BCS Projections

As promised from yesterday, here are my Preseason BCS Projections for this coming year.  

Keep in mind that again this year the Orange Bowl has the last pick of teams, so they will most definitely be stuck with the Big East champion.  Fiesta gets the first pick.  Keep a lookout tomorrow, for the first ever Dallas Hokie Power Rankings! 

BCS Title Game:  USC (Pac-12 Champ) over LSU (SEC Champ)

Rose Bowl: Oregon (At-Large) vs. Michigan (B1G Champ)

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma (Big12 Champ vs. Florida State (At-Large)

Sugar Bowl: Georgia (At-Large) vs. Michigan State (At-Large)

Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech (ACC Champ) vs. South Florida (Big East Champ)

If you want to see my thoughts on these pics, check out yesterdays Conference Race Projections.

Preseason Conference Projections

Its that time of year again! I have done a moderate research and some random guessing to come up with my Preseason Conference Champs and BCS Bowls Projections! It will be a two part post with the Bowl Projections coming out tomorrow.  I will also be keeping my own top 25 this year, so that should be fun too.  Keep a look out later in the week for my weekly picks as well as other thoughts on the season.  

Below I have written up how I think each major conference will play out this year. And yes, I still included the Big East.

In order to make this interesting, I’m going to pick the top 3 teams from each conference.  For conferences with a championship game, that will include the two division champs and then a third “wild card” team.  For the others it will just be the top three.  The rankings next the team represent their "pre-conference championship game" record. 

SEC

LSU – West (12-0)

Georgia – East (12-0)

Alabama – (11-1)

Georgia wins the East by not having to play any of the powerhouse teams from the West.  With probably the easiest schedule in America, the bulldogs go into the SEC championship game undefeated.  They lose big in the championship game.

PAC-12

USC – South (11-1)

Oregon – North (11-1)

Washington State– (9-3)

USC wins the south and beats Oregon twice in the process.  They will have home field advantage for both the regular season game and the championship game and win both in close fashion.  USC will lose one close game this year on the road.  Washington State will have a nice under new head coach Mike Leach. 

B1G

Michigan – Legends (10-2)

Wisconsin – Leaders (9-3)

Michigan State – (10-2)

If anyone beside Wisconsin wins the Leaders division, it will be the biggest upset of the year.  With OSU and PSU ineligible, all they have to do is beat Illinois, Indiana, and Purdue.  On the other side Michigan finally beats MSU and clinches the Legends division and then beats a worse than expected Wisconsin team. 

BIG12

Oklahoma (11-1)

West Virginia (10-2)

Oklahoma State (9-3)

West Virginia will beat both Oklahoma and Texas in their first season in the Big 12 but won’t be able to avoid the upset (twice).  That leaves OU and OSU to fight it out in the bedlam, which (sadly) Oklahoma should win.  

ACC

Virginia Tech – Coastal (10-2)

Florida State - Atlantic (11-1)

Clemson – Atlantic (10-2)

Virginia Tech will lose to both FSU and Clemson during the regular season, but will still win the Coastal.  They will avenge their loss to FSU in the conference championship game.  FSU beats Clemson and I don’t trust any ACC team to not trip up at some point (thus the loss for FSU and for Clemson).

BIG EAST

USF – (8-4)

Louisville – (8-4)

Rutgers – (7-5)

This is a crap shoot of a conference these days.  I pick USF because they are from Florida and should be able to recruit better players (in theory).  It really doesn’t matter…

10 BCS Questions (Part 3)

If you've haven't already read questions 1-7, check them out here:

8)     What would a 12-team playoff look like!?

Here is what I would love to see as a playoff system for the current Bowl Subdivision (former 1-A). 

First, a selection committee (that heavily relied upon the BCS rankings) would select the top 4 teams.  They would be given a bye   Also, these seeds will only be given to teams that have won their conference.  This is because, in most conferences, they would already be required to play an extra game and I think conference champions should be rewarded.  This year the top 4 seeds would be:

1 seed: LSU

2 seed: Oklahoma State

3 seed: Virginia Tech

4 seed: Oregon

Then, the committee would rank the next 8 schools with the higher seed hosting the first round game.  Also, all auto tie-ins will still be awarded and there will be a three team per conference limit with a requirement that schools from the same conference will not meet until the semifinals.

5 seed: Alabama

6 seed: Stanford

7 seed: Arkansas

8 seed: Houston

9 seed: Boise State

10 seed: Wisconsin

11 seed: Kansas State

12 seed: West Virginia

With the games:

West Virginia @ Alabama (6:00 PM ET)

Kansas State @ Stanford (9:30 PM ET)

Wisconsin @ Arkansas (3:30 PM ET)

Boise State @ Houston (12:00PM ET)

Traditional bowl affiliations would be used for the next playoff games (if PAC-10 and BIG-10 schools are chosen, the higher seed will play in the Rose Bowl) with the losers of the opening round games being matched up in the Capital One Bowl and Cotton Bowl.  We would see:

Alabama/WVU vs Oregon in the Rose Bowl

Stanford/Kansas State vs Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl

Arkansas/Wisconsin vs Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl

Houston/Boise State vs LSU in the Sugar Bowl

After the bowls the teams would be reseeded according to original ranking.  The lowest seed remaining will play at the home of the highest seed remaining.  The other two schools will play at the home of the higher seed

Lowest Seed @ Highest Seed

Lower Seed @ Higher Seed

The championship game would then be held the following week at a pre-determined rotating site among the now "6 BCS Bowls". 

How’s that sound!? Let me know your thoughts...

9)     What should be the biggest complaint about the BCS?

The voters don’t watch all the games and aren’t instructed on how to vote properly.  The voters try to be objetive!

The computers are the tool used to measure objectivity.  They are set to determine, based on mere wins and losses, who is the best team. 

Now, even computers have a bias.  The guys who right the programs have to assign value to wins and losses and how much strength of schedule effects the ranking.  I would love to see how some of the ranking are determined but they aren't published! To solve this I would also like to see another six computers added to the equation and require the voters to publish their built in biases.  

Anyways, back to the original preface.  My point is that the voters should vote on which team looks the best! Which team is playing the best right now and which team would beat another team in their opinion.  The voters should not be worrying about the so-called “body of work”! That is for the computers to mess with.  They are paid to either coach, watch or write about sports.  They know when a team “looks” good and “looks” bad. 

Vote on that and quit trying to do what the computers are there to do!

10)       What could keep LSU AND Alabama out of the NCG?

So, what if come Sunday morning we hear that the NCAA has been investigating both LSU and Alabama this entire year and that they will be handing down significant sanctions upon both schools.   We come to find out that both schools have been providing significant benefits to players and will be put on post-season restrictions for this year and next year.  

The world would rejoice and we would probably see Oklahoma State vs either Virginia Tech or Stanford in the National Championship Game! Georgia and Arkansas will both go to BCS games and everyone would be so much happier with life and the BCS! 

The first round games would be held the week after the conference championship games. 

10 BCS Questions (Part 2)

To continue my post from earlier, here are the next 4 questions about the BCS.  These questions have to do with the other BCS games.

4)     What if Houston loses to Southern Miss?

This creates an interesting scenario for another team to jump into the BCS Bowl games.  Assuming all else goes according to plan, the teams listed below would be eligible for at-Large bids.  Also, it is important to remember that if Houston loses and TCU makes it into the top 16, they will earn a spot in a BCS game (likely they sugar). 

Stanford

Boise State

Oklahoma

Kansas State

Michigan

The Wisconsin/Michigan State loser may still be eligible and Baylor may jump into the mix of top 14 teams.  But for now, lets assume those five. 

The projection all along has been that the Sugar Bowl takes Michigan and that the Fiesta Bowl will take Stanford to play Oklahoma State.  The Sugar Bowl could take an 11-1 Boise State team, a 10-2 Kansas State team or a 9-3 Oklahoma team.  I’m not sure who the team of choice would be.  Boise State would bring the best ranking and record.  However, they would be far less of a draw for the audience.  Kansas State brings a better record than Oklahoma but doesn’t have as large of a fan base.  Oklahoma will be coming off of a loss and will be ranked lowest of the three.  Sadly, I think that the Sugar bowl will decide to match up the “traditional” powers and we will see a Michigan vs Oklahoma game in the Sugar Bowl.  Personally, I would love to see Boise State in this game.

If Virginia Tech or Oklahoma State were to lose this weekend, they would also be in line for discussion here.  I think both of those teams would be selected before any of the other options listed above (Oklahoma could be chosen over VT).  Oklahoma State would draw a huge local crowd and the bowls know that Virginia Tech travels extremely well. 

5)     What is the most interesting scenario?

I think that the most interesting outcome would be if Georgia beats LSU, Oklahoma State jumps to #2 in the rankings and Houston loses (but doesn’t fall out of the top 14).  The first consequence would mean that either LSU or Alabama would be completely left out of the BCS picture.  The Fiesta Bowl would then pick between Oklahoma and Kansas State.  After this the only other at-large candidates would be Stanford, Boise State, or Houston.  Michigan would not jump the two spots needed to become eligible since Georgia was victorious.  The Fiesta would take Stanford and I think the Sugar would choose WVU (assuming a Cincinnati victory on Saturday).  I think the Mountaineers would be a bigger draw and they would want to avoid a rematch between Boise State and Georgia.  The Orange Bowl would then match up the Hokies with Boise State!

6)     Can VT get an at-large bid if they lose?

VT would need the following to happen by my logic:

1)     Houston Loss

2)     LSU / Alabama NCG

3)     Oklahoma Loss and fall below 14

4)     Georgia loss to LSU

Here is how I arrived at that conclusion.

There will be 4 at-large spots available so the Hokies need to be the 4^th most attractive among the following teams:

Team	Ahead of VT by…	Ineligible or behind VT by…
2) Alabama	Remaining #2 or LSU win	Georgia win and OSU in NCG
3) Oklahoma State	Loss to Oklahoma	Win over Oklahoma (auto bid)
4) Stanford	Always (Top 4 team)	Never
6) Houston	Win over USM (auto bid)	Loss to USM
7) Boise State	Never (VT travels better)	Always
8) Arkansas	Never (2 teams per conference)	Always
9) Oregon	Never	Win Conference or fall below 14
10) Oklahoma	Loss to OSU and remain in top 14	Win over OSU or falling below 14
11) Kansas State	OSU in NCG and chosen for Fiesta	OSU not in NCG or not chosen as replacement
12) South Carolina	Never (2 teams per conference)	Always
13) Michigan State	Never (Win conference, Lose and be out of top 14)	Always
14) Georgia	Winning SEC and LSU/Bama rematch in NCG	Losing to LSU and OSU in NCG
15) Wisconsin	Never (Win conference, Lose and be out of top 14)	Always
16) Michigan	Jumping to 14 or higher	Not jumping into top 14 (Georgia win)

As you can see there are 8 teams that could be chosen before VT.  First of all, Stanford will be going to BCS bowl and will take one of the spots.  Secondly, either Alabama or Georgia will take another spot.  That leaves Houston, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Michigan and Georgia (only if we have an Alabama / LSU NCG spot and Georgia wins the SEC Championship).   Because of the rankings, one of Oklahoma, Michigan or Georgia will have to be included and will take up a third spot.  This leaves Houston, Kansas State and two of the following: Michigan, Oklahoma and Georgia.  VT would need for all of the teams left to be ineligible and thus the requirements listed above. 

I think this is accurate, if you find some scenario that I haven’t thought of where VT is in, that I haven’t thought of, LET ME KNOW!

7)     Are any teams guaranteed BCS spots?

Stanford is the only team guaranteed a spot in the BCS.  There will be at least 2 at-large spots available and Michigan (if eligible) is the only team that could be chosen over Stanford.

All of the other schools could be left out if situations don't go their way.

 

10 BCS Questions (Part 1)

We all know by this point what should happen in the BCS come Sunday night.  Here are a few sites that are all projecting the same matchups in the five BCS Bowl games. 

ESPN: http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls

CBS: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions

YAHOO: http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1297268&PT=4&PR=2

However, I've come up with 10 questions that may get you thinking otherwise.   

The first three are listed here with more to come!

1)     What if Oklahoma State Destroys Oklahoma?

This is the burning question among most of the “experts” out there.  Would Oklahoma State warrant jumping Alabama in the BCS Standings with an impressive win over Oklahoma?  With this win I would expect OSU to be the #2 ranked team in all the computers.   This would happen because Oklahoma is currently the 5^th ranked team in the computers and a victory over them would sure help the ranking. 

With being ranked #2 in the computers, OSU would just need for about 1/3 of the voters to select them ahead of Alabama on their ballots.   I am really convinced that this is a possibility.  Ten percent of the voters already don’t have Alabama as the number #2 team and I think a big win by the Cowboys and the desire for there to not be a rematch could increase to the needed number of around 33%. 

Still, it is important to note that Oklahoma State would also need to jump Stanford and Virginia Tech.   If they remain behind those two teams in some of the polls, I would say that they would need to be ranked #2 in upwards of 50% of the polls. 

2)     What if LSU loses a close one to Georgia?

While I think this is very unlikely, it could happen; and, remember that Georgia is probably the 3^rd best team in the SEC right now.  The biggest impact of this result would be in the computers.  The most likely scenario would be for OSU to jump both LSU and Alabama and get the #1 computer vote (assuming a win over Oklahoma).  LSU would most likely fall to #2 and Alabama would fall to #3.  This would make it much easier for OSU to jump Alabama and would just require a little love from the voters.

The bigger question here is how would the voters end up voting? Who would receive the #1 votes in the polls? Would Oklahoma State be worthy of any #1 votes? If I were a voter, I would have a hard time ranking Alabama ahead of LSU because of the fact that LSU was required to play an extra game just because they beat Alabama.  I would also have a hard time keeping LSU at #1.  I think a loss to Georgia would expose both LSU and Alabama and should make some of the voters think about that #1 spot.  In the end I don’t think the polls would chance much and would hope that the voters would not punish LSU with a close loss to a good team. 

I would expect LSU to remain #1 in the polls and be followed by Alabama.  Stanford, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State would be very closely bunched at #s 3, 4 and 5.  Because of the way the BCS works, being ranked ahead of another team doesn’t really matter if you are close in votes.  

It would come down to the computers and like I said above Oklahoma State would be ranked #1 and would have a good chance of jumping into the National Title Game. I think this is the best case to avoid a rematch.

3)     What if Oklahoma State loses?

This would be an interesting scenario.  I don’t think that Stanford would warrant being voted ahead of Alabama because they would not have won their conference and I don’t think Virginia Tech could beat out Alabama in the computers.  In the end I think this means we are most certainly headed for a rematch. 

Even if LSU were to lose to Georgia, I don't think it would matter.  LSU and Alabama would maintain their ranking at #1 and #2 and Stanford and Virginia Tech will not have the computer ranking numbers to jump either of the SEC schools. 

SEC vs ACC: Week 13 Recap

After going 1-3 against the SEC yesterday, the ACC has once again proved its inferiority to the so-called “best conference” in college football.  In four games yesterday the ACC sent the teams with the 2^nd – 5^th best records in league play into battle against the top 4 schools in the very week SEC East. 

The only victory for the ACC was Florida State, who beat a bad Florida team who hasn’t beaten an FBS team with a winning record all season.  The real chance for the ACC to prove itself came with Clemson and Georgia Tech.  They both lost by a combined score of 65-30.  Then, the real smack in the face of the ACC came when Vanderbilt steam rolled Wake Forest at home by a score of 41-7. 

Sadly, while the ACC looked bad this weekend, the top of the SEC looked even better.  LSU and Alabama did a lot to impress the voters by rolling their conference rivals to pretty much sure up their rematch in the National Title Game.  I had been down on the offenses in the SEC all season, and thought that neither team would be able to score enough to blow out a good Arkansas team (for LSU) and a bitter rival Auburn (for Alabama).  I was wrong.  Their offenses seems to have clicked with Jordan Jefferson (LSU) limiting his interceptions and Trent Richardson (Alabama) boosting his Heisman resume.  I have concluded that they are the two best teams in the country.  However, I’m not sure that I would say that means that they should rematch in the NCG.  I’ll post about my thoughts on that later this week.

The only positive for the ACC continues to be the Virginia Tech Hokies.  Their model of consistency is the only thing keeping the conference ahead of the Big East.   Their big win over UVA is only the final straw in a stellar finish to the regular season.  They have won 7 straight games and will most likely be ranked #4 in the country after the BCS standings come out tonight. 

WHAT IF!? BCS Bowl Projections: Week 13

Here are my alternate BCS Bowl Projections:  First take a look at my SEC West Scenarios.  I really think that there are only a few ways in which we don’t have an all SEC West rematch.  I’ll outline the full results here for a few of those that I think are the most interesting.

Scenario 1

The only way in which anyone outside of the SEC West plays in the NCG is for Auburn to beat Alabama.  So let’s start off with that scenario.  I’ll also assume a victory of LSU over Arkansas.  All along I have been assuming a Houston loss as well. 

BCS National Championship:  #1 LSU vs. #2 Oklahoma State

Rose Bowl: #8 Oregon vs. #11 Wisconsin

Fiesta Bowl: #9 Kansas State vs. #4 Stanford

Sugar Bowl: #5 Alabama vs. #13 Michigan

Orange Bowl: #3 Virginia Tech vs. #? WVU

Scenario 2

I think one of the most interesting cases will be if Georgia wins the SEC, but we still have an all SEC championship game.  This is the only way in which we can have 3 teams from the same conference.   Here is how that would play out.  Let’s assume Alabama over Auburn and LSU over Arkansas.

BCS National Championship:  #1 LSU vs. #2 Alabama

Rose Bowl: #8 Oregon vs. #11 Wisconsin

Fiesta Bowl: #3 Oklahoma State vs. #5 Stanford

Sugar Bowl: #10 Georgia vs. #9 Kansas State

Orange Bowl: #4 Virginia Tech vs. #? WVU

Scenario 3

Here is my obligatory VT in the NCG scenario.  Auburn beats Bama, LSU wins the SEC, OU beats Oklahoma.   Just to note, I think that the Orange bowl would not choose Stanford for a second straight year and might choose the large fan base at Michigan to come down (Clemson is not eligible).

BCS National Championship:  #1 LSU vs. #2 Virginia Tech

Rose Bowl: #7 Oregon vs. #12 Wisconsin

Fiesta Bowl: #8 Oklahoma vs. #3 Stanford

Sugar Bowl: #4 Alabama vs. #9 Oklahoma State

Orange Bowl: #12 Michigan vs. #? WVU

Scenario 4

Here is my final scenario for the week.  What if VT loses to either UVA or Clemson? I think the still have a shot at an at-large.  They would probably need Michigan to lose to Ohio State just for good measure. Also of note, Houston would not need to lose.  Because the Fiesta Bowl choses first, they would not chose the higher ranked Big 12 school and choose between VT, Boise St, and Michigan St, leaving Houston to be chosen by the sugar bowl if necessary.  Yet, lets assume a Houston loss as well as normalcy in all other areas and here is how it would end up.

BCS National Championship:  #1 LSU vs. #2 Alabama

Rose Bowl: #7 Oregon vs. #12 Wisconsin

Fiesta Bowl: #8 Oklahoma State vs. #11 Virginia Tech  

Sugar Bowl: #4 Stanford vs. #8 Kansas State

Orange Bowl: #16 Clemson vs. #? WVU

SEC West Scenarios

I’ve gone through all the scenarios and have decided that the only way that we avoid a rematch in the NCG is for Auburn to beat Alabama.  So go out there WAR EAGLE it up this weekend!  (Arkansas would also need to lose a game, but they could lose to either LSU or Georgia).

Here is a quick handicap of different NCG scenarios and the SEC west:

LSU vs non-SEC - Auburn over Bama & LSU over Ark or UGA over Ark

LSU vs Arkansas - Auburn over Bama & Ark over LSU & Ark over UGA 

                           OR Bama over Auburn & Ark over LSU & UGA over Bama

LSU vs Alabama - Bama over Auburn & LSU over Ark

Alabama vs Arkansas - Bama over Auburn & Bama over UGA & Ark over LSU 

Here are more details on how I came to these conclusions.

LSU:

If LSU beats Arkansas they will go to the SEC championship game.  I am convinced this will essentially clinch a berth in the NCG even if they go on to lose to Georgia.  An interesting note about this is that this could lead to there being 3 SEC schools in the BCS (the one caveat to break the 2 per league rule is that if two non-champions are ranked 1-2).  I can’t believe that this would be a possibility but it’s something to keep an eye on.  If Auburn beats Alabama, LSU will play a non-SEC opponent in the NCG.

If LSU loses to Arkansas they will most likely fall below Alabama and Arkansas (voters put higher value on late season losses – that’s just the way it is).  Alabama would win the tiebreaker and head to the SEC championship game (assuming a victory over Auburn).  A win by Alabama in that game would mean an Alabama /Arkansas rematch in the NCG and a win by Georgia would mean an LSU / Arkansas rematch (again 3 BCS teams in the NCG).  If Alabama were to lose to Auburn, Arkansas would go to the SEC championship game, where a win by Arkansas would mean an LSU / Arkansas rematch.  A win by Georgia and we would avoid a rematch and LSU would a non-SEC opponent.

LSU can clinch a berth in the NCG with a win over Arkansas.  They can also earn a berth with a loss and an Auburn win or a Georgia win (in the SEC championship).   The only BCS bowl that LSU can go to is the National Championship.  

Alabama:

If Alabama beats Auburn and LSU beats Arkansas they will clinch a berth in the NCG against LSU.  However, if Arkansas beats LSU, Alabama would need to beat Georgia in order to go the NCG.  A win in that came would mean a rematch with Arkansas.  A loss in that game would mean an Arkansas / LSU rematch.

If Alabama loses to Auburn they will fall out of National Title contention (unless OSU, VT and Stanford all lose). 

Alabama will clinch a berth in the NCG with a win over Auburn and an LSU win; or, an Arkansas win and a win over Georgia.  Alabama would be a popular choice for the Sugar bowl if there isn’t an all SEC NCG. 

Arkansas

If Arkansas beats LSU and Alabama beats Auburn, Arkansas will clinch a berth in the NCG.  They would play Alabama if Alabama beat Georgia and would play LSU if Georgia beats Alabama.  If Auburn loses to Alabama, Arkansas would need to beat Georgia to be in the NCG.  If they lost to Georgia, LSU would face a non-SEC opponent in the NCG.

If Arkansas loses to LSU they will fall out of National Title contention and most likely out of a BCS bowl game. 

Arkansas can clinch a berth in the NCG with a win and an Alabama win; or, with an Auburn win and then beating Georgia in the SEC championship.  Arkansas will most likely not have a chance to attend another BCS bowl game because Alabama would be the more attractive option. 

BCS Bowl Projections: Week 13

Here are my BCS Projections for this week.  I’ll post again either later today or tomorrow with some alternate scenarios because that is really what everyone wants to think about at this time of the season.  But for now, here is the most likely scenario.  Well, and after last week I should probably call it the most unlikely scenario…

Note: After last week, Clemson and Oklahoma fell out of BCS games and Kansas State and Michigan climbed in. 

BCS Championship Game: LSU vs. Alabama

Assumptions:  LSU over Arkansas and Georgia and Alabama over Auburn. 

Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Wisconsin

Assumptions: Oregon over Oregon State and PAC12 South Campion and Wisconsin over Penn State and Michigan State.

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Michigan

Assumptions: Oklahoma State over Oklahoma and Michigan over Ohio State.

Sugar Bowl: Stanford vs. Kansas State

Assumptions: This is an interesting scenario here.  I think that Oklahoma will at least fall behind KSU if not fall all the way out of the top 14 with their loss to OSU, Houston will lose to Tulsa and all other SEC schools will be ineligible due to the 2 teams from a conference rule.  Also, I’m assuming KState over Iowa State and Stanford over Notre Dame.   And by the way… WHAT! Who saw this coming as a possibility a week ago! 

Just a note for my VT fans: If VT loses a game to either UVA or Clemson; they could still be in the running for an at large bid to this game or to the Fiesta Bowl.  However, seeing how far Clemson dropped, I'd be surprised if they stayed in the top 14.  Here is a site that agrees with me. 

Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. WVU

Assumptions: Virginia Tech over UVA and Clemson and WVU wins Big East.

Week 12 BCS Standings Projections

I just did a work up of the BCS standings and what I think will happen this week for the top 6 teams.  I assumed that the Harris poll would reflect the AP poll, which it has done pretty accurately over the past few weeks.  I also assumed that the computer rankings would view Oklahoma State the same way that they viewed Oklahoma last week.  In this process, I mocked all 6 computer rankings by looking at where they had all 6 of these teams last week (again with Oklahoma State getting the same treatment as Oklahoma received last week) making sure to include teams like Kansas State who has been ahead of VT and Stanford.  So here it is: 

	Harris/ AP	%	USA Today	%	AH	RB	CM	KM	JS	PW	%	Avg.
LSU	1500	1	1475	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1.000
Alabama	1440	0.96	1413	0.96	2	2	3	2	2	2	0.96	0.959
Arkansas	1376	0.92	1349	0.91	4	5	5	5	3	4	0.86	0.897
Oklahoma State	1206	0.80	1156	0.78	3	3	2	3	4	3	0.92	0.836
Stanford	1224	0.82	1222	0.83	8	4	9	11	7	7	0.73	0.791
Virginia Tech	1133	0.76	1242	0.84	7	8	7	7	15	6	0.75	0.782

As you can see, from this I’ll go ahead and agree with the experts that Stanford will end up jumping VT.  Hokie fans need to hope for the Harris voters to either keep Oklahoma State in front of Stanford or to also drop them to 6^th like the USA Today poll.  The problem arises if Stanford ends up being 2 spots ahead of Tech.