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Stanford climbs to No. 6 in BCS poll
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(U-WIRE) STANFORD, Calif. ? After beating two top-five teams, Oregon and UCLA, back-to-back in the nation?s toughest conference, Stanford leapfrogged eight spots in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings to No. 6, with 14.57 points (like in golf, lower scores are better).
After leaping to No. 10 in the Associated Press poll and No. 13 in the ESPN / USA Today coaches poll, the Cardinal (5-1) was boosted by its strength of schedule, computer rankings and quality wins over the Bruins (6-1) and the Ducks (7-1), ranked ninth and tenth, respectively, in the BCS.
The Cardinal?s climb from No. 14 to No. 6 in the BCS was the most substantial move of the week.
The BCS formula consists of five parts. The poll average, computer average, strength of schedule points and every loss (Stanford has one) are added together.
Finally, quality-win points, which are determined on a sliding scale such that a victory over the top-ranked BCS team is worth 1.5 points while a victory over the 15th BCS team is worth 0.1 points.
After all of the points are tallied and deducted, the teams are ranked from the lowest to the highest scores.
Though the human element of the BCS only gave the Cardinal an 11.5 average, the average of six out of eight computer rankings (minus the highest and the lowest) gave the Cardinal 3.33 points.
With the nation?s toughest schedule, the Cardinal was rewarded with only .04 points. After adding a point for Stanford?s only blemish, the Cardinal received a 1.3 bonus-point deduction, 0.7 points for defeating No. 9 UCLA and 0.6 points for defeating No. 10 Oregon.
The Pac-10 Conference has five teams in the top 15 for the second consecutive week. Besides Stanford, UCLA and Oregon, Washington (6-1) is No. 11 and Washington State (7-1) is No. 12.
With a victory against Washington next week, Stanford can realistically expect to move up to No. 4, making the Cardinal a major player in the national championship hunt.
If the Cardinal can come out of Husky Stadium this weekend with a win, it will then play against Arizona, California, Notre Dame and San Jose State.
Though the Cardinal may slip in its strength-of-schedule ranking with its last four games, it will have a legitimate opportunity to move up in the polls, granted that Stanford continues to win.
After Nebraska (9-0) beat Oklahoma (7-1) last weekend 20-10, the Cornhuskers and Sooners flipped spots to No. 1 and 2, respectively. Miami (6-0), hampered by a weak schedule, moved up a spot to No.3 and was followed by No. 4 Michigan (6-1) and No. 5 Texas (7-1).
Entering the BCS for the first time this season are No. 13 BYU (8-0) and No. 14 Purdue (5-1).
Anthony Lee, The Stanford Daily (Stanford U.)