The conclusion of week seven of the 2011 college football season means the first BCS standings of the season will be released Sunday night. As we have waited and waited for these rankings, the arguments will intensify regarding not only who will end up in the national title game and the various BCS bowls, but also the basic fairness of the BCS. We have some firming up at the top of the BCS projections, while some of the middle teams lost their shot.
Week seven saw the top teams remain largely in place, while significant upheaval occurred starting at the end of the top ten. No. 8 Clemson barely avoided a huge upset in Maryland thanks to a 21-point fourth quarter comeback. After that, all hell broke loose with No. 10/11 Michigan, No. 12 Georgia Tech, and No. 15/16 Illinois all getting knocked off by low or unranked opponents.
The Stanford Cardinal held their ground with a 44-14 blowout of the Washington State Cougars up in Pullman, Washington. After an ugly first half, the Cardinal opened things up in the second half and pulled away easily. They will likely not move up in the rankings, but they continued to hold steady as they enter a tougher portion of their schedule. They host Washington, travel to USC and then two weeks later host Oregon in a make-or-break portion of their schedule.
With Saturday in the books, here is an attempt to project the first BCS rankings. While awaiting the latest polls, I took a look at last weeks various BCS polls and computers, which include the USA Today/Coaches Poll, Harris Interactive Poll, Sagarin Ratings, Anderson & Hester, Billingsley Report, ColleyMatrix, Massey Ratings, and Wolfe Ratings.
The Wolfe Ratings are not yet available and the others are a week old, but based on how things might change, here are my week eight BCS rankings projections:
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. Boise State
5. Oklahoma State
6. Wisconsin
7. Stanford