The Week 13 USA Today/Coaches Poll was just released and the top eight remains the same, leaving Stanford at No. 8. It is significant to note that Stanford did gain several key votes in the poll. Last week Stanford was eighth with 1,066 points and was 41 points back of No. 7 Ohio State. This week, Stanford received 1,112 points and is now only four points back of Ohio State. Next weekend Stanford hosts 5-5 Oregon State while the Buckeyes host a 7-4 Michigan that received two votes this week. Barring a Wolverines upset, I don't see Stanford gaining any more ground on Ohio State, and instead will likely lose some ground if both teams win.
The only big change sees Nebraska drop from No. 9 to No. 15 after losing to Texas A&M. That bumped up the previously 10-15 teams up one spot. I'd imagine we'll see a similar change in the BCS rankings given the wins for everybody else. However, it will be interesting to see if Stanford gains ground LSU in the BCS standings, and if so, how much ground they gain. Every point received in the human polls counts towards the BCS standing so they have already received some benefit. LSU received the exact same number of points last week and this week so Stanford will gain some kind of ground with that.
Full poll is as follows:
- Oregon
- Auburn
- Boise State
- TCU
- Wisconsin
- LSU
- Ohio State
- Stanford
- Oklahoma State
- Michigan State
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Virginia Tech
- Nebraska
- Missouri
- South Carolina
- Texas A&M
- Nevada
- Arizona
- Florida State
- Utah
- North Carolina State
- Iowa
- Mississippi State