NEW YORK — Only in the BCS standings does Oregon get passed.
Kansas State moved ahead of the Ducks and up to No. 3 on Sunday behind SEC rivals Alabama and Florida.
The Wildcats' big victory
Saturday at West Virginia was enough to nudge them past the Ducks, who
are No. 2 in both polls but are getting held back by computer ratings
that lag behind the other highly ranked teams.
The Crimson Tide (.9625) is still
solidly in first, and Florida (.9310) grabbed a firmer grip on second
with a 44-11 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.
The Gators are tops in the
computer ratings and Kansas State is second. The Wildcats (.9111) beat
West Virginia 55-14 for their third Big 12 road victory.
Fourth-place Oregon (.8966), coming off a 43-21 win at Arizona State, is sixth in the computer ratings.
Notre Dame is fifth in the standings heading into its game at Oklahoma. The Sooners are eighth.
LSU is sixth and unbeaten Oregon State is seventh.
The Ducks aren't likely to gain
any ground this week unless the teams in front of them lose. Oregon
plays Colorado (1-6) at home, while the rest of the teams ahead of the
Ducks play ranked opponents.
Oregon should be able to start
making up ground Nov. 3. The Ducks play USC that day, then go to Cal.
They finish with Stanford at home and Oregon State in Corvallis. Oregon
would also have to play in the Pac-12 championship game if it gets that
far.
The all-SEC BCS championship
game between LSU and Alabama last year notwithstanding, it would seem
this season the SEC stands a better chance of working itself out by Dec.
1.
If Alabama and Florida keep
winning they would play each other in the SEC championship for a
spot in the national title game.