BCS Rankings: Initial Analysis Of The Week 11 BCS Standings

A quick review of the results of the in Week 11 BCS rankings:

No movement in the top four is no shock, and it spells doom for TCU and Boise State’s BCS National Championship Game hopes. TCU couldn’t close the gap on Auburn despite an overwhelming win against Utah, the best team TCU will be able to play; Boise State fell even further back of the pack after a thrashing of Hawaii. Unless there’s a loss by either Oregon or Auburn, the lead BCS buster — likely TCU — will have to settle for a mere Rose Bowl berth, and the second-best squad might not make a BCS bowl at all.

Hello, Stanford. The rise of the Cardinal makes plenty of sense, especially after a dominant victory over Arizona, and it will only bolster Oregon’s chances, especially with the Ducks just .003 points ahead of the Tigers. But now, with Stanford up in the top six, it’s unlikely that the Pac-10 won’t place two teams in the BCS. That’s a coup for a conference that has had just three teams consistently ranked all season.

Wisconsin’s position at the head of the Big Ten logjam is telling, and likely tips a TCU-Wisconsin Rose Bowl. Though Ohio State is within shouting distance of being the Big Ten’s highest-ranked squad, Wisconsin’s lead shouldn’t be threatened except by a loss.

The SEC’s phenomenal depth is a little stunning. Just as in both the USA Today and AP polls, the conference has seven teams ranked in the top 25. For a conference that is essentially one six-team division beating up the other this year, that’s an accomplishment that speaks to either a quality that computer rankings see that humans can’t or esteem that human voters extend because of brand name rather than on-field results this season.