BCS Standings, Week 10: Stanford Still Trails Oklahoma State Behind LSU, Alabama

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With Clemson losing in Week 9 and dropping in the Week 10 AP Poll and the Week 10 USA Today coaches poll, the ACC’s chances of having a national champion in the 2011 college football season are all but done. And the conference’s shot at having more than one BCS team is null and void, too.

The No. 11 AP/No. 12 coaches Tigers are still at the top of the conference, but they’re joined by No. 11 coaches/No. 12 AP Virginia Tech, a team they stomped on the road. And those two teams are joined by only one other ACC team, No. 22 AP/No. 23 coaches Georgia Tech, in the Week 10 college football rankings.

The Big Ten lost a little ground in the Week 10 AP Poll and the Week 10 USA Today coaches poll. But no conference dominates the murky middle of the college football rankings quite like the Big Ten.

There’s Nebraska, No. 9 in both polls despite a loss to No. 17 coaches/No. 19 AP Wisconsin. The Badgers fell because of a loss to Ohio State, unranked but receiving votes, and Nebraska sprang forward after taking down No. 15 AP/No. 16 coaches Michigan State. And then there are Michigan (No. 13 in both polls) and Penn State (No. 15 coaches/No. 16 AP), just sort of hanging out in the middle of the teens.

West Virginia and Cincinnati are the only Big East teams in either the Week 10 AP Poll or the Week 10 USA Today coaches poll; that should be no surprise. But the Bearcats are the only Big East team other than the Mountaineers even receiving votes in either poll, which is probably a bad thing for a conference that is going to lose West Virginia to the Big 12 in 2012.

The Mountaineers (No. 21 coaches/No. 24 AP) probably just pip the Bearcats (No. 22 coaches/No. 23 AP) in the public eye, but it really doesn’t matter that much where either team is ranked right now. Neither team is high enough to even hope for an at-large BCS bid if it wins out, and for both, the only path to BCS riches in 2011 is probably through a Big East title.

Stanford and Oregon look as good as they have all season in the Week 10 AP Poll and the Week 10 USA Today coaches poll. The Cardinal (No. 4 in both polls) survived No. 21 AP USC in Week 9 and didn’t move in either poll, and Ducks (No. 7 in both polls) moved up with a loss by Clemson.

That means that both should be in the top seven or eight when this week’s BCS standings drop later Sunday night, and that sort of positioning is a good omen for the Pac-12 when it comes to potentially getting two BCS bowl bids. No matter which team wins the Week 11 clash in Palo Alto, the loser shouldn’t fall out of BCS contention, and could snag an at-large bid if the other school wins out and scores a victory in the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game.

Oklahoma State is No. 3 in both the Week 10 AP Poll and the Week 10 USA Today coaches poll. And with Kansas State’s loss to Oklahoma on Saturday, the Cowboys are the last BCS National Championship Game hopeful left in the Big 12.

The Cowboys could move up into the top two after Week 10, too, as either No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama must lose in their SEC showdown. Oklahoma State gets No. 17 AP/No. 19 coaches Kansas State at home on Saturday.

LSU and Alabama head up the SEC in the Week 10 AP Poll and the Week 10 USA Today coaches poll, and didn’t need to prove themselves in Week 9 to do it. That’s the luxury both idle SEC titans enjoyed in advance of their seismic Week 10 clash.

The No. 1 AP/No. 1 coaches Tigers and No. 2 AP/No. 2 coaches Crimson Tide combine to earn all but one of the available first-place votes in the two most prominent human polls in the college football rankings; Boise State snagged one first-place vote from an AP Poll voter.

LSU and Alabama have already topped the Week 10 USA Today coaches poll, and they have followed that trick with dominance in the Week 10 AP poll. Less than a week ahead of their match-up, one that should pit the top two teams in the college football rankings and BCS standings, the Tigers and Crimson Tide claim all but one first-place vote in the Week 10 AP top 25.

Oklahoma State, Stanford, and Boise State round out the top five, and the Broncos earn the only first-place vote that didn’t go to the SEC West behemoths.

If Clemson wins: The Tigers stay in the BCS National Championship Game race, and their ACC hegemony continues unabated.

If Georgia Tech wins: The ACC is probably still Clemson’s to lose (a game against Wake Forest in two weeks could decide the Atlantic Division champion, unless the Demon Deacons fall at North Carolina today), but there’s no chance of an ACC titlist playing for a national title.