Now for the poll that matters. The one, the only BCS Top 10, which we look at once again following the Oregon loss. Will there be excitement? Will there be intrigue? How about adventure? Nah.
1 Alabama
2 Florida State
3 Ohio State
4 Stanford
5 Baylor
6 Oregon
7 Auburn
8 Clemson
9 Missouri
10 South Carolina
Florida State was pretty much expected to lock up the No. 2 spot if Oregon lost -- so the Seminoles have locked up the No. 2 spot for the foreseeable future. With their remaining schedule going Syracuse, Idaho and at Florida, it's going to take a massive upset for FSU to miss out on the title game. Good for them that nothing like that ever happens in college football in November.
The Stanford-Baylor knot is still something that you don't have to worry about too much at this moment. Particularly with Notre Dame's face-plant against Pitt, the Cardinal have probably played their most impressive football in the eyes of the computers. Baylor still has Oklahoma State and Texas, which being Texas is still a ranked team, to go. It's not impossible to see Stanford staying ahead of Baylor if both win out -- particularly if the Pac-12 South Champion ends up being impressive -- but it's also not the most likely thing in the world.
Missouri taking a slide surprises me a bit, but that's not the end of the world for the Tigers. Win out, including a victory against the Tide or Auburn in the Georgia Dome, and Mizzou will likely be the top one-loss team in the country. If they don't win all those games, I don't know that it matters a heck of a lot.
Meanwhile, by moving into the Top 10, South Carolina continues to position itself nicely for a possible at-large berth. In that case, it might actually behoove the Gamecocks not to go to the SEC Championship Game, where they would have to beat Alabama to lock up a BCS bid. Instead, they could watching Auburn and Missouri get slammed by Alabama -- assuming that happens -- and end up as the highest-ranked SEC team standing. They would still have to edge out Texas A&M and potentially LSU, but it's way too early to tell how everything plays out down the road. Beat Florida and Clemson, and if you miss the SEC title game, hope for the best.
The other SEC teams in the rankings, for now, are No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 21 LSU and No. 25 Georgia. LSU's a bit lower than you might expect, but blame the computers -- two of which didn't even rank the Bengals. And UCF is ahead of Louisville, which makes me happy as a clam. The computers end up being worth something after all. I love you, BCS.
BCS | Harris Poll | USA Today | Computer Rankings |
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RK | TEAM | AVG | PVS | RK | PTS | % | RK | PTS | % | AVG | A&H | RB | CM | KM | JS | PW | % |
1 | Alabama | .9958 | 1 | 1 | 2625 | 1.0000 | 1 | 1546 | .9974 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .990 |
2 | Florida State | .9619 | 2 | 2 | 2514 | .9577 | 2 | 1485 | .9581 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .970 |
3 | Ohio State | .8926 | 4 | 3 | 2373 | .9040 | 3 | 1401 | .9039 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | .870 |
4 | Stanford | .8689 | 5 | 5 | 2240 | .8533 | 5 | 1307 | .8432 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | .910 |
5 | Baylor | .8618 | 6 | 4 | 2304 | .8777 | 4 | 1376 | .8877 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 8 | .820 |
6 | Oregon | .7665 | 3 | 6 | 1968 | .7497 | 7 | 1162 | .7497 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 6 | .800 |
7 | Auburn | .7206 | 9 | 9 | 1843 | .7021 | 9 | 1069 | .6897 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5 | .770 |
8 | Clemson | .7200 | 7 | 7 | 1940 | .7390 | 6 | 1164 | .7510 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 9 | .670 |
9 | Missouri | .7118 | 8 | 8 | 1855 | .7067 | 8 | 1083 | .6987 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | .730 |
10 | South Carolina | .5584 | 12 | 12 | 1417 | .5398 | 12 | 830 | .5355 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 12 | .600 |
11 | Texas A&M | .5473 | 15 | 10 | 1582 | .6027 | 11 | 898 | .5794 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 14 | .460 |
12 | Oklahoma State | .4671 | 14 | 11 | 1545 | .5886 | 10 | 965 | .6226 | 22 | 14 | 20 | 18 | NR | 22 | 25 | .190 |
13 | UCLA | .4548 | 19 | 16 | 1026 | .3909 | 15 | 641 | .4135 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 11 | .560 |
14 | Fresno State | .4317 | 16 | 13 | 1124 | .4282 | 14 | 646 | .4168 | 14 | 17 | 17 | 11 | 25 | 12 | 13 | .450 |
15 | Northern Illinois | .3505 | 18 | 18 | 825 | .3143 | 21 | 445 | .2871 | 14 | 24 | 12 | 20 | 17 | 6 | 10 | .450 |
16 | Michigan State | .3417 | 17 | 15 | 1090 | .4152 | 16 | 620 | .4000 | 21 | 18 | 21 | 15 | 22 | 23 | 22 | .210 |
17 | UCF | .3411 | 21 | 19 | 791 | .3013 | 19 | 468 | .3019 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 14 | 19 | 16 | 16 | .420 |
18 | Oklahoma | .2926 | 10 | 20 | 732 | .2789 | 17 | 510 | .3290 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 23 | NR | 23 | .270 |
19 | Arizona State | .2833 | 22 | 22 | 475 | .1810 | 22 | 262 | .1690 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 18 | 15 | .500 |
20 | Louisville | .2806 | 20 | 14 | 1104 | .4206 | 13 | 653 | .4213 | 28 | NR | 18 | NR | NR | NR | NR | .000 |
21 | LSU | .2757 | 13 | 17 | 919 | .3501 | 18 | 476 | .3071 | 24 | NR | 19 | NR | 16 | 21 | 21 | .170 |
22 | Wisconsin | .2612 | 24 | 21 | 674 | .2568 | 20 | 460 | .2968 | 18 | 22 | 22 | NR | 18 | 19 | 18 | .230 |
23 | Miami (FL) | .1471 | 11 | 23 | 457 | .1741 | 23 | 228 | .1471 | 25 | 21 | NR | 21 | 21 | NR | 24 | .120 |
24 | Texas | .1092 | NR | 24 | 247 | .0941 | 24 | 176 | .1135 | 25 | 20 | 14 | 24 | 24 | 24 | NR | .120 |
25 | Georgia | .0857 | NR | 25 | 102 | .0389 | NR | 44 | .0284 | 22 | 19 | 24 | 22 | 15 | 25 | 20 | .190 |