The first BCS standings come out Sunday night and the BCS watch begins.  Each week TheClemsonInsider.com will take a look at the battle for the Bowl Championship Series.

Easiest Path

The easiest path for Clemson to make the BCS is for the Tigers to once again win the Atlantic Coast Conference.  For that to happen Florida State must lose another conference game and the Tigers must win the remaining conference games.

Florida State has three ACC road games remaining. Next week they travel to Miami.  On Nov. 8 the ‘Noles play at Virginia Tech on Thursday night. They finish the ACC schedule at Maryland on Nov. 17.

At-large Battle

If the Tigers don’t win the ACC they could still make the BCS if they an win an at-large bid. In order to do that Clemson will need to win its remaining regular season games. If the Tigers win out there is no doubt they would be ranked high enough in the BCS rankings to be eligible for an at-large bid.

There could be two or possibly three BCS at-large bids depending on which teams go to the BCS Championship game. If Oregon were to win out and go to the BCS Championship game there possibly could be three at-large bids. If the Pac-12 or Big Ten champion is picked for the BCS National Championship Game, then the Rose Bowl must choose the highest-ranked school from a non-AQ conference instead of the respective conference’s No. 2 team if there is a non-AQ school ranked at least No. 4 in the final BCS standings. This was the case in 2010, when the Oregon Ducks made it to the national championship, permitting the No. 3 TCU Horned Frogs to attend, and win, the 2011 Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl is permitted to override this provision, however, if it has been taken within the previous four seasons.

One thing to remember is that only two teams from any conference can make the BCS.

Notre Dame appears to be on its way to being eligible for the BCS. Even a two loss Notre Dame team would get strong consideration for a BCS bid and would likely get selected over Clemson.

Should the SEC or Big 12 have a team quailfy for the BCS Chammpionship game, then it will have two teams qualify for the BCS, which will still leave two at large bids.

The road for the Tigers to get an at-large BCS bid, if there are only two bids, will be difficult.  If there are three, however, the path gets easier.

With Ohio State being ineligible for the BCS and all other teams except a 5-1 Northwestern already having at least two losses we can already predict that the Big Ten will only have one BCS team this year.

Go to this link to see the BCS selection procedures

TCI breaks down the BCS contenders and long shots from each conference:

SEC

Serious Contenders

Alabama 6-0 (Oct. 20 at Tennessee, Oct. 27 hosts Mississippi State, Nov. 3 at LSU, Nov. 10 hosts Texas A&M)

Florida 6-0 (Oct. 20 hosts South Carolina, Oct. 27 vs. Georgia, Nov. 24 at Florida State)

LSU 6-1 (Oct. 20 at Texas A&M, Nov. 3 hosts Alabama, Nov. 10 hosts Mississippi State)

South Carolina 6-1 (Oct. 20 at Florida, Nov. 24 at Clemson)

Georgia 5-1 (Oct. 27 vs. Florida, Nov. 24 hosts Georgia Tech)

Longshots

Mississippi State 6-0 (Oct. 27 at Alabama, Nov. 3 hosts Texas A&M, Nov. 10 at LSU)

Texas A&M 5-1 (Oct. 20 hosts LSU, Nov. 3 at Mississippi State, Nov. 10 at Alabama)

Big 12

Serious Contenders

Kansas State 6-0 (Oct. 20 at West Virginia, Oct. 27 hosts Texas Tech, Nov. 3 hosts Oklahoma State, Dec. 1 hosts Texas)

West Virginia 5-1 (Oct. 20 hosts Kansas State, Nov. 10 at Oklahoma State, Nov. 17 hosts Oklahoma)

Oklahoma 4-1 (Oct. 27 hosts Notre Dame, Nov. 17 at West Virginia, Nov. 24 hosts Oklahoma State)

Longshots

Texas Tech 5-1 (Oct. 27 at Kansas State, Nov. 3 hosts Texas, Nov. 17 at Oklahoma State)

TCU 5-1 (Nov. 3 at West Virginia, Nov. 10 hosts Kansas State, Nov. 22 at Texas, Dec. 1 hosts Oklahoma)

Pac-12

Serious Contenders

Oregon 6-0 (Oct. 18 at Arizona State, Nov. 3 at USC, Nov. 17 hosts Stanford, Nov. 24 at Oregon State)

Oregon State 5-0 (Nov. 10 at Stanford, Nov. 24 at Oregon)

Southern California 5-1 (Nov. 3 hosts Oregon, Nov. 24 hosts Notre Dame)

Long Shots

Arizona State 5-1 (Oct. 18 hosts Oregon, Nov. 3 at Oregon State, Nov. 10 at USC)

Independents

Serious Contenders

Notre Dame 6-0 (Oct. 27 at Oklahoma, Nov. 24 at USC)

Big Ten

No Serious Contenders for at-large bids.