BCS Rankings: Pollsters Keep Auburn Ranked No. 23 After Loss to No. 1 LSU

Last season, when Week 8 was in the record books, were there any teams with a record of 5-3 still ranked in the BCS standings? The answer is no.

How about this season? Could a team with five wins and three losses actually remain ranked in the BCS? If you said yes, you're correct!

The Auburn Tigers dropped completely out of the AP Poll, as well as the USA Today/Coaches Poll; however, the struggling team somehow found enough favor with computer rankings to remain in the BCS at No. 23.

How can this be? How can a team with three losses in eight games be ranked in the BCS Top 25?

The answer is simple. The three losses were all sustained from teams currently ranked very high in all polls. Auburn's first loss came by way of a still undefeated Clemson team, which by the way, is currently ranked No. 5 in the BCS standings. Auburn's second defeat was to a one loss Arkansas team, currently ranked No. 10 in the BCS Standings. Most importantly, the most recent defeat was suffered at the hands of a team that currently leads the BCS standings: undefeated LSU.

Also coming into play are Auburn's victories over SEC opponents South Carolina and Florida. When Auburn defeated Florida, the Gators were a ranked team. The victory over South Carolina shines even brighter because the Gamecocks have a record of 6-1 and are currently ranked at No. 13 in the BCS.

Many will argue Auburn's victories over these two teams were not significant. How could they not be now that Auburn remains in the BCS with a rank of No. 23? Some say Florida and South Carolina are not good teams, but that argument is irrelevant in this case. Auburn defeated them both at a time when it was very relevant to computer rankings and polls.

Surely, Auburn fans—including myself—did not expect the Tigers to remain a part of the BCS rankings. I believed the third loss alone would drop them from the BCS. I also questioned as to whether or not Auburn would make it back to the BCS standings if indeed it dropped out.

Now that Auburn remains in the BCS Standings at No. 23, the questions have changed.