By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

There's now two weeks to wait, watch and wonder: whither Ohio State? Or more accurately: to BCS or not to BCS?

Fairly or not, the season may be judged more of a disappointment if the Buckeyes aren't invited to one of the four Bowl Championship Series bowls. With bowl matchups to be announced Dec. 7, it appears OSU (10-2) will straddle the fence between the BCS and the lesser Jan. 1 bowls - most likely the Capital One Bowl (formerly Citrus) in Orlando, Fla.

"I think we'll still be a very good attraction for any bowl game that wants us," OSU athletic director Andy Geiger said. "At the very least, we'll be in Orlando. I think Miami (for the Orange Bowl) or Tempe (Fiesta Bowl) would be lovely."

OSU, fourth last week in both Top 25 polls, fell Sunday to No. 8 in the Associated Press poll and to No. 7 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Jerry Palm of collegeBCS.com and Brad Edwards of ESPN.com both project the Buckeyes to be No. 5 - down three spots - when the BCS standings are announced today.

The top four should be Oklahoma, Southern California, Louisiana State and Michigan, in that order. Texas should be sixth, though Palm said it's possible the Longhorns could be fifth today instead of OSU.

Representatives from the Sugar, Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Capital One bowls attended the OSU-Michigan game Saturday.

"(OSU) is BCS material, no question about that," said Albert Dotson Sr., past president of the Orange Bowl committee. "I'd imagine they're on a lot of radar screens right now."

Winners of the six BCS conferences earn automatic bids, leaving two at-large selections. An at-large candidate from a BCS league needs to finish in the top four of the final BCS standings to be guaranteed one of those bowls. Palm said OSU could finish somewhere between third and sixth depending on results of other top teams, but isn't likely to be in the top four.

"Tennessee, Ohio State and Texas would be your three at-large candidates if the season ended today," Palm said.

The Orange and Fiesta Bowls will likely be the ones making those selections. OSU could go to the Rose Bowl only if Michigan finishes in the top two of the BCS - likely requiring losses by USC and LSU - and goes to the Sugar Bowl.

Texas has one more game, against Texas A & M. Tennessee plays Kentucky, and it could also appear in the SEC championship game.

Should OSU not finish in the top four of the BCS, its actual finish doesn't matter. It could be No. 5 but be bypassed for a lower team.

"It'd be the whim of the bowls," Palm said.

That's where factors like which teams bring the most fans and when teams last played where come into play. OSU has played in the Orange Bowl just once, in 1977. It played in the Fiesta Bowl last season, though the fact its fans bought an estimated 45,000 tickets could help its case.

OSU played in Orlando in 1993, '95 and '96. The Capital One Bowl is the top Big Ten tie-in other than the Rose Bowl.

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E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com