clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Pollin' It: The Second BCS Poll of the Season Hates the Big Ten

This weekend's UM-MSU game is going to decide who stays in the BCS rankings, and could have a big effect on Ohio State's overall resume at the end of the season.

By Zach Travis
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

BCS Harris Poll USA Today Computer Rankings
RK TEAM AVG PVS RK PTS % RK PTS % AVG A&H RB CM KM JS PW %
1 Alabama .9937 1 1 2590 .9962 1 1542 .9948 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 .990
2 Oregon .9517 3 2 2492 .9585 2 1483 .9568 2 3 2 1 2 4 3 .940
3 Florida State .9211 2 3 2386 .9177 3 1419 .9155 3 2 5 4 3 1 2 .930
4 Ohio State .8840 4 4 2301 .8850 4 1375 .8871 4 4 3 3 8 5 4 .880
5 Stanford .7918 6 6 2035 .7827 7 1182 .7626 5 6 4 5 4 6 6 .830
6 Baylor .7645 8 5 2130 .8192 5 1293 .8342 10 10 11 7 12 9 10 .640
7 Miami (FL) .7560 7 7 1977 .7604 6 1190 .7677 6 5 15 6 7 8 9 .740
8 Clemson .6687 9 8 1767 .6796 8 1064 .6865 10 11 7 11 10 11 8 .640
9 Missouri .6096 5 9 1510 .5808 10 834 .5381 8 9 9 8 5 10 7 .710
10 Oklahoma .6064 15 10 1475 .5673 9 933 .6019 9 7 6 9 11 13 12 .650
11 Auburn .6025 11 11 1453 .5588 11 804 .5187 7 8 18 10 6 7 5 .730
12 Texas A&M .4812 16 13 1364 .5246 14 758 .4890 14 16 19 13 13 18 14 .430
13 LSU .4630 13 12 1408 .5415 13 802 .5174 16 20 10 23 15 20 16 .330
14 South Carolina .4486 21 17 1043 .4012 16 627 .4045 12 12 8 18 9 16 13 .540
15 Texas Tech .3749 10 14 1093 .4204 15 673 .4342 17 18 14 16 22 22 21 .270
16 Fresno State .3669 17 18 965 .3712 18 542 .3497 15 13 25 14 NR 14 11 .380
17 Northern Illinois .3335 18 20 650 .2500 20 373 .2406 13 17 12 12 14 3 15 .510
18 Oklahoma State .3113 19 15 1081 .4158 12 803 .5181 29 NR NR NR NR NR NR .000
19 Louisville .2599 20 16 1056 .4062 17 579 .3735 29 NR 17 NR NR NR NR .000
20 UCLA .2338 12 19 683 .2627 19 432 .2787 21 25 20 NR 19 23 20 .160
21 Michigan .1875 22 21 528 .2031 21 309 .1994 21 14 22 17 24 NR 25 .160
22 Michigan State .1811 NR 23 391 .1504 24 237 .1529 18 23 NR 15 18 17 22 .240
23 UCF .1789 23 22 502 .1931 22 300 .1935 23 NR 16 25 NR 21 17 .150
24 Wisconsin .0993 NR 24 350 .1346 23 253 .1632 29 NR NR NR NR NR NR .000
25 Notre Dame .0928 NR NR 91 .0350 25 83 .0535 19 21 13 21 20 25 23 .190

Ohio State just beat the everloving crap out of Penn State and is still sitting in no man's land between the three leaders (all in the .900s) and the one loss challengers (below .800). THings aren't going to get any better either, as Ohio State faces down three of the Big Ten's worst teams in Indiana, Illinois, and Purdue. No resume builders there.

The biggest hope for Ohio State rests in this weekend's UM-MSU game. Buckeye fans probably should root for a Michigan loss (duh) in that MSU would likely walk into the championship game unbeaten in conference play (games against Nebraska, Minnesota, and Northwestern don't look all that scary now, eh?) and possibly somewhere near 15th nationally. It would legitimize even farther what would be the best win on Ohio State's schedule in the event OSU runs the table and is the odd-man out in the race for the BCS title game. A Michigan win does make Michigan stronger, but nobody really cares on a national level (almost losing to UConn and Akron will do that) and playing Michigan a second time in the BTCG probably hurts more than it helps.

Michigan's directive is still clear: win out and go to Indy. A loss to MSU effectively ends Michigan's title chances, and a win vs. MSU but a loss to OSU also likely means MSU goes to Indy. Yes, everything is shaping up to be terrible. That means one thing.

#BEATSTAEE

Next Up In Michigan Football