Three weeks ago when the BCS rankings appeared, the Miami Hurricanes were ranked second, one spot ahead of the Oklahoma Sooners, who were the clear no. 2 in the other two polls. A week later, the Sooners reclaimed the second slot after dismantling Kansas, and knocked the Hurricanes down to third. It appeared these two would battle for the rest of the season to get into the national championship game against USC.

Then Miami headed to unranked North Carolina while Oklahoma traveled to dangerous Oklahoma State. The Sooners had their hands full as expected, and barely held off the Cowboys in a 38-35 victory. Meanwhile, Miami fell apart when it counted most, losing to North Carolina on a last-minute field goal.

So let’s wave goodbye to Miami and welcome Auburn, the newest team to find itself on the national championship bubble. Auburn has been a bit of a surprise this season, playing at a level most people expected of them last year. The Tigers have rolled through the 2004 season thus far, and find themselves just 49 BCS points behind Oklahoma.

With USC, Oklahoma, and Auburn all heading down the home stretch undefeated, one has to believe the boys at the BCS are hoping that one of them goes down between now and January.

Texas A &M will attempt to bring that to pass when they host the Sooners on Saturday. The Aggies, though not as strong as in recent years, remain a dangerous team – even more dangerous with the prospect of falling out of the top 25 staring them in the face.

Meanwhile, the Texas Longhorns will look to keep their BCS hopes alive when Oklahoma State visits Austin. After their close loss to Oklahoma last week, the Cowboys are feeling confident and desperately want to ruin at least one school’s season before the year is out.

OKLAHOMA (2) AT TEXAS A&M (22)

The Aggies are trying to recover from an embarrassing loss to Baylor, but don’t expect them to come in hanging their heads. The final score may not reflect it, but this should be a hard-fought game on both sides, and the Sooners will have their hands full at times.

Texas A &M quarterback Reggie McNeal leads his team in both passing and rushing yards, and the Sooners have got to rein him in or it could be a very long day. McNeal does not make a lot of mistakes, evidenced by the fact that he threw his first interception of the season last week. All of the Aggies hopes revolve around McNeal, who will try to exploit a Sooners linebacking core that appears susceptible.

Oklahoma quarterback Jason White struggled against Oklahoma State last week, managing just 8.5 yards per pass and completing only one pass in the second half. Still, Texas A &M has a weak pass defense, allowing 248 yards a game and 14 touchdowns this season, so we should get a heavier dose of White this time around. If that doesn’t work, there’s always Adrian Peterson, who rumbled for 255 yards last week against the Cowboys.

This is the kind of game Oklahoma is built for. It may start close, it may go to the half close, but the Aggies are simply not equipped to handle the dual attack of White and Peterson. In other words, don’t expect this game to end close.

OKLAHOMA STATE (19) AT TEXAS (7)

Texas has been falling in the rankings based on their play, but thanks to North Carolina’s upset of Miami, they managed to gain three spots in the BCS rankings last week. This fortunate rise means the Longhorns have an outside shot at a BCS Bowl game. Of course, they have to win to maintain their fortune and that is not going to be as easy as they would like this week against the upstart Cowboys.

Texas has won three straight since falling to Oklahoma, and simply cannot afford to lose again this season. This will be their toughest test the rest of the way.

Just by looking at the game film from the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game, the Longhorns know what they need to do: run and then run some more. With a power back like Cedric Benson, who has 12 touchdowns and 1,297 yards this season, Texas can pound the ball all day long if need be.

But don’t discount Texas quarterback Vince Young in this game. If the Cowboys do find a way to slow Benson down, Young may turn out to be the wildcard. He is not an outstanding passer, but he adds his own rushing threat, amassing 557 yards and seven touchdowns this year. Behind the monster Texas offensive line, it is hard to believe the Cowboys defense can contain both Young and Benson all day long.

So that leaves the Cowboys offense with the chore of keeping the score close, something they will rely on running back Vernand Morency to help with. The key to an Oklahoma State victory is keeping the ball away from the talented Longhorns by handing it off to Morency, getting running lanes open for him, and eating time off the clock. The Cowboys average 254 rushing yards a game, sixth best in the country, so they know they can manage the clock if the score remains close.

In the end though, the Longhorns’ second-best average of 305 rushing yards will be too much for the Cowboys. Oklahoma State will fall once again in what could well be another close game against a conference foe.