October 19, 2008

Unofficial BCS Standings - Week 8 (Oct 19, 2008)

With the official BCS standings to be released within hours, Sam at BCS Guru has crunched the numbers and is ready to forecast the top fifteen spots in the unofficial BCS rankings.

Here's the unofficial BCS rankings, as per BCSGuru.com.

Unofficial BCS Rankings

1. Texas
2. Alabama
3. Penn State
4. Oklahoma
5. Oklahoma State*
6. USC*
7. Texas Tech*
8. Utah**
9. Georgia**
10. Florida**
11. Ohio State
12. Boise State
13. LSU
14. South Florida
15. TCU

Note: Sam cautions that the two clusters of teams (those with one asterisk and then those with two) may be so closely ranked that the exact positions may fluctuate. In other words, the any of the one asterisk teams could be number five, six or seven)

As you can see, this is going to be VERY interesting poll, with three non-BCS conference teams in the initial top 15. Of course, TCU plays Utah later this year, so one of those two will drop out of contention for an automatic qualifier spot. But, as it stands today, at least one non-BCS conference team would be an automatic qualifier.

Remember, only one non-BCS conference team can be an "automatic qualifier", by virtue of being ranked in the top twelve in the BCS or being ranked higher than a BCS conference champion - such as the ACC or Big East in this unofficial poll. After the first non-BCS team is in, then the selection process is not required to select another non-BCS team.

Another important note of distinction, it would appear that Texas & Alabama control their own destiny. While SEC & Big XII fans have lamented having to play a championship game in the past, the conference championship games appear as if they will give both the Longhorns and the Crimson Tide one final chance to lock up a BCS berth. In other words, it is very possible that Penn State can win all of it's games and still not make it to the BCS National Championship game.

One fun trivia note - of the twenty #1 & #2 teams in the past ten initial BCS polls, statistically at least one of the two has appeared in every National Championship game (10 appearances).

Note: Ben Prather will be posting the official BCS rankings tonight in its own separate thread. Enjoy!

Comments:

Unofficial BCS Standings - Week 8 (Oct 19, 2008)
With the official BCS standings to be released within hours, Sam at BCS Guru has crunched the numbers and is ready to forecast the top fifteen spots in the unofficial BCS rankings. Here's the unofficial BCS rankings, as per BCSGuru.com.

Unofficial BCS Rankings

1. Texas 2. Alabama 3. Penn State 4. Oklahoma 5. Oklahoma State* 6. USC* 7. Texas Tech* 8. Utah** 9. Georgia** 10. Florida** 11. Ohio State 12. Boise State 13. LSU 14. South Florida 15. TCU Note: Sam cautions that the two clusters of teams (those with one asterisk and then those with two) may be so closely ranked that the exact positions may fluctuate. In other words, the any of the one asterisk teams could be number five, six or seven) As you can see, this is going to be VERY interesting poll, with three non-BCS conference teams in the initial top 15. Of course, TCU plays Utah later this year, so one of those two will drop out of contention for an automatic qualifier spot. But, as it stands today, at least one non-BCS conference team would be an automatic qualifier. Remember, only one non-BCS conference team can be an "automatic qualifier", by virtue of being ranked in the top twelve in the BCS or being ranked higher than a BCS conference champion - such as the ACC or Big East in this unofficial poll. After the first non-BCS team is in, then the selection process is not required to select another non-BCS team. Another important note of distinction, it would appear that Texas & Alabama control their own destiny. While SEC & Big XII fans have lamented having to play a championship game in the past, the conference championship games appear as if they will give both the Longhorns and the Crimson Tide one final chance to lock up a BCS berth. In other words, it is very possible that Penn State can win all of it's games and still not make it to the BCS National Championship game. One fun trivia note - of the twenty #1 & #2 teams in the past ten initial BCS polls, statistically at least one of the two has appeared in every National Championship game (10 appearances). Note: Ben Prather will be posting the official BCS rankings tonight in its own separate thread. Enjoy!