The third BCS standings of the year was unveiled tonight, and there wasn't much change at the top. Every week, I'll go through the newly released BCS standings and give my 2 cents on each spot of the top 10. Now, without further ado....
1. LSU - Nothing has changed here, and it won't until the epic showdown on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa against Alabama (2). The voters couldn't care less about the other 8 teams on this list, maybe even so much so that we see a rematch of next week's game for the national championship.
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma State - The Cowboys laid a whoopin' on the Missouri Tigers on the road this past weekend, and their number 3 ranking is definitely justified. They come back home to face off against K-State this week, and I don't see them losing that game. The big matchup with in-state rival Oklahoma looms large on December 3rd, and that's OSU's only real roadblock to going undefeated and being a legitimate contender for the national title game.
4. Stanford - The Fighting Andrew Lucks played a classic at USC on Saturday night, and narrowly escaped with their perfect record intact. In my opinion, this was the best game of the weekend. Luck showed he has grit and guts and can rebound from adversity. Stanford faces off against Oregon in two weeks, and that will be their biggest test until the Pac 12 title game.
5. Boise State - Boise plays against total crap teams for the rest of the season, so if they don't go undefeated, they shouldn't finish in the top 5.
6. Oklahoma - I think last week's loss against Texas Tech was an aberration, since the Sooners embarrassed the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan this week. It'll be smooth sailing for the Schooner until the big road test at OK State.
7. Arkansas - Never have I known less about a top 10 team this late into the season. I don't think I've seen one Arkansas game all year, so I'm obviously in a great position to forecast the remainder of their season. However, they play South Carolina this weekend and go to Death Valley to face LSU in the final regular season game, which means I don't think they win out.
8. Oregon - Oregon is going to be an interesting team to watch going forward, especially if they beat Stanford and USC in back to back games in November. Right now, the Ducks' only loss is to number 1 LSU. I think a 1-loss Pac 12 champion Oregon squad could and should get some support for a national title run.
9. South Carolina - The Gamecocks and their famous head coach, the Great Visor, are surprisingly ranked in the top 10 this week. I think they are primed for a drop, as they really haven't impressed me too much. They lost their only real game against Auburn, and their only other good games this season are against Arkansas and Clemson. Not a great schedule. They lucked out and avoided SEC West foes LSU and Alabama, but would get dominated by either in the SEC title game.
10. Nebraska - The Huskers looked good in their game against Michigan State this past Saturday, and are positioned well for a chance at the brand spanking new Big 10 (12?) championship game. On a total side note, does anyone else really hate the names for the new Big 10 divisions? Legends and Leaders? Really? I can't believe the people behind ESPN2's crappy Big 10 game of the week couldn't come up with better names.
-Cote
I think an undefeated Boise deserves a title shot if everyone besides the winner of LSU - Alabama has at least one loss. The Broncos have been screwed over by the big conferences the past few years. Since 2006, when Chris Petersen was hired as coach, they have a record of 68-5, with 2 undefeated seasons and 2 one loss seasons. They deserve to be in the title game!!!
ReplyDeleteThey may be 68-5, but they have only played 7 games against BCS automatic qualifier conference teams. They won all but one of those games, but most were in early season games against teams ranked in the teens. I'll give you that epic game against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, but that was in 2006! Let's see them play a rigorous conference schedule before we crown them. Utah was pretty damn good when they were playing similarly crappy competition to Boise, and now they're struggling in the Pac 12. Boise may be Utah 2.0, we won't know until they join a big time conference. That's one positive that could come out of this crazy superconference stuff: we get either a playoff or the big non-AQ schools have to play a tough conference schedule (Notre Dame is in the fetal position right now).
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