It’s games over and guessing game on in BCS

Of course all hell broke loose -- it’s the Bowl Championship Series!

After the year we’ve been through, you expected a clean ending?

For the second straight week, No. 1 lost and . . . so did No. 2.

Last week it was Louisiana State and Kansas; Saturday it was Missouri and West Virginia.

Instead of any team or teams you might have thought were going to play in the Jan. 7 BCS title game in New Orleans, that matchup is now going to be Ohio State vs. . . . somebody, but almost certainly the first two-loss team to ever play in the championship.

So who is somebody?

The best guess is Louisiana State (instead of Georgia, Virginia Tech, Kansas, or, ahem, USC).

The final pairing won’t be known until the final BCS standings are released today.

The Missouri and West Virginia losses, as you might imagine, fouled up the entire bowl lineup.

Instead of USC vs. Ohio State, the Rose Bowl is going to be USC and, probably, Illinois.

“Clearly Ohio State was our first choice, we are certainly disappointed to not have them in our game,” Rose Bowl Chief Executive Mitch Dorger said Saturday after Pittsburgh’s stunning 13-9 win over West Virginia made it clear Pasadena was going to lose Ohio State to New Orleans. “At the same time, we always wish our conference partners the best.”

Ohio State can’t play in the Rose Bowl because it will now clinch one of the top two spots in the BCS standings.

If it’s Ohio State vs. LSU for the national title, that would make two remarkable comeback stories.

The Buckeyes thought their title hopes were finished when they fell from No. 1 to No. 7 after a Nov. 10 home loss to Illinois. It was so quiet in Columbus that night you could have fired cannon balls down High Street and not hurt anyone.

But a series of startling upsets between then and now have pushed the Buckeyes, who haven’t played since Nov. 17, back to the top.

LSU, likewise, knows how to play the BCS from behind.

In 2003, the Tigers rallied from No. 12 position in the first BCS standings to win the national title with a victory over Oklahoma -- in New Orleans.

Saturday, LSU started the day No. 7 -- seven! -- in the BCS yet may climb all the way back.

So how do you get from 7 to 2?

If you take Missouri (didn’t show us anything) and West Virginia (it was almost heaven) out of the equation, LSU still has to jump BCS No. 6 Virginia Tech, No. 5 Kansas and No. 4 Georgia.

LSU is going to get a boost in the BCS computers for beating Tennessee in Saturday’s Southeastern Conference title game and can also make a solid subjective case with BCS voters in the USA Today coaches’ and Harris polls.

LSU thrashed Virginia Tech, 48-7, in Baton Rouge, on Sept. 8 -- case closed.

Kansas (11-1) and Georgia (10-2) did not even win their own divisions in the Big 12 and Southeastern conferences. Georgia and LSU did not face each other this season.

The No. 2 BCS spot may be close between LSU and Georgia because Georgia started the day with a three-position lead.

USC started the day at No. 8 in the BCS, right behind LSU, and might have gotten back in the title mix had Tennessee defeated LSU.

The reason USC probably won’t win a one-on-one BCS bakeoff against two-loss LSU or Georgia is simple: Stanford 24, USC 23.

Both LSU losses came in triple overtime. Georgia lost to South Carolina and Tennessee.

Here’s the best guess at the BCS bowl lineup, without benefit of knowing whether Hawaii won or lost against Washington in a game that started at 8:30 p.m. PST. What we know is Washington jumped to a 21-0 lead.

Hawaii earns an automatic BCS berth if it finishes in the top 12 of the final BCS standings. The Warriors started the day at No. 12. A Hawaii loss might give Arizona State, at 10-2, an at-large BCS bid.

Our projected lineup:

BCS Championship: Ohio State vs. LSU.

Rose Bowl: USC vs. Illinois.

Sugar: Georgia vs. Hawaii (or West Virginia).

Orange: Kansas vs. Virginia Tech

Fiesta: Oklahoma vs. West Virginia or Arizona State (if Hawaii loses).

Saturday was a wild day for ESPN, Les Miles, Michigan, journalism, Missouri, West Virginia, UCLA football and anyone who wears a bowl jacket.

The last day of college football’s regular season was anything but regular.

LSU Coach Les Miles held a news conference before the SEC title game in Atlanta to refute a report by former Ohio State quarterback (and ESPN analyst) Kirk Herbstreit that Miles was going to take the Michigan job.

“There was misinformation on ESPN,” an obviously irritated Miles said.

Miles, in fact, said he was staying at LSU, before leading the Tigers to the SEC title.

Miles told CBS after the game he will be the coach at LSU next year.

Herbstreit responded later that he was basically sticking by his story and suggested Miles’ pregame news conference might be a “smoke screen.”

Herbstreit could be hanging his credibility on a college football coach saying one thing Saturday and doing another on Wednesday.

Last year, of course, Nick Saban bolted the Miami Dolphins for Alabama only weeks after saying “I’m not going to be the Alabama coach.”

Saban was the LSU coach the last time the Tigers won the national title . . . hey, Herbstreit’s story is starting to make more sense.

All this Miles jazz took place before the games had even started.

On the field, USC clinched its sixth straight Pac-10 title with a 24-7 win over UCLA in what was likely Bruins Coach Karl Dorrell’s last game.

USC will likely face Illinois in the Rose Bowl provided the No. 15 Illini move up one position into the BCS top 14, which seems almost certain.

If Georgia does not make the BCS title game, the Rose Bowl could pair USC and the Bulldogs, but indications were Saturday the Granddaddy was leaning toward keeping its game a traditional Pac-10/Big Ten matchup.

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chris.dufresne@latimes.com