POLLS: BCS out, Beavs are ranked 8/8/11/10

OREGON STATE WAS ranked No. 8 in the debut BCS rankings released on Sunday night. In other polling, Oregon State is No. 8 in the AP (not part of the BCS rankings), No. 11 in the USAToday Coaches’ poll and No. 10 in the Harris poll. As for the computer, they like Oregon State

The BCS ranking is comprised of three parts -- the Harris Poll, the USAToday Coaches’ Poll and six computer rankings -- and each counts for one-third of a team's BCS ranking.

Ahead of Oregon State (5-0) in the BCS rankings, from No. 7 through No. 1 are:

South Carolina (6-1), LSU (6-1), Notre Dame (6-0), K-State (6-0), Oregon (6-0), Florida (6-0) and Alabama (6-0).

Behind the Beavs, Oklahoma (4-1) and USC (5-1) round out the BCS top ten.

THE COMPUTERS LIKE the Beavs more than do the Coaches’, Harris or AP polls – Oregon State is No. 5 according to the average of the six computer rankings. Oregon meanwhile is one slot behind at No. 6.

Oregon State’s computer rankings are:
Anderson & Hester: 4
Richard Billingsley: 9
Colley Matrix: 4
Kenneth Massey: 5
Jeff Sagarin: 7
Peter Wolfe: 5

NOTABLE: The BCS rankings were released on ESPN on Sunday night and the network gave an awkward, spirited and preemptive defense against any complaints that the first BCS rankings were suspect. Oft-mentioned in support of that argument was the contention that as the year goes along, the BCS rankings would absolutely “work themselves out.”

Um, okay, because there has never been any BCS controversy over the years… there has always been general agreement every year that the top two rated BCS teams who play in the national title game have always been the proper choices. (cough)

For a table of the BCS top ten rankings from ESPN, CLICK HERE