Oregon Football: UCLA Win, Showdown at Stanford Will Be Enough to Stay at No. 2

There wasn't much suspense heading into the release of the second BCS poll of the season. After being No. 3 last week, the Oregon Ducks surpassed Florida State to move into the No. 2 spot in this week's poll.

The two teams were separated by just .003 points in the initial BCS poll. Were the Ducks to beat a Top 25 team, they could be expected to overtake the Seminoles no matter what Florida State did on the field.

The experts were proven right with the release of this week's BCS standings. Despite jumping out to a 35-0 first quarter lead against North Carolina State on Saturday, en route to a 49-14 win, the Seminoles fell to No. 3.

Meanwhile, Oregon's standing with the BCS computers improved on the strength of a 42-14 win over No. 20 UCLA. After trailing by a slight margin last week, Oregon not only jumped the Seminoles but established a sizable gap between it and Florida State.

Last week	BCS	Harris Poll	Coaches Poll	Computers	Next Game
No. 2 Florida State	.9348	No. 3 (2,401)	No. 3 (1,410)	No. 1 (.980)
No. 3 Oregon	.9320	No. 2 (2,520)	No. 2 (1,482)	No. 4 (.880)
This week
No. 2 Oregon	.9517	No. 2 (2,492)	No. 2 (1,483)	No. 2 (.9400)	@ No. 5 Stanford (Nov. 7)
No. 3 Florida State	.9211	No. 3 (2,386)	No. 3 (1.419)	No. 3 (.9300)	vs. No. 7 Miami (Fla.) Saturday

If they continue winning, the Ducks should have no problem finishing at No. 2. The gap between the Ducks and the Seminoles is likely to fluctuate over the next week. The Seminoles will host No. 7 Miami on Saturday and a win could possibly vault them past idle Oregon. 

The biggest jump would likely occur in two weeks as Oregon takes on No. 5 Stanford in a nationally televised Thursday night battle. The game, which will likely determine the Pac-12 North champion is the second of a rare Thursday night doubleheader that will feature four Top 10 teams.

	No. 2 Oregon	No. 3 Florida State
Nov. 2	Bye	vs. No. 7 Miami (Fla.)
Nov. 7	@ No. 5 Stanford	N/A
Nov. 9	N/A	@ Wake Forest (4-4
Nov. 16	vs. Utah (4-4)	vs. Syracuse (3-4)
Nov. 23	@ Arizona (5-2)	vs. Idaho (1-7)
Nov. 30	vs. Oregon State (6-2)	@ Florida (4-3)
Pac-12/ACC Championship game's possible opponents	No. 20 UCLA (5-2) or Arizona State (5-2)	Miami (Fla) 7-0 or Virginia Tech 6-2

Before the No. 2 Ducks and the No. 5 Cardinal hit the field, No. 10 Oklahoma will travel to No. 6 Baylor in a game that could shake up the BCS standings. By the time the Saturday games happen, the BCS will have already been heavily impacted by Thursday's results.

On the heels of a blowout win over then No. 12 UCLA, it won't matter what goes on at every other spot in the rankings if the Ducks can beat the Cardinal.

A November road win at the No. 5 team in the country, coupled with a Pac-12 Championship Game win over a ranked foe, would keep the Ducks among the top two in the only BCS standings that matter.