BCS Standings: Auburn Earns Top Spot In BCS Rankings, Oregon Second

Though the prospect of an actual playoff coming to the Football Bowl Subdivision is rather unlikely in the near future, there are still games that serve as de facto playoff games for BCS contenders. And two such games will happen this weekend, according to BCS Evolution.

The first is Missouri’s trip to Lincoln to take on Nebraska. For the Tigers, a second win over a highly-ranked Big 12 team in as many weeks would likely solidify their place near the top of the BCS rankings. For the Cornhuskers, a win over Missouri would likely help them vault to the front of the Big 12 pack in the next BCS standings. Either team, with a win, has a clear path to the Big 12 North Division title and a berth in the Big 12 Championship Game.

SB Nation’s Team Speed Kills finds itself once again taking issue with the college football rankings tilt-a-whirl that is the Billingsley poll:

We have already discussed the unique form of insanity that seems to be the specialty of Billingsley’s computer. His ballot does not disappoint this week, ranking TCU at No. 1 (three spots higher than any other computer poll) and Missouri at No. 10 -- the Tigers’ lowest spot in any computer poll by seven and two places below the less Mizzou-friendly humans. Billingsley has Sparty at eighth -- three places lower than the humans and five lower than the next most-skeptical computer -- and Alabama at No. 3. (The Tide are sixth in both human polls and no higher than eighth in any other chips-based measurement.)

In fact, the rule that causes the high and low scores for each team to be thrown out might as well be called the Billingsley Rule -- counting ties, Billingsley ranks 17 of the 25 teams higher or lower than any other computer in the BCS, including being the only one to rank Virginia Tech at all.

ESPN just released the second official BCS rankings of the 2010 season on its “BCS Countdown” show. It’s going the American Idol route and stretching out the selections, and announced the bottom 15 teams in the top 25 first. This is a new and interesting addition to the the college football polls as they stand, because none of the rest require me to listen to Craig James and Robert Smith.

Tonight, the Auburn Tigers take the top spot for the first time in school history after a big win over LSU this weekend, and Oregon stays at second, secure in the knowledge that their schedule will keep them ahead of Boise State and TCU even if all three teams win out.