Sports
Oregon Passes Florida State in Second BCS Standings
[USA Today]
It shouldn’t have startled anyone that Oregon has passed Florida State in the BCS race. The Seminoles ranked No. 2 last week in the initial BCS standings — one day after a dominant 51-14 victory at Clemson in what had been billed as a showdown of national championship contenders — but the Ducks’ schedule was backloaded with opponents that impress the computer rankings.
Alabama remains No. 1. The battle is between the Ducks and Seminoles for the second slot in the BCS national championship game. If all three teams keep winning — and that, of course, is the hard part — and the minds of voters in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches and Harris polls remain unchanged, it will come down to the computers — which should increasingly favor Oregon.
The only thing surprising at all is that the flip-flop took only one week. Oregon’s 42-14 victory over UCLA — which last week ranked No. 12 in the BCS (and has fallen to No. 20) — provided enough of a bump to make the change. It could conceivably flip again this week, when Oregon is idle and Florida State plays No. 7 Miami. But long-term — which in BCS terms, means November — the numbers should lean Oregon’s way.