No surprise that LSU and Alabama, who were idle this weekend before their showdown next Saturday, should remain #1 in the BCS standings. Oklahoma State will remain #3, but after that it's a bit foggy.
Stanford might pass Boise State for #4. The Cardinal will rise in the computers for beating USC, regardless of how close the game was. They're already ahead in the human polls. Oklahoma should be #6 after beating 1-loss Kansas State.
Oregon and Arkansas won't make much progress with the computers, and may even slide a notch, for their wins this week. Most of their previous opponents lost during the weekend, which didn't help. But Oregon should remain #7, and Arkansas move up to #8 as Clemson and Kansas State fall.
This Sunday's projected BCS Standings (USA ranking actual; computer composite and Harris projected)
lw proj Team W L Comp USA Harris
1 1 LSU 8 0 3 1 1
2 2 Alabama 8 0 2 2 2
3 3 Oklahoma St 8 0 1 4 3
6 4 Stanford 8 0 6 3 4
4 5 Boise St 7 0 5 5 5
9 6 Oklahoma 7 1 4 7 7
7 7 Oregon 7 1 13 6 6
10 8 Arkansas 7 1 9 8 8
14 9 Nebraska 7 1 10 9 9
5 10 Clemson 8 1 7 12 11
12 11 V. Tech 8 1 8 11 12
13 12 S. Carolina 7 1 12 10 10
17 13 Houston 8 0 14 14 14
18 14 Michigan 7 1 19 13 13
8 15 Kansas St 7 1 11 19 17
Nebraska could be as high as #9 but their computer ranking is uncertain; they should place somewhere within the 9 to 12 band above. Virginia Tech is inexplicably ahead of Clemson (who beat them 23-3) in the USA/Coaches poll, something the Harris voters hopefully don't replicate, but most of the computers should have Clemson ahead. South Carolina should move up a small amount.
Houston and Michigan round out the magic top 14, which is a required placement for at-large BCS bowl bids. Kansas State should still be near the top 10 in the computer composite as the computers don't know they lost 58-17, but the pollsters know and have dropped the Wildcats to #19 in the USA. Penn State might take the #15 spot from Kansas State but after that the dropoff is pretty steep. Two Big Ten teams, Michigan State and Wisconsin, will fall out of the top 15.
Comments