BCS Rankings: Oregon Will Surpass Stanford in Final BCS Standings

When the final BCS standings are announced tonight, the Oregon Ducks will surpass their Pac-12 foe, the Stanford Cardinal. Although the Cardinal have a better record of 11-1, the 12-2 Ducks will be claiming the higher spot with their Pac-12 championship win over the UCLA Bruins which will put them into the Rose Bowl.

The Ducks' two losses came at the hands of the No. 1 LSU Tigers and the USC Trojans. Although they lost to the Trojans, who stand at a record of 10-2, the Ducks shouldn't be penalized since the Trojans can't be represented in the BCS rankings due to their sanctions this season.

The Ducks also handed the Cardinal a huge 53-30 loss on the road, proving that they are the more dominate team in the Pac-12 North. Even without star running back LaMichael James, the Ducks were able to handle all their opponents easily.

There is no doubt that Andrew Luck and the Cardinal have been great this season, but the Ducks have been superior. They have wins over better teams, even though the Cardinal did beat Notre Dame this season. However, their loss to the Ducks at home will likely hurt them when the final rankings do come out.

The Cardinal will still likely be right behind the Ducks, and the two teams will stand to represent their conference. If the Trojans didn't have sanctions on them this season, they would likely be right up there with three Pac-12 teams in the Top 10.

The final spot doesn't really matter, as Oregon is a lock for the Rose Bowl since they won the Pac-12 championship. That victory will give them that guaranteed spot as well as a higher spot in the BCS rankings.