Ohio State is No. 1
Leave it to the BCS to provide another unexpected twist in this topsy-turvy football season.
Ohio State was No. 1 in the first Bowl Championship Series standings released Sunday. No surprise there. But South Florida, a school that started playing football in 1997, is second, and Boston College is third.
LSU (No. 4) and Oklahoma (No. 5) are two powerhouses used to the BCS chaos. But relative newcomers South Carolina, Kentucky and Arizona State are also in the top 10, which means there are plenty of new teams to watch over the final month and a half.
The BCS standings will be updated every week until Dec. 2. The top two teams in the final standings will play in the Allstate BCS national championship game in New Orleans.
“The thing that makes this year a little bit different is that we have unknown teams at the top,” said Jerry Palm, who runs CollegeBCS.com. “Who’s South Florida? Who’s Boston College?
“A lot of people probably don’t know where South Florida is located.”
Everybody knows about the Buckeyes (7-0). Jim Tressel’s club, which boasts the nation’s No. 1-ranked scoring defense, whipped Kent State, 48-3 Saturday when LSU and California suffered upset losses.
USF, located in Tampa, Fla., is ranked third in the USA Today coaches poll and the Harris Interactive poll. The Bulls (6-0) were first in the computer rankings thanks in part to their 26-23 overtime win over Auburn on Sept. 8. The Tigers are 17th in the BCS standings.
Boston College (7-0) is off this week but has two tough challenges ahead with Virginia Tech (Oct. 25) and Florida State (Nov. 3).
Oklahoma fans should keep their fingers crossed for more upsets. Their Sooners won’t get much help from the rest of the Big 12. OU is 11th in the BCS computer rankings. Texas Tech is the only top-25 team remaining on Oklahoma’s schedule.
LSU (6-1) is second in the computer rankings and should benefit from the Southeastern Conference’s rugged reputation. Palm believes LSU would finish ahead of OU in the BCS standings if both have only one loss.
“If you’re Oklahoma, you don’t want to see a one-loss SEC team – pretty much any of them – there at the end, and you don’t want to see a one-loss Southern Cal,” Palm said.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said Sunday his team hasn’t played to its potential yet.
“So much of the time, whether it’s media or the fans, they want to already place you in this great place, and we’re not there yet,” Stoops said. “We have to get better in a lot of areas. We’re improving. I still feel that we should be better than we are.”