BCS Rankings: Seven Notes About the Initial Rankings

The BCS rankings were just released last night, and already the college football debate on who’s number one has started.

Many surprises as expected came from these initial rankings, and we’ll take a look at seven major notes that should tell the story of these initial BCS rankings.

2010 October 17th BCS Rankings

1. Boise State at #3
Maybe making more news than anything else is the fact that everyone’s sleeper sweetheart, the Boise State Broncos, are not number one. Not even slated to be the BCS title game. Boise State is stuck at three, maybe the most frustrating spot of the BCS rankings. And they’ll need Oklahoma to lose after they’ve played Texas and/or Oregon to lose after they’ve played Stanford.

2. Computers Love Oklahoma
For whatever reason, the computers love Oklahoma. Four of them have Oklahoma as the number one overall team, and the other two have the Sooners at three. And even though the Harris Poll has them at four, the Sooners still sit atop the BCS rankings. Wins over now ranked Texas, over formerly ranked Air Force, and still ranked Florida State may be part of that ranking.

3. Computer’s Top 5
The BCS top five is an indication of where the computers, or stat readers, and the “knowledgeable” sports writers meet in their interpretation of how the season has fallen thus far. But, because the human polls fluctuate so much, it’s always crucial to keep in mind where the computer ranks you, as this is more consistent and less judgemental on ugly wins or losses. Here is the computer top five:
1. Oklahoma – 2. LSU – 3. Auburn – 4. Michigan State – 5. TCU

4. Three Non-BCS Conference Teams in Top 10
Five or six years ago, it was shocking to see teams like Utah or Boise State close to the top of the country. Now, when three, count it, THREE non-BCS conference teams are poised to make a TITLE run, no one really flinches all that much. Boise State is just behind Oregon at number two and high in the human polls. TCU is high in the human polls as well and higher than Boise State is the computer polls. And Utah is still undefeated with a win over Pittsburgh and a game at home coming up against TCU.

5. Auburn, Michigan State, Missouri Biggest Surprises Thus Far
We all could have expected Boise State, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Ohio State all to be in the Top 10. But who could have seen consistent SEC 2nd tier team Auburn or Big Ten 2nd tier team Michigan State or Chase Daniel-less Missouri all in the Top 11 teams and all having chances to get to the BCS title game. But thanks to star quarterbacks like Cam Newton, Kirk Cousins, and Blaine Gabbert being leaders and game changers for their teams.

6. Florida Unranked, Mississippi State At #24
Wait, what? The Florida Gators, still coached by Urban Meyer, still loaded with NFL talent and world class speed, are unranked in the initial BCS rankings. And the SEC doormat, lead by former Urban Meyer assistant Dan Mullen, have a win over the Gators and only two losses, both against Top 10 teams (Auburn and LSU).

7. Four Major Match-Ups That Could Shake Up 2nd BCS Standings
And if the BCS standings were intriguing enough in their debut, it could be shaken up by Sunday night next weekend. The number one Sooners have to go against the undefeated Missouri Tigers at Missouri, a game that shouldn’t be an easy win. LSU and Auburn will battle at Auburn in a game that could push the other to the top three or even in the top two. Plus, Wisconsin vs. Iowa and Nebraska vs. Oklahoma State could have impacts on the BCS by next week.