NCAA College Football BCS Standings Week 13

NCAA College Football BCS Standings Week 13

There's no change in the order of the top seven, although Wisconsin and Boise State improved their scores. Boise went from 12th to 7th on Jeff Sagarin's system, but that one gets thrown out to determine the ultimate score (of the six computer systems, the top and bottom are discarded to determine the computer third of the rankings). Boise also made slight improvements in four of the other five computer rankings, and the net improvement moved them into a virtual tie with TCU for third overall. Similarly, Wisconsin pulled into a virtual tie with Stanford for 6th, but both still trail LSU by quite a bit for the #5 spot.

The cool thing about the upcoming week is that two of the top five teams are underdogs, one other is on the road against a ranked team, and one other is hosting a ranked team! Among those top five, only TCU has completely clear sailing. Here's the schedule and odds for the top seven, ranked by the likelihood that one of the top seven will lose:

5th-ranked LSU is an underdog on the road against #12 Arkansas. The spread varies from 3 to 4.5.

Auburn's #2 national ranking gets the Rodney Dangerfield treatment this week. They are underdogs by 3 to 4 points on the road against 11th-ranked 'Bama!

#4 Boise State is on the road against #18 Nevada, but no home sentiment seems to influence the Nevada oddsmakers, who have invested Boise as favorites by 14 to 15 points. A bet on Nevada to win outright would pay about 5-to-1

#6 Stanford is favored by 14-15 at home, and a wager on Oregon State to win outright would pay about 5-to-1.

#1 Oregon plays #22 Arizona, but they are at home and have been invested as heavy favorites. The oddsmakers simply don't take Arizona seriously. The spread ranges from 17.5 to 20, and a bet on Arizona to win outright would pay about 10-to-1.

#7 Wisconsin is expected to win easily. They are favored by 23-24.5 at home against Northwestern, and there's no line at all on a Northwestern win.

#3 TCU seems so safe that a loss would be a sign of the apocalypse. There's no line on New Mexico to win outright, and TCU is a 43 point favorite - and that game is in New Mexico!

I normally don't get emotionally invested in college football, but I have a preference this year. I don't want to see TCU play Boise in a consolation bowl, which would leave both teams untested. I'm rooting for Auburn to lose, which would mean that the top two bowls would be (1) Oregon against TCU or Boise, and (2) the remaining one of the TCU/Boise pair against one of the other major conference schools. Let's find out once and for all if TCU and Boise are really competitive with the big boys, and put that debate to rest.