The BCS standings Week 1: Could another all-SEC final be in the cards?
Who's ready for another all-SEC BCS National Championship, huh?
That groan you hear is everyone with no stake in the SEC and everyone who endured last year's rematch, which prompted the various conference commissioners and university presidents to devise a playoff plan to be implemented in 2014.
But here we are again, with six weeks of the season remaining, the inaugural BCS standings have Alabama and Florida ranked No. 1 and 2. Alabama, which has had a death grip on the No. 1 spot in the national polls since Week 2, was expected to be there; Florida, not so much.
The Gators are ranked No. 4 in the Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the Harris Poll, two of the three components that make up the BCS standings. However, the computers, the third facet of the poll, love the Gators, who rank No. 1 in the computers, because of whom they've played and whom they've beaten.
But an all-SEC championship will take some work, especially with several of the SEC teams still having to play each other. That opens the door for No. 3 Oregon, which has to be disappointed that it's behind the Gators, especially since it's No. 2 in both human polls. But the computers aren't fans. The Ducks are ranked No. 6 in the computers, but still have to play No. 8 Oregon State, No. 10 USC and No. 20 Stanford. That should drastically help their computer ranking and — if they win out — should make the Ducks a lock for the BCS title game.
That doesn't mean No. 4 Kansas State, which appears in the standings for the first time since 1999, and No. 5 Notre Dame, which is in the top 5 for the first time in six years, should just concede defeat. Between those two teams, Notre Dame has the best chance of advancing because of its No. 2 ranking in the computers. It helps that the Irish play No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 10 USC, but it also needs the teams it beat to continue to play well. If the Irish get to 10 games, it will be difficult to keep them out of a BCS game.
While the first BCS standings signal what will be a frantic race to the finish line, remember that in 12 of the past 14 seasons, either No. 1 or No. 2 in the initial poll played in the BCS title game. Alabama and Florida do not play each other in the regular season, but if both win their respective divisions, they'll meet in the SEC championship where one of them will — presumably — be knocked out of the race.
Here are a couple other little tidbits from the opening BCS standings:
• An #SEC team has now been ranked No. 1 in 11 straight #BCS rankings.
• Alabama becomes the fourth defending champion to start the following year No. 1
• No. 6 LSU is the highest ranked one-loss team since Oklahoma in 2008. Sooners went on to play for the title.
• No Big Ten teams in the opening BCS standings
BCS STANDINGS - OCT. 14, 2012
1. Alabama .9761
2. Florida .9092
3. Oregon .8993
4. Kansas State .8963
5. Notre Dame .8774
6. LSU .7522
7. South Carolina .6930
8. Oregon State .6808
9. Oklahoma .6664
10. USC .5959
11. Georgia .4980
12. Mississippi State .4846
13. West Virginia .4793
14. Florida State .4277
15. Rutgers .4083
16. Louisville .4061
17. Texas Tech .3572
18. Texas A&M .3379
19. Clemson .3341
20. Stanford .2654
21. Cincinnati .2483
22. Boise State .1978
23. TCU .1377
24. Iowa State .1139
25. Texas .0640
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