College Football Rankings: LSU, Oklahoma State Top BCS Standings; Alabama At No. 3

LSU sweeps all the first-place votes in the Week 13 BlogPoll, topping all 72 ballots and ranking ahead of No. 2 Alabama by more than a point per blog. But it’s the SEC West’s separation from the field, from No. 3 Arkansas to No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 Oklahoma State, that’s the really interesting aspect of this week’s voting.

Arkansas is closer to the points per blog of a unanimous No. 4 than a strong No. 3, but the Razorbacks are closer to the Crimson Tide than to the Cardinal, taking a massive 1.94 points per blog advantage on Stanford. Clearly, the BlogPoll voters have a definite idea of what team is the third-best in the nation.

We have probably seen the seismic upset of the week in college football, thanks to Iowa State’s 37-31 overtime win over No. 2 Oklahoma State on Friday night. But there are still more games featuring ranked teams that could produce pivotal results in Week 12 that might shake up the BCS rankings even further.

Here’s what’s at stake in Week 12.

LSU may be a consensus No. 1 across the college football rankings, but the Tigers aren’t a unanimous No. 1 in the BlogPoll. After losing two first-place votes to Oklahoma State and Stanford in Week 11, LSU isn’t in the top spot in three ballots in Week 12. All of those voters enthroned Oklahoma State, a consensus No. 2, and Alabama, Oregon, and Oklahoma round out the top five.

Stanford falls from No. 3 to No. 8 after its first loss of the season, while Boise State falls from No. 5 to No. 11 — behind undefeated Houston — after being upset by TCU. And Penn State drops a whopping 10 spots in the first BlogPoll since Joe Paterno’s firing; it’s up to the reader to judge whether voters are penalizing the Nittany Lions’ skimpy resume or punishing Penn State for malfeasance off the field.

Much as in the major human polls and BCS rankings this week, I was most interested to see where Alabama would rank in the Week 11 BlogPoll. That answer is No. 4, behind No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Oklahoma State, and No. 3 Stanford. If the BlogPoll were a component of the BCS formula, that would be bad news for No. 5 Boise State.

Alabama’s points-per-blog is consistent with a consensus No. 4 team; Oklahoma State’s and Stanford’s numbers look more like No. 2.3 and No. 2.7, while Boise’s at something like No. 4.6. If that doesn’t make sense, don’t worry: it’s basically the same as saying that Alabama is first in line behind the last three major undefeated teams, and that, as in other college football rankings for Week 11, its one loss to LSU hurts it less than Boise State would have wanted.

Alabama, as expected, dropped only one spot in the Week 11 BCS Standings after its “Game of the Century” loss to LSU on Saturday night. But the Crimson Tide shouldn’t get too comfortable just yet.

An Oklahoma State loss is far from the only thing ‘Bama needs to earn a rematch with LSU in the BCS national championship game, even if that seems to be the case according to the latest standings. Stanford is at No. 4 and poised to make a move, if it can get by No. 7 Oregon next week in a huge Pac-12 showdown on the Farm.

The SEC is still a force in the latest BCS rankings, despite a weekend featuring two conference matchups between top-10 teams. In one -- the game with all the hype -- LSU put away Alabama in overtime to solidify its spot atop the BCS rankings. The other, less publicized matchup went to Arkansas, who downed South Carolina.

It should come as no surprise that six SEC teams are ranked inside the top-25 this week. Joining LSU, Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina are Georgia and Auburn, who each rank inside the top-20. The power resides in the Southeast once again this year.

Alabama stayed ahead of Stanford despite their loss, and a rematch could occur if Oklahoma State loses and Alabama and LSU win out. LSU-Arkansas, Stanford-Oregon and Oklahoma State-Oklahoma are the most important games remaining.

Here are the complete Week 11 BCS rankings, updated with standings from every contributor:

The Boise State Broncos were likely hoping that the Week 11 AP Poll and the Week 11 USA Today coaches poll would put them one spot closer to a BCS National Championship Game. That didn’t happen.

Despite Alabama’s loss, the Crimson Tide only fell to No. 4 in both polls, one spot ahead of Boise State, which remained at No. 5 in both the AP and USA Today polls for Week 11.

There’s only one Big East team in the Week 11 AP Poll and the Week 11 USA Today coaches poll: it’s Cincinnati, which is No. 23 in both polls. That’s because West Virginia’s loss to Louisville in Week 10 knocked the Mountaineers out of the polls.

But it’s a fair debate: would the Big East rather be represented in a BCS bowl this year by the Mountaineers, who are currently locked in a legal battle with the conference about whether they will leave for the Big 12 in 2012 or after, or Cincinnati, which shows no signs of leaving?

The Week 11 AP Poll and the Week 11 USA Today coaches poll don’t have any Big Ten teams in the top 10. And yet the conference could still place two teams in BCS bowls.

Nebraska’s loss to Northwestern in Week 10 left the Big Ten without a top-10 squad; No. 12 AP/No. 12 coaches Penn State is the highest-ranked Big Ten team. And the Nittany Lions are followed by a slew of Big Ten schools that haven’t been dominant: No. 13 AP/No. 13 coaches Michigan State, No. 14 coaches/No. 16 AP Wisconsin, No. 17 coaches/No. 19 Nebraska. Michigan straggles in at No. 21 coaches/No. 22 AP.

Oklahoma State fares better in the Week 11 AP Poll than the Week 11 USA Today coaches poll, but the Cowboys are still in a better position than they’ve ever been before.

The No. 2 AP/No. 3 coaches Cowboys outlasted Kansas State (now No. 17 AP/No. 22 coaches) in Week 10, and will probably be in line to take the No. 2 spot in the Week 11 BCS rankings released tonight.

The No. 1 AP/No. 1 coaches Tigers are the SEC’s last undefeated team, and defeating the only other SEC undefeated in Week 10 solidified their position at the top of the polls; only one first-place vote for the Boise State Broncos in the AP Poll prevents LSU from being the unanimous No. 1 in both human polls released so far.

No. 4 AP/No. 4 coaches Alabama doesn’t fall far, though, and the SEC West places three teams in the top eight of both polls, thanks to No. 8 AP/No. 8 coaches Arkansas.

Alabama fell to No. 4 after the loss to LSU, one spot ahead of the No. 5 Boise State Broncos.

Here’s the full USA Today coaches poll top 25 for Week 11: