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Pesky Utes positioned for big bowl

Utah coach Urban Meyer has the Utes aiming at a big-money BCS bowl game. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Ralph D. Russo Associated Press
Utah coach Urban Meyer has the Utes aiming at a big-money BCS bowl game. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Oklahoma moved up to No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series standings Monday and Utah is now sixth, a position that would guarantee the Utes a spot in one of the four big-money bowl games if they can hold on to it.

The Sooners jumped ahead of Miami, which was a surprising second behind Southern California in last week’s initial BCS standings.

USC remains in first place with a grade of .9843. Oklahoma’s grade is .9325 and Miami is third at .9239.

The top two teams will meet in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 4 for the BCS title.

The BCS is using a new formula that relies more on the Associated Press Top 25 and ESPN/USA Today coaches poll than ever before. The Sooners have been No. 2 in both polls all season, but were a close third to the Hurricanes last week in the BCS standings because of their relatively weak computer ranking.

A compilation of six computers are used to determine one-third of a team’s BCS grade.

Oklahoma beat Kansas 41-10 last Saturday, improving its ranking in the computers from fifth to fourth.

Miami now has the best computer grade, just ahead of USC, which is top-ranked in both polls by a large margin. The Hurricanes are No. 4 in the AP media poll and No. 3 in the coaches poll.

Auburn (.8983) is fourth in the BCS standings and Florida State (.7759) is fifth. Utah (.7217) moved up one spot to sixth, jumping ahead of unbeaten Wisconsin (.7180)

A top-six finish in the BCS standings would guarantee Utah a spot in the Fiesta, Rose or Sugar bowls, each with payouts of over $14 million. To even be considered for a BCS bid, a top-12 finish is required.

Utah is trying to become the first team from a conference outside the six leagues – Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, Southeastern Conference – that have automatic berths into the four BCS games.

The Utes (7-0), one of seven Division I-A teams with perfect records, beat Mountain West Conference rival UNLV 63-28 on Saturday.

Boise State (7-0), the other unbeaten from a mid-major conference, moved up a spot from last week to 13th.

Former Washington State coach Mike Price, in his first year at UTEP, has the Miners (5-2) at No. 24.