Oregon passed Florida State and moved into second place behind Alabama in the BCS standings.
The Ducks jumping the Seminoles was not a surprise. Florida State had a slim lead on the Ducks in the first standings last week. Oregon’s convincing 42-14 victory against UCLA gave the Ducks the boost it needed.
Oregon moved up to third from fourth in the computer ratings and remained second in both the USA Today coaches’ poll and the Harris poll to give it a .9517 BCS average.
Florida State, after routing North Carolina State 49-17, has a .9211 BCS average. The Seminoles are third in each poll, though they gained a little ground on the Ducks, and second in the computer ratings.
Two-time defending national champion Alabama is first across the board.
Alabama’s remaining schedule is LSU, Mississippi State, Chattanooga and Auburn before a possible Southeastern Conference championship game. If the Crimson Tide run the table, it’ll likely play in a third consecutive BCS championship game, and fourth in five years.
Florida State has a chance to gain on Oregon this week when it plays No. 7 Miami on Saturday. The Ducks are off, but Oregon’s next game comes against No. 5 Stanford on Nov. 7.
Florida State’s schedule after Miami has Wake Forest, Syracuse, Idaho and Florida before a possible Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. Oregon’s schedule after Stanford has Utah, Arizona and Oregon State before a possible Pac-12 championship game.
The long-term forecast looks good for the Ducks, with the Pac-12 generally rated tougher than the ACC.
Ohio State is still fourth in the standings after its 63-14 victory against Penn State. The Buckeyes’ remaining games are against Purdue, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, and are in great shape for a Big Ten champion game appearance, too. Still, the Buckeyes probably need two of the teams ahead of them to lose to move up.
Stanford is fifth in the standings, followed by unbeaten Baylor and Miami.
Fresno State, in 16thplace, and Northern Illinois, in 17th, are maneuvering to become the final BCS busters, in this the last year of the Bowl Championship Series.
Fresno State, from the Mountain West Conference, or NIU, from the Mid-American Conference, can earn anautomatic BCS bid by reaching the top-12 in the final BCS standings. Both will likely need to remain unbeaten to have a shot.
One of them could also get an automatic bid if it finishes in the final top-16 and is ahead of one of the champions from the automatic qualifying conferences.
Louisville, in 19th place, and Central Florida, in 23rd place, are currently the highest ranked American Athletic Conference teams in the standings.
Baylor’s plight
Baylor beat Kansas 59-14, which actually lowered the Bears’ national-best scoring average to 63.9. The only time the Bears have been better ranked in the AP poll came in November 1953 when they were third.
Baylor lost three of its final four games that season and finished unranked.
The Bears are hoping to avoid a similar finish to this season against a backloaded schedule. More than halfway through, Baylor has played only one FBS team with a winning record - Buffalo (6-2).
The Sagarin ratings have Baylor’s schedule strength at 96th in Division I. For comparison’s sake, Alabama’s is 41st, Oregon’s is 54th, Florida State’s is 68th and Ohio State is 69th.
In their favor, the Bears have also played only one game that has been competitive in the second half - a 35-25 victory at Kansas State.
“We’re playing really, really good defense, we’ve got guys that are very explosive offensively and we have a great offensive line. We’re a tough football team,” Coach Art Briles said after the Kansas game.
Finally, we’ll find out how tough on Nov. 7, when Baylor hosts a Thursday night showdown against 10th-ranked Oklahoma.
After that comes No.
15 Texas Tech at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, at No. 18 Oklahoma State, at TCU and finally return home for the finale against Texas on Dec. 7.
Resting up
Eight ranked teams have an open date this week, including Alabama, Oregon, Baylor, No. 5 Stanford, No. 13 LSU and Oklahoma.
That sets the stage for a huge following week. Along with Oklahoma-Baylor on Nov. 7, Oregon is at Stanford.
LSU visits Alabama on Nov. 9.
Sports, Pages 20 on 10/28/2013