The Associated Press is no longer a part of the BCS rankings formula, but that doesn’t mean we won’t include them in our weekly look at where Bay Area teams are looking in the standings. The latest AP poll has been released and it has the Stanford Cardinal ranked seventh in all the land. It’s a shame the AP poll is no longer included as this spot is higher than both its replacement, the Harris Interactive College Football Poll (No. 8), and the USA Today/Coaches Poll (No. 9).
The AP dropped out a few years back in part because of disagreements over the BCS and how it operated. In looking over the poll there are a few differences but nothing of real significance. Although these human polls certainly have subjective weaknesses, there are generally not a ton of huge differences between the AP, Harris and Coaches polls. Compare this to the various computer ratings that generally are all over the place.
Here’s the full AP poll this week:
1. Oregon
2. Auburn
3. TCU
4. Boise State
5. LSU
6. Wisconsin
7. Stanford
8. Ohio State
9. Nebraska
10. Michigan State
11. Alabama
12. Oklahoma State
13. Iowa
14. Arkansas
15. Utah
16. Virginia Tech
17. Mississippi State
18. Arizona
19. Oklahoma
20. Missouri
21. Nevada
22. South Carolina
23. Texas A&M
24. Florida
25. Central Florida