The beating hearts think Oregon is the number one football program in the country, but the computers aren’t as convinced, placing the Ducks second in the BCS standings.
Kansas State claims the top spot in the race for the BCS National Championship after Alabama’s loss, with the Ducks checking in at the second spot and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame at third.
Pundits project that if Oregon and Kansas State finish the season undefeated then the two squads will face each other in the title game, with Notre Dame left out.
Six of the top nine teams in the BCS hail from the SEC with Alabama ranked fourth, Georgia at fifth, Florida at sixth, LSU at seventh, Texas A&M in the eight hole and South Carolina at ninth. Florida State rounds out the top ten.
Oregon’s next opponent, Stanford, is ranked 13th in the BCS. Other Pac-12 teams in the Top 25 include: Oregon State, UCLA and USC at 16, 17 and 18 and Washington at 25.
When the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Polls were released this morning, both rated Oregon as America’s top college football team, with Kansas State second and Notre Dame in the third slot.
In the AP, the Ducks received 45 first-place votes while Kansas State got 14 and Notre Dame garnered one. The remaining top 10 teams in the AP are: No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Florida, No. 8 LSU, No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 10 Florida State.@@http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings@@
In the Coaches Poll, Oregon got 44 first-place votes, Kansas State got 14 and Notre Dame got one. Four through 10 were Georgia, Alabama, Florida State, Florida, LSU, Clemson and Texas A&M.@@http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/polls/coaches-poll/@@
In both polls, the SEC had five ranked teams inside the top ten, but none inside the top three — a departure from the norm.