Alabama and Florida are at the
top of the season’s first BCS standings, making it yet another all-SEC
top two, with Oregon and Kansas State close behind the Gators.
The Crimson Tide in first was no
surprise. Alabama is an overwhelming No. 1 in both polls used in the BCS
formula. Florida in second was less anticipated. The Gators are No. 3
in the polls, but rated best by the computer rankings that gave them a
slight edge over Oregon and Kansas State when the numbers were crunched.
Florida’s BCS average is .9092. Oregon’s is .8993 and Kansas State’s is
.8963.
Notre Dame is fifth and not too far back at .8774.
Despite the strong showing by the
Southeastern Conference, another all-SEC national championship game is
still a long shot. Oregon’s schedule is backloaded with strong opponents
and the Ducks will likely be able to close the gap in the computers if
they keep winning.
The Ducks play Arizona State on
Thursday (5-1) and still have games against Southern California and
Oregon State left, and a possible Pac-12 title game.
Florida has some tough games left, too, starting Saturday against South Carolina.
With half the season still to play, there are plenty of possibilities and teams still alive.
Teams with one loss, such as
sixth-place LSU, seventh-place South Carolina, ninth-place Oklahoma and
10th-place USC are still very much in the race as long as they keep
winning.
Oregon State is in eighth, the lowest rated of the unbeaten teams.
This is safe to say: If Alabama
keeps winning, the Tide will play for its second straight national
title, and third in four seasons.
Alabama has never before been
first in the initial standings. Seven times since the Bowl Championship
Series was implemented in 1998, the team that was first in the initial
standings went on to play in the BCS title game.
Seven times the team that
started second played for the BCS title. And only twice has neither of
the teams that were in the top two spots in the first standings reached
the title game.