No Surprise in Second Week of BCS Rankings
After the eighth week of college football, the second week of BCS standings were revealed Sunday. The rankings held little surprise.
The Alabama Crimson Tide maintained the No. 1 spot, which is where they have been in the other polls since they defeated Michigan 41-14 in the first week of the season.
The Tide is off to a 7-0 start and continues to prove each week, with large-margin victories, why the team deserves to be ranked above the rest. Alabama will face a test this weekend against No. 11 Mississippi State.
The Florida Gators came in at No. 2 in the BCS rankings. The Gators are coming off a 44-11 rout of the South Carolina Gamecocks, earning them a No. 2 spot.
Kansas State was ranked as No. 3 Sunday. Collin Klein and the Kansas State Wildcats keep proving themselves week after week. Kansas State is coming off a huge victory over West Virginia, 55-14. Klein, a possible Heisman candidate, is leading the Wildcats with 1,397 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The Oregon Ducks took the No. 4 spot in the BCS standings. The Ducks are averaging 51 points per game and are only allowing an average of 20.1 points per game. Oregon will continue to be tested with upcoming games against USC, Stanford and Oregon State.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish took the No. 5 spot. The Irish are 7-0 for the first time since 2002. The team is progressing without trouble, despite playing what is possibly the toughest schedule in college football.
The Irish have already beaten three ranked opponents: Michigan, Michigan State and Stanford. Possible Heisman candidate Manti Te’o is leading the team this season. The Irish will travel to Oklahoma to take on the Sooners next weekend in their toughest matchup yet.
The rest of the top 10 is rounded out by LSU, Oregon State, Oklahoma, USC and Georgia.
LSU is the first-ranked one-loss team, that loss coming from the No. 2 Gators. LSU has a bye-week this week but will face No. 1 Alabama after the break. After playing the Tide, the Tigers will face No. 11 Mississippi State. These two games could make or break the season for LSU.
Oregon State is still undefeated, but the strength of LSU’s schedule puts the Tigers in front of the Beavers. Oregon State will face Stanford and Oregon later in the season for a real test.
Oklahoma stands with one loss to Kansas State, but the Sooners will face their toughest matchup this week against Notre Dame. This game will prove which of the two teams deserves to be in the top five.
Quarterback Matt Barkley and the USC Trojans are the first team in the BCS rankings to have a loss to a non-top 10 team, with a loss from Stanford. USC faces the bulk of their schedule in the second half of the season, when they play Oregon and Notre Dame. Barkley leads the team with 22 touchdowns and 1,773 passing yards.
Georgia fills the last spot in the top 10, with one loss to South Carolina, who dropped to No. 13 in the BCS rankings after a loss to Florida. This just goes to show how tough the Southeastern Conference really is — you never know what will happen week to week.
The next 15 teams in the BCS rankings include Mississippi State, Florida State, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Rutgers, Louisville, Stanford, Clemson, West Virginia, Texas A&M, Boise State, Michigan, Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin.
