LSU is in position to play for a national championship. Oregon isn't far behind the Tigers and unbeaten Kansas is looming.

Taking advantage of Boston College's first loss of the season, the Tigers moved into second place in the Bowl Championship Series standings released yesterday.

Undefeated Ohio State (10-0) is still in first, and could lock up a second straight appearance in the BCS national championship game on Jan. 7 with victories against Illinois and Michigan in its last two games.

LSU (8-1) has at least three games left and probably four with the Southeastern Conference title game on Dec. 1. Winning out could get the Tigers a spot in the title game at the Superdome in New Orleans.

That's no lock.

Third-place Oregon (8-1) and fourth-place Kansas (9-0) are close enough to at least have a shot at passing the Tigers, even if LSU doesn't drop a game.

The BCS could be heading for a repeat of last season, when Ohio State locked up the top spot the week before Thanksgiving and several teams jostled for the other spot over the next two weeks.

It came down to Florida and Michigan and the Gators got the votes they needed to pass the Wolverines in the final BCS standings. The outcome didn't sit well with Michigan and showed the glaring flaws in the Bowl Championship Series.

The system hasn't changed and the problem of trying to choose between several worthy contenders to play in the title game could come up again.

LSU has a BCS average of .941. The Tigers are second in both the Harris and coaches' poll, which makes up two-thirds of the BCS average, and are No. 2 in the computer ratings.

Oregon's BCS average is .918 and Kansas is at .843. The surprising Jayhawks still have a big game against sixth-place Missouri left on the schedule and a possible Big 12 championship game.

Oklahoma's average is .839. Missouri, West Virginia, Boston College, Arizona State and Georgia round out the top 10.

ELSEWHERE

UCLA: Quarterback Patrick Cowan was released from the University of Arizona Hospital emergency room late Saturday night after being treated for a concussion and collapsed lung. Cowan sustained a concussion in the third quarter of the Bruins' 34-27 loss to Arizona on Saturday, and was taken to the hospital after experiencing discomfort and shortness of breath. Tests showed he has a slight collapse of his right lung. He is unable to fly because of the injury, so he will take ground transportation back to California, probably today.

Arkansas: Darren McFadden had 2 yards subtracted from his rushing total from Saturday, meaning he only tied the Southeastern Conference single-game record. McFadden was initially credited with 323 yards on 35 carries in Arkansas' 48-36 win over South Carolina, but Razorbacks spokesman Kevin Trainor said yesterday that a review of the film showed the star tailback was given too many yards. A 3-yard run by Felix Jones was mistakenly credited to McFadden, and McFadden was shortchanged a yard on one of his carries.