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After claiming an impressive road victory over the USC Trojans, the Oregon Ducks gained important ground in the latest USA Today Coaches' Poll and now lead the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats by 29 points.
The distance between the Wildcats and Ducks in the poll, which accounts for 1/3 of the BCS formula, is important, as the Ducks continue to trail the Wildcats in the BCS standings. Last weekend the BCS No. 4 Ducks trailed the BCS No. 2 Wildcats.
With the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in between the two squads, most BCS projections predict that the Ducks will be able to close the gap on Kansas State, and move up to No. 3 in tonight's new BCS standings.
Overall, the Ducks gained eight points in the poll, while Kansas State gained four, giving the Ducks a net gain of four points as they try to make up the difference in the BCS.
Here's the entire USA Today poll:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | First Place Votes | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 9-0 | 1475 | 59 | 1 |
| 2 | Oregon | 9-0 | 1399 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Kansas St. | 9-0 | 1370 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Notre Dame | 9-0 | 1289 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Georgia | 8-1 | 1218 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 | Florida St. | 8-1 | 1147 | 0 | 7 |
| 7 | Florida | 8-1 | 1091 | 0 | 8 |
| 8 | Clemson | 8-1 | 1013 | 0 | 9 |
| 9 | LSU | 7-2 | 998 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 | Louisville | 9-0 | 940 | 0 | 10 |
| 11 | South Carolina | 7-2 | 880 | 0 | 11 |
| 12 | Oregon St. | 7-1 | 807 | 0 | 13 |
| 13 | Oklahoma | 6-2 | 800 | 0 | 12 |
| 14 | Texas A&M | 7-2 | 736 | 0 | 16 |
| 15 | Stanford | 7-2 | 705 | 0 | 15 |
| 16 | Nebraska | 7-2 | 513 | 0 | 21 |
| 17 | Texas | 7-2 | 485 | 0 | 22 |
| 18 | Louisiana Tech | 8-1 | 363 | 0 | 23 |
| 19 | UCLA | 7-2 | 333 | 0 | NR |
| 20 | Rutgers | 7-1 | 264 | 0 | 25 |
| 21 | Northwestern | 7-2 | 234 | 0 | NR |
| 22 | USC | 6-3 | 224 | 0 | 17 |
| 23 | Mississippi St. | 7-2 | 186 | 0 | 18 |
| 24 | Boise St. | 7-2 | 126 | 0 | 14 |
| 25 | Toledo | 8-1 | 108 | 0 | NR |