While the top 2 flip-flopped in the BCS rankings this week, the real action came behind them. The Oregon Ducks, on the back of a resounding win over the USC Trojans, jumped Auburn to take the No. 1 spot in the BCS. A look at the rest of the top 5 reveals a bit of a coup, however. If the big conferences have an automatic seat at the BCS table, the smaller conferences are elbowing their way into the picture.
TCU, Utah and Boise State round out the top 5. For those playing at home, that make two MWC and one WAC school hovering around that spot for the BCS national championship game. Neither the MWC or the WAC have an automatic bid into a BCS bowl game, so seeing these three teams this high in the rankings is a bit of a shock.
All three of TCU, Utah and Boise State are undefeated, but not for long. Take a picture of the rankings this week, because one of these teams will be gone in the next rankings. TCU and Utah take the field this Saturday — with ESPN’s College Gameday in tow — to determine the true pecking order in the MWC. The winner, on the strength of a quality win, could either stay ahead of BSU, in TCU’s case, or leapfrog them, in Utah’s case.
Either way, the BCS rankings have turned into Darwins for the smaller conferences, with only the strong surviving.