BCS Rankings 2011: Who Got Hosed in the Week 10 Standings?

When the BCS rankings were created they were supposed to bring closure to who the best teams are. Instead, each week we are left with more questions than answers.

They continue to neglect basic principles such as similar competition and strength of schedule. As you will find in this article, the BCS continues to punish those programs who want to deliver intriguing matchups and reward those who take the road of least resistance. 

Check out the people who screwed by the answer this week. 

The Pac-12 is not as top heavy as the SEC. However, one could certainly argue that they are no less than the second deepest conference in the nation. However, they only placed three teams in the Top 25.

Yet, the Conference USA placed two teams in the Top 25. Left out in the cold were USC and Washington.

The Washington Huskies have lost two games this season. However, those losses were to No. 4 Stanford and No. 9 Nebraska—and both were on the road.

Does a one-loss Conference USA team deserve to be ranked over a team from a BCS conference with two losses? Moreover, Southern Miss’ loss was to Marshall, not to two Top 10 teams. 

I will be the first to admit that I am not sold on Georgia Tech. However, ranking a three loss Auburn team ahead of them shows the inconsistency of the BCS. Georgia Tech has one less loss but also has a victory over Clemson who soundly defeated Auburn.

I believe that the Tigers have a bright future but you cannot deny their present resume. If they both had two losses, these rankings would still lack merit.

The Yellow Jackets beat Clemson by 14 points. Auburn was defeated by 14 points at the hands of Clemson. 

Many people believe that once you lose a ball game in college football, you lose your right to complain. However, I believe that the University of Oregon has a legitimate gripe.

The Ducks have won seven games in a row since dropping their season opener to No. 1 ranked LSU. In their games since that time they have been nothing short of dominant. Oklahoma, on the other hand, tasted defeat just two weeks ago to a team that is not ranked in the BCS Top 25.

They also came in this week behind Arkansas. The Razorbacks have needed back to back second half comebacks to defeat two anemic teams in Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. They also have one loss to a top ranked team in Alabama, but were manhandled far worse than the Ducks were by LSU. 

Each season, several top tier teams comprise the weakest schedule possible. This is a result of the BCS rewarding teams with weak schedules. This is a trend that will continue until the BCS makes changes.

This week’s rankings are a perfect example. The University of Houston moved up to 13^th in the national rankings. However, the Cougars do not have one quality team on their schedule.

Penn State does have one loss. However, it was a 16 point defeat to the nation’s No. 2 ranked team in Alabama. They also have an undefeated (5-0) conference record.

How long until teams start going independent to have an easier path to the championship?

Michigan continues to be disrespected in the most recent polls. Michigan is only the eighth ranked teams among one loss teams in the new BCS poll.

Michigan has been dominant all season, outside of their one loss on the road to Michigan State. Yet Kansas State was defeated by 41 points this week and remains ahead of Michigan despite identical records.

Houston is ranked ahead of the Wolverines despite their showcase victory is a close win against a 4-4 UCLA.

The lack of respect for the Wolverines is rankings are baffling. Usually the voters overrate the historical powerhouse teams.

Texas is pretty close to where they should be ranked. However, the computers ranking Wisconsin over the Longhorns seems illogical. Yes, the Badgers have a win over Nebraska. However, they have dropped two consecutive games including last week’s loss to Ohio State.

Texas and Wisconsin both have two losses. However, the Longhorns losses have come to No. 3 Oklahoma State and No. 6 Oklahoma.

While there resumes are similar, the two consecutive losses by Wisconsin should have led to a steeper drop. Consider this fact—only one of the six computers placed them in their Top 25.

One of the main criticisms of the BCS system is that too much emphasis is placed on paper stats. This week Southern Miss was ranked No. 25 in the nation with a record of 7-1. However, their one loss was to Marshall and barely escaped with a win versus LA Tech.

Southern Cal, on the other hand, is 6-2. However, they just took the No. 4 ranked team Stanford to triple overtime before falling into defeat.

I am sure if you polled a 1,000 college football fans on which is the better team, over 900 would tell you the Trojans are the superior teams—and they would be correct.