ATHENS, Ohio - The unbeaten Ohio University football team has a chance to become the first member of the Mid-American Conference to secure an invitation to a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl game.

The Bobcats are 24th in this week's BCS standings, which are computed by combining two voter polls and six computer rankings. That puts Ohio University within striking distance of winning a guaranteed invitation to one of the big bowl games - the Fiesta, Orange, Rose or Sugar.

The simplest path is to finish at least 12th in the final BCS standings and higher than any other team from a conference without an automatic spot.

An undefeated season could do that. In 2008, undefeated Ball State behind quarterback Nate Davis reached the 12th position before losing to Buffalo in the MAC championship game.

Another scenario involves finishing 16th or better.

Below is a detailed look and both possibilities and what is in store this week. We will provide weekly updates at this site as long as Ohio University remains unbeaten.

Top 12

Six conferences have the inside track to receiving BCS bowl bids: the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-12 and Southeastern Conference. Their champions automatically qualify.

The highest-ranked conference school not in one of those automatic-bid leagues is guaranteed a BCS bowl invitation as long as it finishes at least 12th in the BCS standings.

Top ranked among these



No. 21

No. 24

No. 29

This week

All three teams will be road favorites this weekend. Ohio University is at Miami of Ohio (3-4). Boise State is at Wyoming (1-6). And Louisiana Tech is at New Mexico State (1-6).

Top 16 and higher than a champion from a BCS-automatic league



A school from a conference without an automatic spot but finishing 13th through 16th in the BCS standings is guaranteed an invitation to a BCS bowl as long as it finishes higher than all other teams from conferences without automatic bids, and higher than at least one champion from a BCS-automatic-bid conference.

If this is to happen, the most likely opportunity would come from ending the season ranked higher than the Big East champion.

Top ranked Big East teams and OU

No. 15

No. 16

No. 24

No. 30

This week

The key matchup this week will be on Friday night when Cincinnati visits Louisville. A Cincinnati loss would take the Bearcats out of the mix. But if Louisville loses, OU could possibly move ahead of the Cardinals and behind only Rutgers in the BCS standings listed above.

Meanwhile, OU fans should be rooting for fellow MAC team Kent State (6-1). Kent is at Rutgers on Saturday.