Friday was a win-lose situation for defending national champion Oklahoma. The win came early in the day, as Texas finished its regular season with a 10-1 record and solidified significant bonus points for the Sooners in the final BCS Standings. The loss, however, was much more substantial.

Nebraska's defeat at the hands of Colorado prevented the Huskers from reaching the Big 12 title game and, consequently, cost Oklahoma a shot at one more quality win. A victory over the Buffaloes instead will provide only a minimal bonus at best.

This means that Florida's remaining schedule of Tennessee and a potential SEC Championship Game (against either Auburn or LSU) will be stronger than Oklahoma's closing pair of games versus Oklahoma State and Colorado. The result is this: the Gators will close ground on the Sooners in the computers and will blow past them in schedule strength IF both teams win out.

After all the projections and calculations are completed, this scenario slightly favors Florida to finish ahead of Oklahoma for second place in the final BCS Standings if Miami finishes undefeated. The race is certainly close enough between the Gators and Sooners that margin of victory could be a determining factor in the final weeks.

Nebraska's loss also affected two more items of interest. It virtually assured that Texas will receive one of the two at-large bids to a BCS bowl, and it gave BYU more reason to be concerned about becoming eligible for an at-large spot. Now, a win by either Washington (over Miami) or Colorado (over Oklahoma) might be enough to keep the Cougars out of the final Top 12.

Brad Edwards is a college football researcher for ESPN. His weekly Inside the BCS column appears Sundays on ESPN.com.