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 The Seminoles grabbed the top spot in the BCS standings released
Sunday after Alabama relinquished it for the first time this season.
The Crimson Tide's wild 34-28 loss at Auburn dropped Alabama to
fourth. Ohio State is second and Auburn is third. Missouri is fifth.
Auburn and Missouri play in the Southeastern Conference championship
game Saturday in Atlanta. The winner should get a boost in the
standings, but it might not be enough to catch the unbeaten
Buckeyes.
Ohio State (12-0) faces Michigan State, 10th in the latest
standings, in the Big Ten championship game Saturday in
Indianapolis.
Florida State is first in both the USA Today coaches' poll and
Harris poll, and rated No. 1 in the compilation of six computer
rankings used in the BCS standings.
The Seminoles' .9948 BCS average makes them a lock to get to the
title game in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 6 if they can beat Duke in
the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game Saturday.
The Buckeyes (.9503) are second in the polls and second in the
computers. Auburn (.9233) is third in each. Missouri (.8428) is
fifth in each. But each of those SEC Tigers is 11-1. Ohio State is
riding a 24-game winning streak.
An unbeaten team from a BCS automatic-qualifying conference (ACC,
Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and Big East, now American Athletic
Conference) has never been shut out of national championship game in
favor of a team with a loss.
The SEC, which has won the last seven BCS championships, would like
that to change.
"Any one-loss team in the SEC (should be considered) just because of
the strength of schedule," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said.
"Hopefully that will be taken into consideration."
Jerry Palm, who analyzes the BCS for CBS.com, said there is no
reason to expect the unprecedented to happen.
"I think the voters would have to abandon Ohio State, and that's
never happened in the history of the BCS," he said Sunday.
Alabama (.8539) is fourth but the Tide would need both Florida State
and Ohio State to lose to get back in the title conversation.
The BCS is in its last season. It will be replaced by a four-team
playoff next year, which will use a selection committee to pick the
teams.
Farther down the latest standings, the competition to become the
last BCS buster is now a one-team race after Fresno State lost to
San Jose State. It's all about Northern Illinois now.
The undefeated Huskies from the Mid-American Conference remained
14th in the standings this week. NIU, looking for its second
straight BCS bid, plays Bowling Green in the MAC title game on
Friday night.
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The Huskies can earn an automatic BCS bid two
ways:
-
Finish in the top 12 of the final BCS standings.
-
Finish in the top 16 of the final standings, ahead of an
automatic qualifying conference champion.
The Huskies used the latter route to get to the BCS last season
with one loss.
It could happen again this season. Central Florida, in line to
win the American and earn its first automatic BCS bid, is ranked
16th in the latest standings and plays SMU on Saturday. It
doesn't seem likely that the Knights (10-1) will pass the
Huskies, so the only thing standing in the way of Northern
Illinois and the BCS is Bowling Green. NIU would most likely
play in the Fiesta Bowl.
No team will enter the final weekend of the regular season with
a BCS bid locked up. Here are the possibilities:
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Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas are all alive to earn the Big
12 title and the conference's automatic bid to the Fiesta Bowl.
Oklahoma State gets the bid by beating Oklahoma. If the Cowboys
lose, the winner of the Baylor-Texas game gets the bid.
-
The winner of the SEC championship gets an automatic bid to
the Sugar Bowl.
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If Duke wins the ACC championship it will play in the Orange
Bowl.
-
The winner of the Pac-12 title game between Stanford and
Arizona State gets a Rose Bowl bid.
-
Michigan State will earn a Rose Bowl bid by beating Ohio State
in the Big Ten title game, but also stands a good chance to end
up in the Rose Bowl with a loss. If Ohio State plays for the
national championship, the Spartans (11-1) are likely to be
picked by the Rose Bowl to replace the Buckeyes.
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If UCF loses, it could create a three-way tie for the AAC
title with Cincinnati and Louisville that would be settled by
the BCS standings. Louisville is 19th in the standings this
week, while Cincinnati is unranked.
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Alabama is a virtual lock to get an at-large bid, most likely
to the Orange Bowl.
[Associated
Press; RALPH D. RUSSO, AP College Football Writer]
Follow Ralph D. Russo at
http://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP.
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