BCS Rankings: Between TCU, Stanford and Wisconsin, Who Takes No. 3 Spot?
With Nevada trailing Boise State late in the fourth quarter in Reno on Friday night, it seemed that Boise was on its way to a victory, and seemingly a leapfrog of TCU in the BSC standings to become the new number three team in the nation.
A 17 point fourth quarter, a late game-tying drive, and two missed field goals later, Boise lost for the first time in two dozen games, falling out of BCS contention.
Fast-forward to a day later in Little Rock, and the Arkansas Razorbacks added to the BCS confusion when they upset then number five LSU behind three touchdowns and another 300 yard game from Ryan Mallett, leaving Les Miles feeling angry and empty inside.
Thankfully, for sanity's sake, the two top teams stayed on track as both won their respective games this week, although neither Oregon nor Auburn were without their scares.
That leaves a handful of teams vying for the number three spot in the nation; but realistically, the three main teams making a case for the highest spot that won't get you into the National Championship game are TCU, Stanford and Wisconsin.
Each of these teams has their own case to be the number three team in the nation, but only one can occupy the spot.
So, let's take a look at each team's case for the number three spot in the BCS, and break down each team's chances for securing that spot in the rankings.
Texas Christian University
1 of 4
Last week's BCS ranking: 3rd Avg: .8995
Noteworthy wins: Vs. Oregon State, Vs. Baylor, Vs. Air Force, @#20 Utah
Losses: None
The common sense bone in my body says that TCU should be sitting in the number three spot in the nation, but there are many things working against them at this point in the season.
For two straight weeks, they have played pedestrian teams, barely squeaking away from San Diego State with a 40-35 victory, and unimpressively clobbering a 1-11 New Mexico team.
Yes, they did just drub Utah three weeks ago, and they did so while holding a very good Utah offense to only 7 points. Unfortunately for TCU, they went out to lay an egg against Notre Dame a week later, scoring only three points against a mediocre Notre Dame team.
TCU has not lost a game, so they will argue that putting a team with a loss ahead of them just doesn't make sens. But they have a schedule that is working against them, and in the end, it will probably be their downfall.
Stanford
2 of 4
Last week's BCS ranking: 6th Avg: .7763
Notable Wins: Vs. USC, Vs. #21 Arizona, @ Notre Dame,
Losses: @#1 Oregon
Stanford has lost only to the number one team in the nation, something that will definitely help their case to be the number three team in the country.
They have manhandled teams this season, beating teams by fistfuls of points, and scoring in droves. They have scored fewer than 31 points only once this season, in a 17-13 victory against Arizona State.
The Cardinal has handed a loss to every team in the Pac-10 whose mascot isn't a duck, and have done so by dominating their opposition.
The voters will look at their domination of the Pac-10 in a better light than they will TCU's domination of the Mountain West, whether it is legitimate or not.
They have dominated the Pac-10, which is an automatic qualifying conference; but the Pac-10, like a few other of the AQ conferences this season, is having a down year, which is something that is certainly in the minds of voters and a factor in the strength of schedule formula programmed into the BCS computers.
Wisconsin
3 of 4
Last week's BCS average: 7th Avg: .7688
Notable wins: Vs. #8 Ohio State, @#24 Iowa, @ Michigan
Losses: @#10 Michigan State
The biggest thing that Wisconsin has going for them is that the Big Ten is a much stronger conference than the MWC or Pac-10 this season (arguably the second best, after the SEC.)
They have taken the last three weeks by the horns and showed the country that they are a force to be reckoned with, putting up a combined 201 points in that timespan, with 83 against Indiana, 48 against Michigan, and 70 against Northwestern.
They have one of the highest scoring offenses in the nation, averaging over 43 points per game this season against defenses that are, at least in the minds of the voters, daunting Big 10 defenses.
They have played tougher teams than either Stanford or TCU this season, and will have to ride that to the number three spot in the country if they were to leap over both Stanford and TCU.
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And The #3 Team Is...TCU
4 of 4
Texas Christian is undefeated. Stanford and Wisconsin are not. It is as plain and simple as that.
It is true that Stanford and Wisconsin have probably played tougher games this season, but TCU isn't playing the Little Sisters of the Poor, as much as Gordon Gee asserts that they are.
They have come in week in and week out and have, almost without exception, shown that they are one of the best teams in the country.
They have put up points in bunches, while keeping other teams from scoring with a vaunted defense that is comparable to any defense in the league.
TCU should be ranked number three in the BCS standings when the rankings come out later tonight, but either Wisconsin or Stanford should be able to challenge that in a bowl game, since it's likely that TCU will end up meeting one of these two teams in a BCS bowl--- of course, barring any BCS chaos that may arise over the next week.
And as football fans, let's all hope that we see another week of crazy games on tap.
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