Mark is the Week 7 Champion

It’s that time of year where the wailing and gnashing of teeth begins – the first release of the BCS standings. The BCS is around for this year and one more, and then we shall finally have a playoff. But this is the system that we have now, so let’s take a closer look at the standings to see what we can see.

This is the first time that #1 Alabama occupies the top spot in the first week of the BCS standings. After quite a few players moved on from a defense last year that finished first in practically every major statistical category, a lot of people thought the defense would regress this year. Alabama’s defense is currently first in practically every major statistical category. To finish first in every team defensive statistic for two straight years may very well be unprecedented.

The very first surprise comes with #2 Florida. It has been a meteoric rise for Florida from the beginning of the year, when they were ranked #23.  For what it’s worth, when Auburn won the national championship in 2010, they started #23, but it took them until week 10 – the third week of the BCS standings – to reach #2.  The computers love the Gators; they have the best computer ranking of all the teams. They also are the only BCS top-10 team to give two other teams their only loss (LSU and Texas A&M).

#3 Oregon doesn’t have to worry too much about missing out on a title chance due to the two schools above them; if they win out, they will go to the BCS Championship game for the second time in three years.  The computers don’t like the Ducks at all – their highest ranking in a computer poll is 3rd, and their second-highest is 6th – but they should get a good boost by playing Arizona State, USC, Oregon State, and the South winner in the Pac-12 Championship provided they win out. Oregon hasn’t scored less than 42 points in a game all year so far.

Other things of note:

• 12 teams remain unbeaten in Division I-A.  Two of them are not ranked, and strangely enough they’re both located in the same state.  Ohio State isn’t eligible due to NCAA violations, so the Buckeyes aren’t in the BCS standings despite being 7-0. The other team is the Ohio Bobcats, who toil away anonymously in the MAC.  Also 7-0, they’re best-known this year for beating Penn State in the first game of the post-Paterno era.
• Three teams in the Big East remain unbeaten (Cincinnati, Louisville, and Rutgers), the most of any conference.  None of them are getting a lot of love from the BCS, though; the highest-ranked of the three, Rutgers, is only 15th.
• The SEC has six of the top twelve teams (Alabama, Florida, LSU at 6, South Carolina at 7, Georgia at 11, Mississippi State at 12).  Due partially to Ohio State’s being ineligible, no Big Ten teams are in the BCS top 25. In fact, the conference is only ranked sixth in the current conference standings.
• Kansas State, currently ranked fourth, has its highest BCS ranking since 1998, when the Wildcats made it all the way to #3.  Notre Dame, ranked fifth, has its highest BCS ranking since 2002, when the Fighting Irish were #3 at one point.
• Thirteen of the teams ranked in the last BCS standings for 2011 are present in the first standings of 2012.

Congratulations to Mark, who won week 7 with 166 points. Bamarock and maestro tied for second place with 162 points.

Standings after seven weeks (dropping “two worst” weeks)…

There’s a giant slate of 21 games this week! A lot of points will be at stake, so this week is extremely important! The first game this week is Oregon at Arizona State, Thursday, October 18 @ 9 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!