Frogs push BCS envelope
By The Associated Press
Texas Christian moved a big step closer to busting up the BCS. The Horned
Frogs jumped up to sixth place in the Bowl Championship Series standings
Monday, the highest ranking ever for an outsider to the system.
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BCS
Standings (Nov. 10, 2003)
No./Team/Record/Rating/Prev
1 Oklahoma 10-0
1.68 1
2 Southern Cal 8-1 6.27 2
3 Ohio State 9-1
7.73 5
4 Louisiana State 8-1 13.17 7
5 Texas
8-2 17.05 12
6 Texas Christian 9-0 17.65 9
7 Tennessee 7-2
18.32 13
8 Michigan 8-2
19.29 8
9 Georgia
7-2 20.27 10
10 Washington State 8-2 20.49 15
11 Purdue
8-2 24.64 14
12 Miami (FL)
7-2 27.93 4
13 Florida State 8-2 28.95
3
14 Florida
7-3 32.10 NR
15 Virginia Tech 7-2 34.13
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"We understand those things are in the hands of other people," TCU coach
Gary Patterson said. "We feel privileged to be where we're at. We really
appreciate the respect around the country."
TCU needs to remain in the top six to guarantee a bid to one of the four
most lucrative bowls.
Oklahoma remained the runaway leader in the standings that will determine
which two teams will play for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl.
The Sooners (10-0) are No. 1 in both polls and the seven computers used in
the BCS.
Southern California leads the three one-loss teams hoping to challenge
Oklahoma for the title, followed by Ohio State and LSU.
The formula uses the AP media and USA Today/ESPN coaches' polls, seven
computer rankings, strength of schedule, losses and a bonus-point system for
quality wins.
The Sooners have a 1.0 for poll average, 1.0 for computer-rank average, 0.28
for strength of schedule, zero for losses and 0.6 bonus points for beating
fifth-place Texas for a 1.68.
USC was second with 6.27 points, followed by Ohio State at 7.73 and LSU at
13.17.
"With all this BCS and ranking stuff I really don't even know how they
figure it out or how they come up with it," LSU defensive end Marcus Spears
said. "For us it's just beat Alabama, Ole Miss and Arkansas and that's what
we're focused on."
The Buckeyes could pass the Trojans for the No. 2 spot even if neither team
loses because of their tougher schedule down the stretch.
Ohio State finishes the season against No. 11 Purdue and No. 5 Michigan,
while USC has games left against Arizona, UCLA and Oregon State -- who have
a combined record of 14-15.
The BCS was started five years ago to create a national title game without
playoffs. Champions of six conferences -- the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big
12, Pac-10 and SEC -- qualify for a BCS game, and two at-large teams are
selected to fill out the field.
No team from the five other Division I-A conferences -- Conference USA, the
Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt and Western Athletic -- has earned
that berth.
The Horned Frogs will be eligible if they finish in the top 12 and will
clinch a spot by being in the top six.
"A lot of teams have won all their ballgames, a lot of teams win their
conference. But very few times are you able to do something to make
history," Patterson said. "We have a chance to do that."
However, even if they win out they could drop because of their weak
schedule, ranked 87th among the 117 teams. TCU's remaining games are against
Cincinnati (5-4), Southern Mississippi (6-3) and SMU (0-10).
There has been pressure from schools outside the big six conferences to
improve access to the BCS bowls -- Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose.
TCU, a member of Conference USA, hopes that helps its cause.
"The story stands on its own," Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky
said. "They have a great football team. If they remain undefeated they will
be an unbelievably strong candidate. I will do anything I possibly can to
assure they get maximum consideration for BCS participation."
In the other noteworthy development, Tennessee moved past Georgia into
seventh place. The Bulldogs are ninth and Florida was 14th.
If the three teams finished tied for first in the SEC East, the
highest-ranked team in the BCS would play in the conference title game.
However, if the second-place team is within five places and won the
head-to-head matchup, it would get the bid.
That puts Georgia in the best position because of its win at Tennessee
earlier this year.
The other teams in the top 10 are eighth-place Michigan and 10th-place
Washington State.
The BCS standings will be released each week for the remainder of the
season.
The seven computer rankings are operated by Anderson & Hester, Billingsley,
Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, The New York Times, Jeff Sagarin's USA Today
and Peter Wolfe.
©2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02.23.07 10:48 AM
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