Although Stanford has no control over the other teams in the BCS standings at this point, it’s still difficult to not do a little scoreboard-watching in advance of their matchup with the Oregon State Beavers this after at 4:30pm pacific. Time is running out for everybody, so any loss would be absolutely crushing to their particular hopes for a BCS bowl berth.
Avinash discussed the LSU situation earlier this morning. If LSU were to lose, the Cardinal would climb above them in the standings and potentially secure that all important fourth position, thus guaranteeing themselves a BCS bowl berth (even if it’s not the Rose Bowl). This of course factors in last night’s epic Nevada upset of current No. 4 Boise State, thus moving Stanford up one spot already. And if you missed the Boise State-Nevada game, check for a replay of it on ESPN Classic. It might have been the game of the year.
However, even if Stanford wins and LSU loses, the Cardinal are not guaranteed that fourth spot. Wisconsin is currently one spot back of Stanford and trails them by .0075 points in the BCS rankings. This is significant because Wisconsin trailed them the week before by .0295. Wisconsin’s blowout of Michigan last week was valuable enough to slice right through that lead. Wisconsin hosts a solid 7-4 Northwestern team this week, while Stanford hosts 5-5 Oregon State. In looking at one computer ranking (Sagarin), OSU is 27th, while Northwestern is 56th. One would imagine a Stanford win would keep them ahead of Wisconsin, but you never know with all the different rankings involved. So, Stanford will likely keep an eye on Wisconsin this afternoon.
The other game to watch will be TCU versus New Mexico. TCU should destroy the 1-10 Lobos, but crazier things have happened. A TCU loss would likely ensure Stanford goes to the Rose Bowl. Personally I’m rooting for TCU to finish undefeated and not get into the title game as I think that would lead to some change in the BCS. I’m not holding my breath for change, but you never what will happen.
Whatever the case, today is an exciting day of football and scoreboard-watching.