Oregon St. Edges Upward In Polls

Oregon St. edged upward in both the AP and Coaches' Sports Information Directors' Polls this week in the wake of their 77-3 demolition of Nicholls St. The Beavers crept up from #16 to #15 in the AP, and from #17 to #14 on the SID list.

This was somewhat of a surprise, given that Stanford didn't benefit from beating UCLA 27-24 in the Pac-12 Championship Game Friday night in the AP poll, where they stayed at #8, and only improved from #9 to #8 with the SIDs. Similarly, the Bruins didn't slip, staying at #17, though they did drop from #16 to #19 with the SIDs.

Oregon edged up a spot on both lists, climbing from #6 to #5 in the AP, and from #4 to #3 on the SID list, after Georgia fell to Alabama 32-28 in the SEC Championship Game, and fell behind Oregon, Florida, and in the AP, Ohio St.

The Crimson Tide remained #2 across the board, and if that carries through to the BCS rankings, will earn them as anticipated the berth opposite Notre Dame, which remains #1 everywhere, in the National Championship Game on January 7.

Boise St. buoyed up to #15 on the SID list, but is only #20 in the AP, after beating Nevada, and Northern Illinois, the other potential BCS buster, is at #16 in both polls. Utah St. at #18 & #20 (AP/SID), and San Jose St., at #24 on both lists, are the other western teams that are ranked, and do not appear to be likely to get close enough in the BCS to matter.

We'll have an update tonight when the final BCS rankings are released.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com