BCS Rankings: Week 10 Stock Report for Every BCS Top 25 Team

The Week 10 BCS standings are out, and after seeing two more Top 10 teams fall from the unbeaten ranks this past weekend, as expected, there are a few major shakeups.

Clemson and Kansas State both took a tumble into the teens after getting exposed as pretenders on Saturday, but Stanford was the big winner of the weekend as the Cardinal jumped Boise State and took the No. 4 spot, which really helps out their national title hopes.

With the big battle between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama set for this Saturday, the BCS standings are sure to change once again next week, but for now, let's have a look at whose stock is up and whose stock is down.

1. LSU Tigers

Stock: Stable

LSU had the week off to prepare for its mega-matchup against Alabama on Nov. 5.

With an 8-0 record and five wins over ranked opponents, the Tigers have the best resume in college football through two months of play, but obviously, going on the road and beating an unbelievably strong Alabama team is going to be a tremendous challenge.

If the Tigers can roll over the Tide in Tuscaloosa next weekend, they’ll be on the fast track to make it to New Orleans to play for college football’s biggest prize.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide

Stock: Stable

Alabama has relied on the best defense in college football, the powerful running of Heisman candidate Trent Richardson and the efficient play of first-year starting quarterback A.J. McCarron to sprint out to an 8-0 record.

Like LSU, the Tide also had the week off to prepare for next week’s showdown, and you better believe Nick Saban, Kirby Smart and the rest of the Alabama brain trust will have this team ready to battle on Saturday.

If McCarron can keep up his steady play, the Tide will have a great opportunity to beat the Tigers and take over as the No. 1 team in the country.

3. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Stock: Stable

If it were up to just the BCS computers, the Oklahoma State Cowboys would likely be ranked No. 1 in the country right now, but as it stands, they’ll have to settle for the third spot once again, even after destroying Baylor 59-24 on Saturday.

Still, the Cowboys will control their own destiny from here on out, and if they can win their final four games, including the Bedlam matchup against Oklahoma on Dec. 3, they'll get to the big game.

The defense finally stepped up on Saturday, and if the Cowboys can get similar play out of the unit for the next four games, they have the type of high-powered offense to beat everybody left on their schedule.

4. Stanford Cardinal

Stock: Up

Stanford’s superstar quarterback Andrew Luck came up big when he needed to, leading the Cardinal to a wild 56-48 victory over the Trojans in triple overtime on Saturday.

As if we needed anymore reason to gush over Luck, right?

The future No. 1 pick’s dream season continues, and he’s now distanced himself from the rest of the Heisman pack and has put his team in position to make a run at not just a Pac-12 Championship, but possibly a national title as well.

5. Boise State Broncos

Stock: Stable

Like LSU and Alabama, Boise State took the week off to rest up for the stretch run of the season.

The Broncos are 7-0, and they’re actually getting some surprising love from both the voters and the computers, but the rest of their remaining schedule, besides TCU, isn’t all too overwhelming.

Boise State has a great opportunity to finish undefeated, but with four undefeated teams now sitting in front of them, Kellen Moore and the rest of the smurfs are going to need some help if they want to finally break through and make it to the national title game.

6. Oklahoma Sooners

Stock: Up

A week ago, everyone was ready to throw Oklahoma to the side after an embarrassing home loss to Texas Tech, but the Sooners came out and rebounded by destroying Kansas State 58-17 on the road on Saturday, which helped bump them up three spots in the BCS standings.

There’s no questioning Oklahoma has one of the most talented rosters in the country, but with that loss on their resume, it’s going to be hard for the Sooners to climb back into title contention. However, if teams in front of them keep falling, they will only keep climbing.

If they don't slip up, Bob Stoops' boys still have a great chance to win the Big 12 and make it to a BCS bowl.
 

7. Arkansas Razorbacks

Stock: Stable

For the second week in a row, an early kickoff on the road threw Arkansas out of whack, as the Razorbacks stumbled out of the gate against Vanderbilt, before catching a few lucky breaks to survive and come away with a 31-28 win.

It’s hard to trust this Arkansas team just yet, but with the type of offensive firepower the Razorbacks possess, you’ve got to respect what they’re capable of bringing to the table on any given Saturday.

After two consecutive scares on the road, Arkansas will be happy to head back to Fayetteville for three straight home games.

8. Oregon Ducks

Stock: Stable

Oregon fans were glad to see their injured quarterback-running back tandem of Darron Thomas and LaMichael James return against Washington State on Saturday, but they probably weren’t happy to see Thomas toss two early interceptions.

Regardless of the mistakes, the Ducks still cruised to a 43-28 victory to improve their record to 7-1 on the year.

Oregon may only have one win over a ranked opponent under its belt, but this team is still as explosive as any other squad in the country, and the Ducks have what it takes to win another conference championship this season.

The Nov. 12 showdown between Oregon and Stanford is shaping up to be one of the best games of the season.

9. South Carolina Gamecocks

Stock: Stable

It wasn’t pretty, but South Carolina managed to get the job done at Tennessee, beating the Vols 14-3 on Saturday night.

The Gamecocks obviously miss star running back Marcus Lattimore, and quarterback Connor Shaw is still getting his feet under him, but the fact is that Steve Spurrier’s squad still controls its own destiny in the SEC East.

South Carolina is now 7-1, but Arkansas, Florida and Clemson are all waiting around the corner.

We’ll get to see what the Gamecocks are really made of over the next month, as they try their best to make it back to Atlanta.

10. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Stock: Up

Everyone seemed to forget about Nebraska after the Cornhuskers got thumped by Wisconsin back in Week 5, but here they are at 7-1, ready to make a run to the top of the Big Ten Legends Division.

After holding Michigan State to just three points on Saturday, the Blackshirt defense is beginning to look like the type of unit we were expecting before the season started.

While the passing game is still a work in progress, Nebraska’s rushing attack is one of the most potent in the country, and it’s one that the Cornhuskers could rely on to get them all the way to Indianapolis.

11. Clemson Tigers

Stock: Down

For the last few weeks, we’ve been waiting for Clemson to pull a Clemson and finally fall apart, and this weekend looked like the perfect spot for a letdown (there was a reason the spread was only four points).

The Tigers fell right into the trap, as they got swarmed by the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta on Saturday night.

Clemson’s national title dreams may have been dashed with a 31-17 loss to Georgia Tech, but Tajh Boyd, Sammy Watkins and the rest of the Tigers still have what it takes to win the ACC Championship if they can find a way to regroup and gain back the momentum they had.

12. Virginia Tech Hokies

Stock: Down

How does Virginia Tech keep getting so much love from the computers?

Virginia Tech has beaten exactly zero ranked teams this year, played down to its competition on a regular basis and failed its only true test of the season in an embarrassing home loss to Clemson.

The Hokies looked like they were sleep-walking during their 14-10 win at Duke on Saturday, but even so, they still held on to their No. 12 ranking.

It’s hard to say they’ve actually earned it, though.

13. Houston Cougars

Stock: Up

Case Keenum threw his hat into the Heisman ring with a sensational nine-touchdown performance in a 73-34 blowout win over Rice last Thursday.

It’s just the latest convincing victory for the 8-0 Cougars.

Sure, you can bash Houston for playing weak competition, but if the Cougars can run the table (and with their explosive offense there’s a good chance they will) they might have an outside shot of stealing a BCS bowl bid.

14. Kansas State Wildcats

Stock: Down

Talk about getting exposed. Many were questioning if Kansas State was truly a top-10 team, and on Saturday we got a definitive answer.

No!

The Wildcats got run out of their own stadium, as Oklahoma rolled up 690 yards of offense on its way to a 58-17 blowout win.

Bill Snyder’s squad was a nice early surprise story, but it’s quite clear that Kansas State is not a true contender in the Big 12 this year.
                   
 

15. Michigan Wolverines

Stock: Stable

Michigan proved that this isn’t the same team that fell apart after a loss to Michigan State last year, losing six out of its last eight games.

After suffering a tough loss to in-state rival Michigan State back in Week 7, the Wolverines took a week off to refocus, and they came out and really took it to Purdue on Saturday, beating the Boilermakers 36-14.

The Wolverines are now 7-1 on the year and are fully alive in the race to the Big Ten Championship game.

Let’s see how they fare in two consecutive road games at Iowa and Illinois before we get too excited, though.

16. Penn State Nittany Lions

Stock: Stable

The snowy conditions may have slowed down the Penn State offense, but neither the weather nor the Illinois defense could stop the Nittany Lions from coming up with the deciding touchdown to give coach Joe Paterno his record 409th win with a hard-fought 10-7 victory on Saturday.

Penn State has now quietly climbed to 8-1 on the year behind the play of one of the strongest defenses in the country.

Although it haven’t gotten much publicity this season, Paterno’s squad is right in the thick of the Big Ten race, and if the offense can step it up, this team has the pieces to compete for a trip to Pasadena.

17. Michigan State Spartans

Stock: Down

After two highly emotional victories over Michigan and Wisconsin over the past two weeks, many expected Michigan State to have a letdown performance at Nebraska on Saturday and the Spartans did just that, only mustering up three points in Lincoln.

The loss drops Michigan State to 6-2 on the year, and it puts the Spartans in the passenger seat on the drive to win the Big Ten Leaders Division.

The Spartans will now need Nebraska to lose a game if they want to make it to the Big Ten Championship game this year.

18. Georgia Bulldogs

Stock: Up

After starting off the year 0-2, Georgia has rallied to win six straight games and helped calm the building storm that was surrounding head coach Mark Richt.

After beating Florida down at the Cocktail Party on Saturday, the Bulldogs are now real players in the SEC East, and they’ve got the type of schedule that sets up well for a big late-season run.

19. Arizona State Sun Devils

Stock: Stable

The Arizona State Sun Devils took advantage of an extremely weak Colorado team and waltzed their way to a 48-14 victory at home on Saturday night.

The win now moves their record up to 6-2, and it makes them the favorite to win the Pac-12 South Division.

QB Brock Osweiler has been one of brightest breakout stars of the 2011 season, and the junior signal caller is really starting to take his team to the next level.

The Arizona State defense, which ranks 29th in the country in scoring defense, isn’t too shabby either.

20. Wisconsin Badgers

Stock: Down

After seeing its national title hopes come to an end on a freaky final fluke play against Michigan State in Week 8, Wisconsin suffered another heartbreaking defeat at Ohio State when Braxton Miller hit an improbable 40-yard bomb in the final seconds to hand the Badgers their second straight loss.

Emotionally, you have to figure it’s going to be tough for Wisconsin to recover from two devastating defeats. 

21. Texas Longhorns

Stock: Stable

If you were over were wondering what the best way to turn around your season after two straight losses was, the answer is actually pretty simple.

Play Kansas!

The Longhorns put up 590 total yards of offense and held the Jayhawks to just an embarrassing 46 total yards of output in a 43-0 blowout, which helped the team regain some confidence and move up to 5-2 on the year.

22. Auburn Tigers

Stock: Stable

After getting their doors blown off by LSU in Week 8, the Auburn Tigers came back and clawed their way to a 41-23 victory over Ole Miss at home on Saturday.

You’ve got to give credit to Gene Chizik’s crew. Most of the outside expectations for this team were pretty  low, but here they are, sitting at 6-3, with a chance to ruin both Georgia’s and Alabama’s seasons.

23. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Stock: Up

After two bad road losses to Virginia and Miami in consecutive weeks, Georgia Tech came up with a huge 31-17 victory over previously No. 5-ranked Clemson on Saturday night, which both knocked the Tigers out of the national title hunt and put the Yellow Jackets right back into the race for the ACC Coastal Division.

Georgia Tech has a huge Thursday night matchup with Virginia Tech on Nov. 10, which will likely decide who makes it to the conference championship game.

24. West Virginia Mountaineers

Stock: Stable

West Virginia desperately needed a rebound win after a disastrous performance against Syracuse in Week 8, and the Mountaineers managed to survive the snowy elements and a fired up Rutgers team to come away with a much-neeeded 41-31 victory in Piscataway.

West Virginia now looks like the favorite to win the Big East once again, but coach Dana Holgorsen will still have to find a way to get through Louisville, Pittsburgh and, most importantly, Cincinnati if he wants to get his team to a BCS bowl in his first season.

25. Southern Miss Golden Eagles

Stock: Up

After knocking off UTEP on Saturday, Southern Miss moved its record to 7-1, which earned the Golden Eagles their first ever BCS ranking.

Larry Fedora and his team have to be pumped about the ranking, but they’ve still got some work to do to figure out how to beat Houston and win the Conference-USA Championship.