BCS Standings: Why We Should Wait Until Bowl Season To Be Angry

I spent most of this Sunday watching NFL games, checking up on my fantasy teams and clicking through Bleacher Report articles. It was a good, classic Sunday.

Then, towards the very end, I realized that a new version of BCS standings would be released.

I found the Week 11 rankings and immediately searched for Alabama, curious to see how far they would drop following their 9-6 loss to No. 1 LSU Saturday evening. Optimistically, I started at No. 10 and worked my way up.

Virginia Tech at No. 10, Clemson at No. 9, Arkansas at No. 8, Oregon at No. 7—wait did I read that right? Arkansas dropped a spot after manhandling previous No. 9 South Carolina?

And the school that jumped them? Oregon, which blew out unranked Washington. Surprising, but unless you're No. 2 or No. 3, one spot in the BCS standings isn't going to make that much of a difference. Where was I? That's right, looking for Alabama.

At No. 6 we've got Oklahoma and at No. 5 there's Boise State. Poor Broncos. Still undefeated and still unloved by the BCS. I suppose if there was one undefeated team Alabama might hold the edge over, it would be Boise State. There's no way they'll be ranked over Stanford or Oklahoma State though.

No. 4 Stanford.

Wait, what? Let's read that again.

No. 4 Stanford.

I'm going to check the number to make sure that isn't last week's ranking.

No. 4 Stanford. Previous ranking: No. 4.

Let's see—No. 3 in the Harris Poll, No. 2 in USA Today Coaches' Poll and, ah, here we go—No. 7 in the computer rankings. Yikes. The computers liked Boise State better.

Alabama falls in at No. 3, Oklahoma State takes over No. 2 and LSU remains No. 1.

I read over the top 10 one more time and lean back in my seat. Alabama, a team that missed numerous opportunities to beat LSU, is 8-1 and ahead of an undefeated Stanford team because the computers didn't reward a school with students who have SAT scores three times better than their football team's .770 computer rating. What is this? Did the computers get caught up in Suck for Luck too?

As a West Coast guy, I'm pretty steamed at this point. Then I take a step back and realize that it's only Week 11.

Yes—Stanford fans, Boise State fans, Arkansas fans—it's only Week 11. There are two BCS rankings that matter—those released in Week 14 and those released following the conclusion of the BCS National Championship Game.

Stanford, you still have a game against No. 7 Oregon to prove to critics that you're undefeated because you're good—not because you've had an easy schedule to this point. 

Boise State, you've been through this drill before and you know that your early win against Georgia won't get you into the title game without a little help. But hey, a Stanford loss to Oregon, an Oklahoma State loss to Oklahoma and a Houston loss somewhere along the way, and suddenly you're one of two undefeated teams.

There's still a chance, Broncos. Don't give up hope and play a sloppy game like you did against Nevada at the end of last year.

Arkansas, your season ends against No. 1 LSU.  Pull off the upset in that game and you will cause a triangle of hell for the BCS. One-loss LSU beat Alabama, one-loss Alabama beat Arkansas, and one-loss Arkansas beat LSU. There's still time to get revenge on the system that is overlooking you in Week 11.

My point with all of this is, it's easy to get angry with the BCS rankings too early. Most of us already hate the BCS because we want a playoff to decide our champion. Questionable rankings are the last thing we need.

But as I said before, there are only two weeks in which the rankings matter. Week 11 is not one of them. Neither is Week 12 and neither is Week 13.

All of the top schools have big matchups or conference championship games to make statements in before the Week 14 rankings come along. A lot can happen in three weeks, and pretty soon, our complaints about Week 11's rankings will be as irrelevant as our complaints about Week 10's rankings.

So just keep it in perspective, get pumped for the season-ending rivalry games and wait until Week 14 to throw your computer against the wall, punch your television or break down crying on your back porch.

Best of luck to your fantasy teams as well.