BCS Standings Week 9: Oregon and 4 Teams the Computers Were Right to Disrespect

As soon as things went final in Wisconsin's loss to Michigan State and in Oklahoma's loss to Texas Tech, we all knew that the BCS standings for Week 9 were going to look a little different. The only real question is how differently the humans and the computers would evaluate things.

Sure enough, this week's rankings look decidedly different. And as they usually do, the voters and the machines disagree about a few teams. It won't be long now before their bickering leads to a Terminator-style apocalypse.

However, the computers' evaluations aren't entirely wrong. There are a couple of teams that they don't like, and I happen to think that they are justified in not liking them.

Let's count them down, shall we?

West Virginia (No. 25)

The Mountaineers barely, and I mean barely, made the cut in the Week 9 rankings, coming in at No. 25 with a BCS average of .073.

West Virginia has the voters to thank for that. ESPN reveals that the Mountaineers are No. 23 in the Harris Poll and No. 24 in the USA Today poll.

The computers have West Virginia at No. 30. This is to say that the computers would rather West Virginia not be in the Top 25 at all.

And it's easy to see why. The Mountaineers have played a pretty easy schedule, and have fallen flat in their two most challenging games, one versus LSU and the most recent at Syracuse.

You get the sense that the voters are giving West Virginia the benefit of the doubt because the Big East needs to be represented in the Top 25. The computers have no such concern, and this is a case where you wish the humans didn't either.

Arizona State (No. 21)

I realize I'm putting myself on Vontaze Burfict alert by including Arizona State on this list, but the truth is that the Sun Devils are lucky to be included in the Top 25 at this point.

This is because the computers are justifiably unsure of the Pac-12, and Arizona State is nowhere near the level of Oregon and Stanford. That's partially why they have ASU at an average ranking of No. 23.

The voters are a little more lenient with the Sun Devils, as they are No. 20 in both polls. I'm going to assume that they are fans of ASU's win over USC, a team that is still getting by on its reputation for good football.

Nebraska (No. 14)

If the computers had their way, Nebraska would be No. 21 overall. That speaks volumes for what the computers think of the Big Ten.

The computers' disdain for Nebraska is also a good example of how they couldn't care less about margin of victory. The humans have been swayed by Nebraska's various blowout wins, but all the computers see are wins over teams that should be getting blown out.

In other words, they're not impressed. Most people who have watched Nebraska this year should be similarly unimpressed.

Oregon (No. 7)

The Ducks can still recover from their season-opening loss to LSU, but the computers are going to make it tough on them for the time being. While both human polls have Oregon at No. 7, the computers have them at No. 12. One system has the Ducks as low as No. 14.

This is because the computers focus primarily on strength of schedule, and that's something the Ducks cannot boast about. Their only notable win since the LSU game came against Arizona State, and that came at home.

The only way Oregon is going to curry favor with the computers is if it beats Stanford on the road in mid-November. That, of course, will be easier said than done.

Week 9 BCS Standings

Rank	Team	BCS Average
1	LSU	.9702
2	Alabama	.9627
3	Oklahoma State	.9240
4	Boise State	.8302
5	Clemson	.8240
6	Stanford	.8124
7	Oregon	.6877
8	Kansas State	.6681
9	Oklahoma	.6642
10	Arkansas	.6581
11	Michigan State	.538
12	Virginia Tech	.534
13	South Carolina	.501
14	Nebraska	.439
15	Wisconsin	.433
16	Texas A&M	.428
17	Houston	.368
18	Michigan	.342
19	Penn State	.307
20	Texas Tech	.201
21	Arizona State	.163
22	Georgia	.159
23	Auburn	.131
24	Texas	.119
25	West Virginia	.073