Boise State closes gap in BCS

Associated Press

Boise State has pushed closer to TCU in the latest BCS standings and seems primed to pass the Horned Frogs with one more big victory.

Oregon and Auburn were still at the top of the standings Sunday. Both were off last week, along with third-place TCU.

Boise State routed Fresno State 51-0 on Friday night, which helped the Broncos gain support in both the Harris and coaches’ polls. Boise State was already third in both polls, a spot ahead of TCU, last week. But coming off the blowout victory, the Broncos extended their points lead over the Horned Frogs.

Boise State’s computer ranking also went up this week to fifth for a BCS average of .8860.

TCU is fourth in both polls and third in the computer rankings with a BCS average of .8995.

What Boise State has going for it is the schedule. The Broncos play two more games to TCU’s one, including Boise State’s biggest Western Athletic Conference game of the season.

The Broncos play at Nevada, which is 19th in the latest standings, on Friday night. A victory against the high-scoring Wolf Pack should give Boise State another boost.

As for TCU, it finishes its regular season at lowly Mountain West Conference rival New Mexico.

The third spot in the BCS standings is important for two reasons. Both Oregon and Auburn have tough opponents left on their schedules and if either drops a game there’s a good chance that Boise State or TCU would become the first team from a conference without an automatic BCS bid to play in the BCS national title game.

Oregon plays Arizona and Oregon State. Auburn plays Alabama and South Carolina in the SEC championship game.

Even if the title game is out, the Broncos and Horned Frogs are competing for an automatic BCS bid that could be to the Rose Bowl.

The team that doesn’t get the automatic bid could get left out of the five BCS games altogether.

AP poll

Florida State moved back into The Associated Press football poll as Miami fell out, and for another week the Sunshine State avoided being without a team in the Top 25 for the first time since 1982.

With three of the top four teams taking the week off, the top of the poll was virtually unchanged Sunday. Oregon is No. 1, followed by Auburn, Boise State and TCU.

No. 5 Wisconsin flip-flopped with No. 6 LSU. No. 7 was Stanford, followed by Ohio State, Alabama and Oklahoma State at No. 10.

No. 22 Florida State (8-3) twice has dropped out of the rankings, but is back in after two straight victories.

Since the final 1982 poll, which included no teams from the state of Florida, the Hurricanes, Gators and Seminoles have combined for 10 AP national titles.

North Carolina State also moved back into the rankings at No. 21.