| Show Reacts s In in Orderly r er Fashion a Ion Chris Dufresne Los Angeles Tunes Times Ti 11 S- S Order for now has has' been restored in in the Bowl Championship Series standings standings stand stand- ings and that order is Oklahoma and Miami Last weeks week's first release of the standings caused a uproar mini-uproar when Miami ranked No 4 in the media and coaches' coaches polls opened in second second second sec sec- sec sec- ond position ahead of Oklahoma No 2 in both human polls This weeks week's standings more accurately reflect popular sentiment sentiment sentiment sen sen- unless youre you're from Coral Gables Fla retained its firm finn grip gripon on the overall lead with a average of although the Trojans did slip from No 1 I to No 2 in the computer index Oklahoma is No 2 at followed by Miami at Rounding out the top 10 Auburn Florida State Utah Wisconsin California Georgia and Texas The top two teams in the final standings Dec 5 will advance to play for the national championship in inthe inthe inthe the Jan 4 Orange Bowl Utah's move from No 7 to No 6 was significant because the Utes would be assured of a major maJo bowl bow I bid if they finished sixth or higher in the final standings Utah is seeking to become the first team from outside the major-conference major power structure to earn a bid to a aBCS aBCS aBCS bowl Rose game Sugar Fiesta or Orange For geographical reasons Utah probably would end up in the Fiesta Bowl especially if that bowl lost its anchor tie-in tie Oklahoma to the Orange Bowl There also is a scenario in which Utah could end up in Pasadena should the Rose Bowl lose to the nation nation- title al-title game and another Pac- Pac 10 team is not available For Utah though holding on to the No 6 spot is no sure thing The Utes boast a powerful powerful powerful power power- ful No 5 computer ranking this week thanks to ence wins against schools Texas AM Arizona and North Carolina That computer computer computer com com- puter number could weaken though as the Utes finish the season against weaker opponents opponents opponents from the Mountain West Conference Oklahoma was able to jump ahead of Miami this week because the computer er ranking improved from No 5 to No 4 Miami is ranked No 1 in the computers but only No 4 in the AP poll coordinator Kevin Weiberg predicted last week the system would correct itself All the run dry-run models the ran indicated it would be very hard for a team ranked No 2 in both polls to finish No 3 in the standings It would require the No 2 team to have a computer ranking ranking ranking rank rank- ing of No 5 or worse That's exactly what happened happened happened hap hap- last week when Oklahoma opened at No 5 in inthe inthe inthe the computers I think its it's very unlikely that this would hold up through the balance of the season season season sea sea- son Weiberg said at the time This years year's formula has been simplified and weighted third one-third each for forThe forThe forThe The Associated Press media poll the USA Today coaches' coaches poll and the computer er component The final standings still could end up controversial controversial controversial sial should more than two teams finish the season unde unde- Six of the current top seven teams have yet to lose a game |
