case Keenum and the Cougars will likely crack that barrier if they finish the season at 12-0.
Standing in Houston's way is Boise State, a perennial BCS buster out of the Mountain West, who are currently sitting at No. 4 in the latest rankings. There will not be two non-AQ teams in the BCS and no BCS bowl will pick Houston over Boise. The Broncos don't have another ranked opponent on their schedule either; their biggest hurdle left is a date against TCU on Nov. 12.