Well, no surprises, and no actual change. Notre Dame are number one in the polls and the computers, meaning they rule the BCS standings and won’t be moved, regardless of the results of the conference championship games next week. Alabama or Georgia have somewhat of a semifinal on their hands heading into the SEC title game, with the rest of the fog mostly regarding BCS bowl slots.
| BCS | Harris Poll | USA Today | Computer Rankings | ||||||||||||||
| RK | TEAM | AVG | PVS | RK | PTS | % | RK | PTS | % | AVG | A&H | RB | CM | KM | JS | PW | % |
| 1 | Notre Dame | .9979 | 1 | 1 | 2869 | .9979 | 1 | 1469 | .9959 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 |
| 2 | Alabama | .9236 | 2 | 2 | 2740 | .9530 | 2 | 1398 | .9478 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 4 | .870 |
| 3 | Georgia | .8911 | 3 | 3 | 2599 | .9040 | 3 | 1341 | .9092 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | .860 |
| 4 | Florida | .8882 | 4 | 5 | 2435 | .8470 | 5 | 1265 | .8576 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | .960 |
| 5 | Oregon | .8626 | 5 | 4 | 2507 | .8720 | 4 | 1277 | .8658 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 7 | .850 |
| 6 | Kansas State | .7735 | 6 | 6 | 2229 | .7753 | 7 | 1114 | .7553 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 9 | .790 |
| 7 | LSU | .7357 | 7 | 7 | 2142 | .7450 | 6 | 1124 | .7620 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 8 | .700 |
| 8 | Stanford | .7299 | 8 | 8 | 2059 | .7162 | 9 | 1008 | .6834 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 6 | .790 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | .6861 | 9 | 9 | 2038 | .7089 | 8 | 1076 | .7295 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | .620 |
| 10 | South Carolina | .6689 | 12 | 10 | 1862 | .6477 | 10 | 972 | .6590 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 | .700 |
| 11 | Oklahoma | .6129 | 13 | 11 | 1706 | .5934 | 11 | 878 | .5953 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 12 | .650 |
| 12 | Nebraska | .5393 | 14 | 13 | 1493 | .5193 | 13 | 765 | .5186 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 11 | .580 |
| 13 | Florida State | .4645 | 10 | 12 | 1614 | .5614 | 12 | 829 | .5620 | 19 | 22 | 16 | 16 | 23 | 21 | 18 | .270 |
| 14 | Clemson | .4570 | 11 | 14 | 1446 | .5030 | 14 | 720 | .4881 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 20 | 0 | 16 | .380 |
| 15 | Oregon State | .3790 | 15 | 15 | 975 | .3391 | 17 | 410 | .2780 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | .520 |
| 16 | UCLA | .3304 | 17 | 16 | 919 | .3197 | 16 | 445 | .3017 | 15 | 15 | 23 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 19 | .370 |
| 17 | Kent State | .2512 | 23 | 18 | 705 | .2452 | 19 | 337 | .2285 | 18 | 20 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 | .280 |
| 18 | Texas | .2492 | 16 | 20 | 564 | .1962 | 21 | 312 | .2115 | 17 | 14 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 22 | .340 |
| 19 | Michigan | .2094 | 19 | 23 | 434 | .1510 | 24 | 158 | .1071 | 15 | 17 | 25 | 19 | 14 | 17 | 14 | .370 |
| 20 | Boise State | .2030 | 22 | 17 | 817 | .2842 | 15 | 479 | .3247 | 30 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 21 | Northern Illinois | .1936 | NR | 19 | 619 | .2153 | 18 | 377 | .2556 | 23 | 23 | 19 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 23 | .110 |
| 22 | Northwestern | .1865 | NR | 21 | 479 | .1666 | 20 | 314 | .2129 | 21 | 19 | 0 | 22 | 21 | 23 | 20 | .180 |
| 23 | Oklahoma State | .1646 | 21 | 25 | 392 | .1363 | NR | 129 | .0875 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 25 | 17 | 15 | 0 | .270 |
| 24 | Utah State | .1171 | NR | 22 | 438 | .1523 | 22 | 264 | .1790 | 28 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | .020 |
| 25 | San Jose State | .0974 | NR | NR | 118 | .0410 | NR | 105 | .0712 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 18 | 0 | 25 | 17 | .180 |
For Utah State, clinching the WAC title, and for San Jose State, it is their first ever visit to the BCS top 25. This means 90 schools have been included in the BCS standings since their inception in 1998, seven of them making their first appearance this season. North Illinois, another 11-1 MAC team, also make their debut in the top 25 this season.
At who’s expense? Rutgers, who fell from the 18th spot after losing 27-6 to Pittsburgh; Louisville, who fell from the 20th spot after losing to Cincinnati 23-20 in overtime, meaning both 9-2 Big East teams will meet to settle the conference’s fate, probably playing Florida State in the Orange Bowl; Washington, losing 28-31 in the Apple Cup to Washington State.
Regarding Georgia’s chances of making the national title game? In the previous 14 seasons of the BCS, the teams ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the next-to-last week Standings have met for the BCS National Championship seven times, including each of the last two seasons. Not too hopeful.
Another interesting fact is that for the second week in a row, the top nine teams remain exactly the same. The last time this happened in consecutive weeks was in the last two weeks of the 2000 BCS Standings.
Oklahoma are in some sort of limbo regarding their BCS status. They’re ranked 11th after their win over Oklahoma State in Bedlam, putting them at 7-1 in conference play. If the future MAC champion (Kent State or Northern Illinois) and/or Boise State manage to finish in the top 16 of the rankings, it’s going to be problematic for Oklahoma to make it into a big game, probably the Sugar Bowl facing Florida. Sooners fans should probably root for Northern Illinois and Nevada and UCLA this weekend.