The Stanford Cardinal received some help with their BCS aspirations this past week when the previously undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide fell 9-6 in overtime to the LSU Tigers. The loss, coupled with Stanford's win over Oregon State, has allowed the Cardinal to move its way up the SB Nation Blogpoll Top 25 rankings and take over the third spot.
Stanford moves up one spot from its fourth-place ranking a week ago and has the potential to climb even higher this week. Stanford plays the sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks at home this Saturday and an impressive win could give the Cardinal an edge over second-ranked Oklahoma State.
In a similar manner, Oregon can better its ranking and break into the Top Five with a win over Stanford. A Ducks victory would place Oregon in contention with Alabama as the nation's top one-loss team. A victory could allow the Ducks to move all the way up to fourth.
Other notable Pac-12 moves in include USC (up three spots from 22nd last week to 19th this week) and Arizona State (ranked 20th last week, out of the Top 25 completely this week following a 29-28 loss to the UCLA Bruins).
This weekend's Oregon-Stanford game will have huge implications on both the BCS and Blogpoll rankings. If all goes well for Stanford, the Cardinal could find themselves ranked third or higher in both polls.