BCS Standings: Overrated Computer Teams That Will Soon Be Exposed

The Week 9 BCS standings were released on Sunday, and there aren’t too many surprises in this edition of the most controversial and convoluted ranking system college football has ever witnessed.

However, there are definitely a few teams that still make us scratch our heads when we get into the nitty-gritty of how this Top 25 system is baked. Let’s take a look at the computer portion of the polls, identify a few overrated teams and point out where they will fall in the upcoming weeks.

No. 5 – Notre Dame (No. 3 computer average)

The Fighting Irish presence here is a bit shocking, as it’s not the human polls that have overrated this team. It’s often been said that Notre Dame benefits from a media bias, but they are notably higher in the objective computer standings than USA Today’s coaches’ poll and the Harris poll.

However, ND is going to fall from grace sooner than later. The Irish have an impending matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners in Week 9, and there is no chance that their vaunted defense will hold up in that contest.

Oklahoma, No. 8 in the BCS rankings and No. 8 in computer average, has been absolutely dominant of late, scoring massive amounts of points against Texas and Kansas in the past two weeks. Unless the Irish offense unexpectedly heats up, they don’t have the firepower to hang with the Sooners.

 

No. 14 – Texas Tech (No. 9 computer average)

With a looming matchup against No. 3 Kansas State (the No. 2 team with the computers), the Red Raiders aren’t going to hold their lofty standing for long.

TTU barely scraped by then-No. 23 TCU in this past Saturday’s matchup, needing a triple-overtime thriller to finish the job. Considering that the Horned Frogs aren’t nearly as skilled as the K-State Wildcats, it’s going to be near impossible for this team to get lucky and pull out improbable victories two weeks in a row.

The Wildcats are for real and proved it with a 55-14 drubbing of West Virginia. Plus they notched a Week 4 victory over Oklahoma. Expect them to take care of business at home in Manhattan, Kan. this weekend.

No. 17 – Stanford (No. 11 computer average)

The Cardinal are safe for at least two weeks, as they have Pac-12 showdowns with Washington State and Colorado during that time period. However, they will soon hit a brick wall that includes back-to-back showdowns with No. 7 Oregon State and No. 4 Oregon.

Expect Stanford to climb even higher up the BCS rankings and continue to be overrated by the computers before facing the Beavers. Should it somehow manage to pull out an improbable victory, there is just no conceivable way that this team is able to knock out the Ducks.

While the Cardinal definitely make things interesting in the Pac-12, they simply won’t get it done against the class of the conference.

WEEK 9 BCS STANDINGS
1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Kansas State
4. Oregon
5. Notre Dame
6. LSU
7. Oregon State
8. Oklahoma
9. USC
10. Georgia
11. Mississippi State
12. Florida State
13. South Carolina
14. Texas Tech
15. Rutgers
16. Louisville
17. Stanford
18. Clemson
19. West Virginia
20. Texas A&M
21. Boise State
22. Michigan
23. Texas
24. Ohio
25. Wisconsin