BCS Standings, Week 2: LSU, Alabama Sit Atop Standings Ahead Of Epic Showdown

After a fairly bland early part of the day in college football from a Top 25 standpoint, all hell broke loose in the night games.  Michigan St. pulled off one of the greatest miracles college football has ever seen as they handed previously #6 Wisconsin their first loss of the season, and then late into the night, and long after most east coasters had gone to bed, Texas Tech ran out to a 31-7 halftime lead over #3 Oklahoma, and then held on for dear life in the closing seconds to become the first team in 39 tries to beat the Sooners in Norman and likely dash their national championship hopes.

The BCS Standings for this week show LSU and Alabama as the number one and two teams in the country ahead of their showdown in Tuscaloosa in on November 5th.  Both are idle this week and hold a significant enough lead over third ranked Oklahoma St. that we are all but guaranteed a rare regular season 1 vs. 2 match-up.

BCS Standings, Week 1: LSU Holds Narrow Lead Over Alabama

The first BCS Standings have been released and, as expected, LSU holds the top spot, but by the narrowest of margins over conference rival Alabama.  The one surprise in the BCS Standings is that the computers heavily favor Oklahoma St.  The Cowboys hold the #1 ranking in five of the seven computer polls.  Alabama and LSU split the other two. 

Boise St. and their weak strength of schedule haven't hurt them much in the initial poll.  They're rated fifth by the BCS, just about in line with the human polls.  Wisconsin opens up in the sixth position, despite being ranked fourth in both human polls.

College Football Rankings 2011, Week 8: Top 10 Remains Steady Ahead Of First BCS Poll

LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Boise St. all cruised to relatively easy wins this past weekend and helped to keep things in the Top 10 on an even keel before the first BCS Poll is released later Sunday night. 

Outside of the Top 10, there was a great deal of chaos as three of the remaining undefeated teams in the country went down.  Michigan, Illinois, and Georgia Tech all suffered their first losses of the season, resulting in their respective plunges down the rankings. 

The state of Florida made headlines last week when the AP Poll showed no teams from the Sunshine State in the Top 25 for the first time in recent memory.  This week, the state of Texas makes the rounds as two of the four teams from the Longhorn state were ousted in Baylor and Texas.  Texas A&M and Houston remain in the rankings.

The two new additions to the rankings this week are Georgia and Washington.

College Football Rankings 2011, Week 7: Top 10 Remains Unchanged, Houston Makes First Appearance

Without quarterback John Brantley, the Florida Gators were mostly helpless against the ferocious LSU defense.  The same could be said of Texas, except that both of their quarterbacks were healthy, they just weren't very good.  The Longhorns were demolished by Oklahoma  in the days other big game.  The wins by LSU and OU over their ranked rivals, coupled with Alabama's easy win over Vanderbilt helped to keep the Top 10 unchanged for the first time this season.

The only newcomers to the poll this week were Michigan State, who re-appears after a brief two week absence, and Houston, who makes its first appearance of the season.

College Football Rankings 2011, Week 6: LSU Stays On Top, Alabama Moves To #2

Alabama, Wisconsin, and Clemson all made loud statements this weekend with impressive wins over highly ranked opponents, and all were rewarded with a jump in the rankings this week.  Alabama moved from third to second, leap frogging Oklahoma (a winner over Ball St.), and setting up a potential 1 vs. 2 match-up in November between the Tide and the Tigers.

Wisconsin was also impressive, as they rudely welcomed Nebraska to the Big 10 by running and throwing all over the Cornhusker defense thanks to 150 yards and four touchdowns from running back Montee Ball.  The Badgers jumped from seventh to fourth.

Clemson made perhaps the loudest statement of all.  Coming into the season, the team expected to compete for a national title from the ACC was either Florida St. or Virginia Tech, but after knocking out Auburn, Florida St. and Virginia Tech in consecutive weeks, the Tigers are in the Top 10 and look like one of the best teams in the country.  The Tigers are ranked eighth, right behind Stanford.

AP Top 25, Week 5: LSU Rises To Number One After Win Over West Virginia

The LSU Tigers have unquestionably played the nations toughest schedule through the first 4 weeks of the season.  They now hold victories over Oregon, West Virginia, and Mississippi St., all of them away from home.  Those credentials were enough to lift the Tigers past Oklahoma and into the #1 spot for the first time since 2007.

Oklahoma, who struggled to subdue Missouri at home, dropped to #2, but is followed closely by Alabama, who impressively defeated Arkansas to move to 3-0 on the year.

Boise State and Oklahoma St. round out the top five in this weeks poll.  The Cowboys moved up from #7 after an impressive win on the road against previously 8th ranked Texas A&M.

AP Top 25, Week 4: Oklahoma Widens Lead After Downing Florida St.

The Oklahoma Sooners went into hostile territory this weekend to take on the previously 5th ranked Florida St. Seminoles.  After a back and forth affair which involved a lot more defense than the blowout that took place in Norman last year, the Sooners emerged with a 23-13 victory. 

The win helped to widen Oklahoma's lead as the No. 1 team in the country over SEC members the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide.  The Tigers and Tide swapped places in the rankings for the third consecutive week following LSU's impressive road win over the Mississippi St. Bulldogs.

This week, the poll welcomes five new additions including ACC representatives Clemson and Georgia Tech and says goodbye to the Ohio St. Buckeyes who were ranked for 103 consecutive polls (roughly seven years).

AP Top 25, Week 3: Oklahoma Hits Milestone, Alabama & LSU Swap Again.

For the 100th time in school history the Oklahoma Sooners are ranked #1.  The Sooners retained their top ranking despite having a bye week as they prepare for their enormous showdown in Tallahassee with Florida State (#5). 

Meanwhile, the jockeying for the #2 spot in the rankings continued.  After dumping Oregon (#12) with authority, LSU jumped Alabama for 2nd, but after the Tide rolled up Penn State on Saturday Nick Saban and Alabama leapfrogged their SEC West rival to reclaim their pre-season ranking.

The complete rankings for Week 3 are below.

1    Oklahoma Sooners (32)                    1-0    1441
2    Alabama Crimson Tide (9)                2-0    1422
3    LSU Tigers (17)                                   2-0    1416
4    Boise St Broncos (2)                          1-0    1309
5    Florida St Seminoles                          2-0    1194
6    Stanford Cardinal                                2-0    1161
7    Wisconsin Badgers                            2-0    1091
8    Oklahoma St Cowboys                      2-0    1034
9    Texas A&M Aggies                              1-0    1023
10    Nebraska Cornhuskers                  2-0    893
11    South Carolina Gamecocks           2-0    888
12    Oregon Ducks                                   1-1    848
13    Virginia Tech Hokies                        2-0    830
14    Arkansas Razorbacks                     2-0    768
15    Michigan St Spartans                      2-0    598
16    Florida Gators                                   2-0    511
17    Ohio St Buckeyes                             2-0    461
18    West Virginia Mountaineers           2-0    419
19    Baylor Bears                                     1-0    374
20    South Florida Bulls                          2-0    347
21    Auburn Tigers                                   2-0    343
22    Arizona St Sun Devils                      2-0    306
23    TCU Horned Frogs                          1-1    166
24    Texas Longhorns                             2-0    153
25    Mississippi St Bulldogs                  1-1    128

Dropped from rankings: Missouri 21, Penn State 23

Others receiving votes:

Michigan 104, USC 68, Houston 32, Maryland 32, UCF 31, Missouri 23, Northwestern 19, Penn State 18, Brigham Young 14, Tennessee 13, Washington 12, Georgia 8, Georgia Tech 2

College Football Rankings 2011: Oklahoma, LSU Top AP Top 25 Poll

Oklahoma remained on top in the first AP Top 25 poll of the 2011 college football regular season and LSU crept up to the No. 2 spot with its win over Oregon. Alabama is third in the latest poll, while Boise State rose to fourth and Florida State entered the top five at No. 5.

Boston College (0-1) and Connecticut (1-0) were unranked in the poll. The Eagles opened their season with a disappointing 24-17 loss to Northwestern on Saturday when UConn walloped Fordham, 35-3, in its opener.

Oregon slipped from the fourth spot all the way down to No. 13 after its loss to the Tigers. Auburn, the defending national champion, fell out of the top five completely after barely beating Utah State. Auburn started the year at No. 23.

Notre Dame, which suffered a bad loss to the South Florida Bulls (23-20), fell out of the poll. Georgia and USC also dropped out of the Top 25. No. 20 Baylor, No. 22 South Florida, No. 23 Penn State and No. 24 Texas ascended into the Top 25.

AP Top 25 Poll - Week 1

1. Oklahoma Sooners (1-0; 32 first-place votes)
2. LSU Tigers (1-0; 17 first-place votes)
3. Alabama Crimson Tide (1-0; 9 first-place votes)
4. Boise St. Broncos (1-0; 2 first-place votes)
5. Florida St. Seminoles (1-0)
6. Stanford Cardinal (1-0)
7. Texas A&M Aggies (1-0)
8. Wisconsin Badgers 91-0)
9. Oklahoma St. Cowboys (1-0)
10. Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-0)
11. Virginia Tech Hokies (1-0)
12. South Carolina Gamecocks (1-0)
13. Oregon Ducks (0-1)
14. Arkansas Razorbacks (1-0)
15. Ohio St. Buckeyes (1-0)
16. Mississippi St. Bulldogs (1-0)
17. Michigan St. Spartans (1-0)
18. Florida Gators (1-0)
19. West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0)
20. Baylor Bears (1-0)
21. Missouri Tigers (1-0)
22. South Florida Bulls (1-0)
23. Penn St. Nittany Lions (1-0)
24. Texas Longhorns (1-0)
25. TCU Horned Frogs (0-1)

College Football Rankings: Oklahoma Tops AP Top 25 Preseason Poll; BC, UConn Unranked

Oklahoma is on top of the world, at least the football team is. The Sooners received the top ranking in the nation in the AP Top 25 Preseason poll, which was released on Saturday. Boston College and UConn were not surprisingly unranked.