SBNation.com - BCS Top 25 Rankings: LSU, Alabama Claim Nation's Highest Two Spots

College Football Rankings Ramifications, Week 8: Wisconsin, Stanford Can Improve Resumes

2011-10-22T12:30:04Z

The two teams on top of the BCS rankings get hated rivals in Week 8. But what would Auburn and Tennessee tripping up LSU and Alabama mean? Can Oklahoma and Oklahoma State stay in the lead in the Big 12? And will Wisconsin and Stanford keep their sights set on a potential Rose Bowl clash?

Here's what's at stake in Week 8. All times Eastern, all rankings from the Week 8 BCS rankings.

No. 1 LSU vs. No. 20 Auburn, 3:30 p.m.

If LSU wins: The Tigers will be undefeated heading into their massive Week 10 clash against Alabama, and will have at least a BCS at-large bid all but sewn up. Even with a loss to Alabama, LSU would only need to beat Western Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas to finish as a mighty one-loss SEC team.

If Auburn wins: The SEC might yet be limited to one BCS team. If LSU's truly weak enough to fall to Auburn, expect Alabama to be favored and wallop the Tigers in two weeks ... and, given the Les Miles magic, expect a two-loss LSU team to somehow look better than Alabama by the end of the year, despite getting BCSnubbed. (That one's free, New Orleans-area headline writers.)

No. 2 Alabama vs. Tennessee, 7:15 p.m.

If Alabama wins: The undefeated Crimson Tide will welcome LSU to Tuscaloosa in two weeks. Get excited.

If Tennessee wins: Nick Saban will rupture more than one blood vessel, and Lane Kiffin will take credit. (Not happening.)

No. 3 Oklahoma vs. Texas Tech, 8:00 p.m.

If Oklahoma wins: Ho-hum. The Sooners get no extra credit for knocking off the defenseless Red Raiders at home.

If Texas Tech wins: The Tommy Tuberville interview is going to be excruciatingly boring. Oh, and Oklahoma's probably out of the national title race.

No. 4 Oklahoma State at Missouri, noon

If Oklahoma State wins: The Cowboys knock off the last major road test of their season. Trips to Texas Tech and Iowa State follow, but neither team scares anyone.

If Missouri wins: It is entirely possible that Oklahoma State will have played better in a game that kicked off after midnight than it did in a game that kicked off at 11:00 a.m. local time.

No. 6 Wisconsin at No. 16 Michigan State, 8:00 p.m.

If Wisconsin wins: The Badgers will be in great shape for the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game, the conference's automatic BCS bid, and a possible berth in the BCS National Championship game. The toughest road game left for Wisky would be at Illinois; the only other ranked team the Badgers would play is punchless Penn State.

If Michigan State wins: The Spartans improve their chances of making the Big Ten Championship Game considerably, and might well run a gauntlet of Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska over five weeks without dropping a game.

No. 8 Stanford vs. No. 25 Washington, 8:00 p.m.

If Stanford wins: Andrew Luck's Cardinal will still have their season come down to the November 12 showdown with Oregon, but they'll at least have one win over a ranked team under their belts.

If Washington wins: It's still plausible that the Huskies could win the Pac-12 North and the conference. A road trip to USC — old home week for Washington coach Steve Sarkisian against former colleague Kiffin and his former employer — precedes U-Dub welcoming Oregon's quack attack to Seattle.

BlogPoll Top 25, Week 8: LSU Still On Top; Oklahoma State Moves To No. 5

2011-10-18T15:09:20Z

Ruling the top of the BlogPoll is becoming old hat for the team coached by The Hat. LSU has held the top spot for a solid month, and Week 8 is no different. Eat your heart out, BCS: the BlogPoll had LSU No. 1 before SEC play even began.

But LSU's season might come down to a titanic showdown in Tuscaloosa. The Tigers travel to Alabama's stomping grounds in November for a tussle with the Crimson Tide, No. 2 in this week's BlogPoll, that might determine the winner of the SEC and should give the victor the inside track to the BCS National Championship Game.

Elsewhere in the Week 8 BlogPoll, Oklahoma State slides past Boise State and into the top five, Kansas State rises to No. 11, Michigan State soars into the top 15 after a win over Michigan that dropped the Wolverines from the ranks of the unbeaten, Auburn rejoins the BlogPoll, and Washington enters it for the first time.

Results for Week 8

#	School	Points/blog	SD	Delta
1	LSU Tigers (57)	24.58	0.67	--
2	Alabama Crimson Tide (23)	24.08	0.69	--
3	Oklahoma Sooners (6)	23.08	0.82	--
4	Wisconsin Badgers	21.30	1.29	--
5	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	20.23	1.18	1
6	Boise St. Broncos	19.87	1.44	-1
7	Stanford Cardinal	19.10	1.81	--
8	Clemson Tigers	18.72	2.08	--
9	Oregon Ducks	17.07	1.49	--
10	Arkansas Razorbacks	15.12	3.56	--
11	Kansas St. Wildcats	13.49	3.12	3
12	Nebraska Cornhuskers	12.41	2.95	3
13	West Virginia Mountaineers	11.50	3.21	3
14	Michigan St. Spartans	11.38	2.70	8
15	Virginia Tech Hokies	10.86	3.02	4
16	South Carolina Gamecocks	10.01	4.15	1
17	Michigan Wolverines	7.76	3.07	-6
18	Texas A&M Aggies	6.66	4.46	6
19	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	6.40	3.03	-7
20	Houston Cougars	5.99	4.14	1
21	Illinois Fighting Illini	4.44	3.17	-8
22	Auburn Tigers	3.99	3.62	4
23	Washington Huskies	3.45	2.99	4
24	Penn St. Nittany Lions	3.34	3.91	1
25	Arizona St. Sun Devils	2.56	2.85	-7
Others Receiving Votes: Georgia Bulldogs \| Notre Dame Fighting Irish \| USC Trojans \| SMU Mustangs \| Cincinnati Bearcats \| Texas Longhorns \| Rutgers Scarlet Knights \| Baylor Bears \| Southern Miss. Golden Eagles \| Louisiana Ragin Cajuns \| Florida Gators \| Florida St. Seminoles \| North Carolina Tar Heels \| Virginia Cavaliers \| Ohio St. Buckeyes \| Wake Forest Demon Deacons \| Temple Owls \| South Florida Bulls \| TCU Horned Frogs
Updated: Oct 18, 2011 9:30 AM EDT

Total Ballots: 86

Explore votes by team | Explore poll ballots by voter

Wack Ballot Watchdog

Crimson and Cream Machine cast the lone vote for Virginia. Mountain West Connection is the only Ohio State believer. Boise State is no lower than the No. 10 spot, where Subway Domer puts it. Tilting at Windmills has Georgia 10th. But no SpartyMSU again makes this section a little less gleefully insane.

Now on to the extracurriculars. First up are the teams which spur the most disagreement between voters as measured by standard deviation. Note that the standard deviation charts halt at No. 25 when looking for the lowest, otherwise teams that everyone agreed were terrible (say, my Florida) would all be at the top.

#	School	Points/blog	SD
1	Texas A&M Aggies	6.66	4.46
2	South Carolina Gamecocks	10.01	4.15
3	Houston Cougars	5.99	4.14
4	Penn St. Nittany Lions	3.34	3.91
5	Auburn Tigers	3.99	3.62

Texas A&M has two major collapses against top-10 teams and one thrilling throttling of a team that appears to be Robert Griffin III and very little else; who could agree on that? South Carolina, meanwhile, falls into the trap between evaluating a resume and projecting a future sans Marcus Lattimore, while Houston's excellence in obscurity has voters scratching their heads.

Ballot Math

First up are Mr. Bold and Mr. Numb Existence. The former goes to the voter with the ballot most divergent from the poll at large. The number you see is the average difference between a person's opinion of a team and the poll's opinion.

#	Blog	Team	Ballot	Avg Error
1	Tilting at Windmills	Oklahoma Sooners	ballot	3.48
2	Black Heart Gold Pants	Iowa Hawkeyes	ballot	3.32
3	Let's Go Rockets	Toledo Rockets	ballot	2.32
4	One Foot Down	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	ballot	2.19
5	Tom Fornelli	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	ballot	2.11

Resume balloting's hegemony in this category is gone, and unlikely to come back. At this point in the season, it's easier to be divergent from the conventional wisdom by just sort of throwing things together (like, uh, Georgia at No. 12) than by grading teams strictly based on the accomplishments of their seasons.

#	Blog	Team	Ballot	Avg Error
1	Frank the Tank's Slant	Illinois Fighting Illini	ballot	1.12
2	The Key Play	Virginia Tech Hokies	ballot	1.15
3	OverThePylon	Ball St. Cardinals	ballot	1.28
4	Baltimore Sports Report	Maryland Terrapins	ballot	1.30
5	Inside The Shoe	Ohio St. Buckeyes	ballot	1.31

Honestly, ol' Frank's ballot is just boring.

Next we have the Coulter/Kos Award and the Straight Bangin' Award, which are again different sides of the same coin. The CKA and SBA go to the blogs with the highest and lowest bias rating, respectively. Bias rating is calculated by subtracting the blogger's vote for his own team from the poll-wide average. A high number indicates you are shameless homer. A low number indicates that you suffer from an abusive relationship with your football team.

#	Blog	Team	Ballot	Bias
1	Hog Database	Arkansas Razorbacks	ballot	1.88
2	The Ciskie Blog	Wisconsin Badgers	ballot	1.70
3	One Foot Down	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	ballot	1.38
4	The Key Play	Virginia Tech Hokies	ballot	1.14
5	Tilting at Windmills	Oklahoma Sooners	ballot	0.92

Hog Database has been in this group seemingly every week, and having Arkansas ninth when the Razorbacks appear to be on the outside of a consensus top nine isn't going to help matters.

#	Blog	Team	Ballot	Bias
1	Tom Fornelli	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	ballot	-1.62
2	Barking Carnival	Texas Longhorns	ballot	-0.41
3	Corn Nation	Nebraska Cornhuskers	ballot	-0.41
4	SB Nation Atlanta	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	ballot	-0.40
5	Eleven Warriors	Ohio St. Buckeyes	ballot	-0.03

Fornelli didn't rank Notre Dame, and though the Irish were technically No. 27 in this week's poll, they got 1.62 points per ballot. Straight Bangin' Rule No. 1: leaving your possibly ranked team off your ballot will get you a victory in this category more often than not.

Swing is the total change in each ballot from last week to this week (obviously voters who didn't submit a ballot last week are not included). A high number means you are easily distracted by shiny things. A low number means that you're damn sure you're right no matter what reality says.

#	Blog	Team	Ballot	Swing
1	Black Heart Gold Pants	Iowa Hawkeyes	ballot	160
2	Tilting at Windmills	Oklahoma Sooners	ballot	128
3	Inside The Shoe	Ohio St. Buckeyes	ballot	94
4	Eleven Warriors	Ohio St. Buckeyes	ballot	92
5	Voodoo Five	South Florida Bulls	ballot	92

Swing is the place where resume balloting could still dominate, and this week, Black Heart Gold Pants corrected for losses by Michigan, Illinois, and Georgia Tech by dropping each team at least 11 spots. Most other blogs didn't have those teams as high as BHGP did, and didn't drop them as far; ergo, BHGP takes this win in a walk.

#	Blog	Team	Ballot	Swing
1	Bucky's 5th Quarter	Wisconsin Badgers	ballot	58
2	Red Cup Rebellion	Mississippi Rebels	ballot	60
3	The Ciskie Blog	Wisconsin Badgers	ballot	70
4	Let's Go Rockets	Toledo Rockets	ballot	70
5	Barking Carnival	Texas Longhorns	ballot	70

Bucky's 5th Quarter's top 10 remained entirely the same, and its biggest change was dropping previously undefeated Georgia Tech out of the top 25. I'll assume Red Cup Rebellion is just so numbed by Mississippi's disastrous season that it didn't realize Georgia Tech lost before elevating the Yellow Jackets two spots.

FCS Top 25, Week 8: Record CAA Showing, But SoCon The Conference To Beat

2011-10-17T17:30:36Z

Which is FCS' best football conference? It might depend on whether you like quality or quantity. Well, whether you like lots and lots of quality or a little bit of very high quality. The CAA, for one, put a record nine teams into the latest FCS top 25, led by the Maine Black Bears at No. 9.

But the SoCon maintained its grasp on the upper tier of postseason-enhanced college football, putting three teams in the top six. The Georgia Southern Eagles again locked down a strong majority of first-place votes, with 125 out of 157 favoring the team from Statesboro. The Wofford Terriers and Appalachian St. Mountaineers filled out the upper ranks. The 'Neers acquired spot No. 6 after the New Hampshire Wildcats were toppled by William & Mary.

Leaving us: the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles and McNeese St. Cowboys. Joining us: the UMass Minutemen and Norfolk St. Spartans.

The complete top 25:

Team (First-place votes)	Record	Points	Previous Rank
1. Georgia Southern Eagles (125)	6-0	3,871	1
2. Northern Iowa Panthers (18)	5-1	3,732	2
3. North Dakota State Bison (9)	6-0	3,509	4
4. Montana State Bobcats (2)	6-1	3,502	3
5. Wofford Terriers (3)	5-1	3,354	5
6. Appalachian State Mountaineers	4-2	2,957	6
7. Sam Houston State Bearkats	6-0	2,808	10
8. Lehigh Mountain Hawks	6-1	2,795	8
9. Maine Black Bears	5-1	2,481	12
10. Jacksonville State Gamecocks	5-1	2,480	11
11. James Madison Dukes	5-2	2,275	13
12. Montana Grizzlies	5-2	2,083	14
13. New Hampshire Wildcats	4-2	2,062	6
14. William & Mary Tribe	4-3	1,882	16
15. Towson Tigers	5-1	1,795	17
16. Delaware Blue Hens	4-3	1,371	9
17. Indiana State Sycamores	5-2	1,235	21
18. Richmond Spiders	3-3	843	20
19. Alabama State Hornets	6-1	768	24
20. North Dakota Fighting Sioux	4-2	747	23
21. Old Dominion Monarchs	5-2	671	18
22. Massachusetts Minutemen	4-2	668	NR
23. Jackson State Tigers	6-1	529	25
24. Norfolk State Spartans	6-1	511	NR
25. South Dakota Coyotes	4-3	477	15

Others receiving votes: Texas State 217, Tennessee Tech 211, Liberty 150, Chattanooga 135, Sacramento State 111, Central Arkansas 109, San Diego 104, Harvard 98, Samford 93, McNeese Sate 79, Illinois State 41, Weber State 36, South Carolina State 30, Eastern Washington 30, Brown 23, Cal Poly 22, Albany 19, Coastal Carolina 17, Furman 16, Tennessee State 13, Elon 10, Alabama A&M 9, Jacksonville 8, Stony Brook 8, Portland State 6, South Alabama 4, North Carolina A&T 4, Southern Utah 3, Southern Illinois 3, Penn 3, Sacred Heart 2, Northwestern State 2, Murray State 1, Alcorn State 1, UT Martin 1.

For more on the Week 8 college football rankings, check out our comprehensive StoryStream.

BCS Standings Week 8: Boise State The Only Mountain West Representative

2011-10-17T14:51:50Z

When Boise State made the decision to move to the Mountain West for a higher standard of competition, they thought they were going to get a serious BCS computer rankings boost. After all, the league regularly produces two or three ranked teams that are good enough to push BCS conference teams. Boise State's move to the Mountain West was supposed to make it a de facto BCS conference, especially with the perpetual mediocrity that's come out of the ACC and Big East in recent years.

While the move has been a step-up, as the WAC does not have a single team above .500, they're not helping Boise get to a title game. The Broncos are No. 5 in the initial BCS standings, and their chances of climbing to No. 2 are looking very slim. TCU, Wyoming and San Diego State all have two losses already, and are hardly going to boost Boise's computer profile.

The Broncos will be headed for the BCS once again if they run the table as expected, but they're still stuck in BCS limbo without a chance to get to the title game unless a lot of teams choke.

For more on the Week 8 college football rankings, check out our comprehensive StoryStream.

BCS Standings Week 8: The Big East Still Gets A BCS Bowl Bid, Eventually

2011-10-17T14:27:30Z

According to the wonderful BCS rules, the Big East Conference still gets an automatic bid into a BCS bowl game at the end of the season. Their representative regularly enters their January bowl ranked in the low teens or 20s, and that trend seems likely to continue. Only one team from the Big East has made the initial BCS rankings, and that's West Virginia, who come in at No. 15.

Currently, Rutgers and Cincinnati are the only other two teams anywhere near the BCS picture. While they're obviously not serious contenders for anything beyond a Big East title and a bid to a bowl against a superior team, both teams sit at 5-1 and are currently undefeated in the Big East.

So yeah, Big East. Still a BCS conference with an automatic bid. Hopefully for everyone who is not a fan of the other seven teams in the conference, West Virginia runs the table to avoid the ridiculousness that is an unranked team making a BCS bowl.

For more on the Week 8 college football rankings, check out our comprehensive StoryStream.

BCS Standings Week 8: Rankings Not Kind To Pac-12; Stanford Needs Help

2011-10-17T13:55:58Z

West coasters, get ready to cry 'East coast bias!' If you're a fan of the Stanford Cardinal or just a champion of the idea that teams from the left coast don't get their due respect, you have a cause to support. Stanford come in at No. 8 in the initial BCS Rankings, making them the lowest ranked team from a BCS conference. They're also ranked lower than one non-BCS school, Boise State.

The Oregon Ducks are the second highest ranked one-loss team, but the BCS doesn't have much love for the Pac-12 after that. Only one more team from the conference cracks the standings, and that's the Washington Huskies at No. 25.

Stanford has some chances to advance in the standings with games against Washington and Oregon in the coming weeks. Additionally, Notre Dame has won four in a row, and a win over them will provide Stanford with a BCS boost if the Irish are a two-loss team when they meet the Cardinal in the last week of the season. However, for the time being, Stanford can't really hope for much more than a Rose Bowl berth.

For more on the Week 8 college football rankings, check out our comprehensive StoryStream.

BCS Standings Week 8: Wisconsin Is Big Ten's Only Title Hopeful, But Current Track Points To Rose Bowl

2011-10-17T13:35:19Z

The Big Ten boasts six teams in the initial BCS Rankings in Week 8 of the college football season, but only one of those teams is undefeated and they don't control their own destiny in terms of making a title game. Unlike the SEC and Big 12, both of which have two teams that will almost certainly make the BCS Championship game if they win all of their remaining games, the Wisconsin Badgers are currently at the mercy of others, sitting at sixth. They're behind two SEC teams, two Big 12 teams, and Boise State.

If they run the table, the Rose Bowl is obviously a foregone conclusion, but to get there, they'll need to go three teams currently in the BCS Top 25. They've already defeated current No. 13 Nebraska, and their game away to No. 16 Michigan State is arguably the best on the college football schedule next week.

No. 18 Michigan, No. 21 Penn State, and No. 23 Illinois are the other three Big Ten teams to make the season's first inaugural BCS rankings.

For more on the Week 8 college football rankings, check out our comprehensive StoryStream.

BCS Standings Week 8: Virtual Play-In Opportunity For Oklahoma, Oklahoma State

2011-10-17T13:10:22Z

It's not right, and it's not ideal, but the first set of 2011 BCS rankings has set up a chance for the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma St. Cowboys to control their own destinies, so to speak. The two are ranked No. 3 and 4, respectively.

Since they play each other, and the No. 1 LSU Tigers and No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide also have a veritable semifinals matchup of their own if all plays out, there are four schools in the country who have nothing to complain about this time around. Four out of 10 unbeatens. That sucks, but it's better than three!

But one Big 12 school that does have a bone to pick: the undefeated, No. 11 Kansas St. Wildcats. The computers love them -- if the machines had their way, K-State would rank No. 7, putting them in line for high BCS standing if total catastrophe happened at the top. As it is, they'll have to step it up just to make a consolation BCS game.

For more on the Week 8 college football rankings, check out our comprehensive StoryStream.