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College Football Rankings, Week 14: Stanford Climbs To No. 5 In USA Today Coaches Poll, Should Boost BCS Standings

The first college football rankings related to the new BCS standings was released as the USA Today/Coaches Poll made some changes in week 14. Stanford was the biggest beneficiary this week as they climbed from No. 8 to No. 5 courtesy of Boise State and LSU both getting upset this weekend. More importantly for the Cardinal is the fact that Wisconsin climbed only one spot to No. 4 and Stanford leapt Ohio State, pushing them back to No. 6.

In the BCS rankings, Stanford was ranked ahead of both Wisconsin and Ohio State. By gaining more ground than both of those schools it should only boost their BCS rating this week. Wisconsin did gain some points due to the Boise State and LSU losses, but Stanford made a bigger game and should benefit accordingly.

There is only one week left in the 2010 regular season but it would require some decent upsets for there to be much change in the Coaches Poll next week. Oregon travels to Oregon State for the annual Civil War while Auburn hosts South Carolina in the SEC championship game. Oregon is unlikely to lose to Oregon State, although a rivalry game could bring out a crazy upset. The more likely upset would be South Carolina dropping Auburn. The Tigers struggled immensely this weekend against Alabama and the Ol' Ball Coach could surprise them. An Oregon upset would hurt Stanford's BCS chances since Oregon dropping out of the national title game would move them into the Rose Bowl. However, an Auburn loss would actually improve Stanford's chances of reaching the Rose Bowl since TCU would likely move into the national title game.

Full poll is as follows:

  1. Oregon
  2. Auburn
  3. TCU
  4. Wisconsin
  5. Stanford
  6. Ohio State
  7. Michigan State
  8. Arkansas
  9. Oklahoma
  10. Boise State
  11. Virginia Tech
  12. LSU
  13. Nebraska
  14. Missouri
  15. Oklahoma State
  16. South Carolina
  17. Nevada
  18. Texas A&M
  19. Alabama
  20. Florida State
  21. Utah
  22. Mississippi State
  23. Northern Illinois
  24. West Virginia
  25. Central Florida