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Third BCS Rankings of 2010: Oregon Leaps Auburn For Top BCS Spot
Just as we seemed to be getting used to upset after upset, the final weekend in October went by without a true upset, although two more undefeated teams did take the fall on the road.
Auburn and Oregon, although tested on the road, we’re able to avoid joining a growing group of No. 1′s to fall, and remain atop this week’s BCS standings.
Last weekend, the Tigers were a convincing BCS No. 1, however, after USC gave the Ducks a boost in the strength of schedule department, their computer average began to catch up with their human poll support, which was enough to get them over the hump and be your new BCS No. 1.
Of course, as has been discussed, if either team wins out, they will play for the BCS National Championship game, so the teams’ actual positioning — as long as it is either No. 1 or No. 2 — matters very little.
Left on the outside looking in again were TCU and Boise State, who come in at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively. Boise was victimized this weekend by a dive in both human element polls, where they saw their support diminish enough to fall behind Auburn in both the Harris and Coaches’ Polls.
TCU also saw a slight decrease in human support, but their computer support remained strong, and was enough to give them the No. 3 ranking in this week’s BCS standings.
No. 5 Utah will take on No. 3 TCU next weekend in Utah — a victory there could give either the inside track to the non-AQ automatic bid that is promised to the highest ranked non-AQ team if they are in the BCS top 12 at the end of the year.
Alabama leads a large group of one-loss BCS conference teams at No. 6, and also likely controls their own destiny in their quest for a return trip to the BCS title game as they will get a shot at No. 1 Auburn in the Iron Bowl at the end of November. A victory there would likely be enough to get to at least the No. 2 spot if all of other things remain constant.
Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and LSU — all BCS conference teams with one loss — round out the top ten, and will all need a lot of help to get to the top of the rankings.
For LSU, that quest will start this coming weekend, when they welcome Alabama to Baton Rouge. A victory there would certainly give them a boost in next weekend’s rankings, but they’ll need more than just that.
The Big Ten contenders with one conference loss (OSU, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan State) there are many different tie-breaking scenarios for the Big Ten crown, and because none of the four teams are in fact in control of their own destiny, its hard to project forward.
So with all of that in mind, here’s this week’s set of BCS rankings:
BCS Standings Week Three – October 31st
| Rank | Team | BCS Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon Ducks | .9777 |
| 2 | Auburn Tigers | .9599 |
| 3 | TCU Horned Frogs | .8911 |
| 4 | Boise State Broncos | .8824 |
| 5 | Utah Utes | .7318 |
| 6 | Alabama Crimson Tide | .7185 |
| 7 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | .6869 |
| 8 | Oklahoma Sooners | .6849 |
| 9 | Wisconsin Badgers | .6740 |
| 10 | LSU Tigers | .6540 |
| 11 | Ohio State Buckeyes | .6127 |
| 12 | Missouri Tigers | .5940 |
| 13 | Stanford Cardinal | .5780 |
| 14 | Michigan State Spartans | .5136 |
| 15 | Arizona Wildcats | .4936 |
| 16 | Iowa Hawkeyes | .4291 |
–
Some thoughts:
- BCS Know How’s Projected BCS vs. Actual BCS Rankings
- Flipped No. 1 and No. 2 again, although as has been stated over and over again, it doesn’t really matter. They just have to win out.
- Also flipped No. 3 and No. 4, TCU gets more computer support than I had expected.
- Nebraska is a surging power after beating Missouri. Missouri had been a very strong BCS computer team, and their loss to the Cornhuskers transfers most of that strength to the Huskers.
←Harris Interactive Poll Week Nine: Oregon and Auburn Lead the Way
BCS Computer Rankings Week Three: Oregon Gets Their Due →
