Near-miss aside, the Oregon Ducks are still the No. 1 team in the Coaches’ Poll today for the fifth straight week. The Ducks escaped Berkeley with a 15-13 win over the Cal Bears last night. The Auburn Tigers stayed at No. 2 this week, picking up six first place votes to stay ahead of Boise State. TCU fell one spot to No. 4 after a close win over San Diego State. BSU picked up five first-place votes to TCU’s two. Wisconsin rounded out the top 5 after hanging 83 points on Indiana yesterday.
The Pac-10 had three teams in the Coaches’ Poll this week, a product of USC being ineligible for the poll. Stanford moved up one place to No. 8, one spot lower than the Cardinal’s ranking in the AP Poll. Arizona fell four spots to No. 23 after a second loss in as many weeks, this time at the hands of the USC Trojans. Future Pac-12 member Utah dropped nine spots to No. 24 after a loss to Notre Dame.
Tonight’s BCS rankings may bring a shake-up in the top 5 after the polls brought change this morning. Utah’s loss, a week after TCU beat them, could hurt the Horned Frogs’ strength of schedule. Oregon and Auburn are still locked in a close race for No. 1, though the two teams have distanced themselves from the pack as the year has progressed.