Bama, FSU Remain in Top 2 Spots in BCS

One previously undefeated national title contender was stunned on Thursday, but on Saturday, things went according to plan for the nation’s top two teams.

The Alabama Crimson Tide prevailed over rival LSU to remain No. 1 in the BCS standings for the fourth straight week, while the Florida State Seminoles also took care of business against Wake Forest to stay put at No. 2. Both teams – but mostly Florida State – also benefited from the Oregon Ducks losing to the Stanford Cardinal, an upset that caused the Ducks to slip from No. 3 to 6 and the Cardinal to climb a spot from No. 5 to 4.

The Ohio State Buckeyes – who were idle this past week – took Oregon’s place at No. 3 and the Baylor Bears jumped up to No. 5 after an impressive win over perennial Big 12 power Oklahoma. While OSU and Baylor are still unbeaten, it appears they’ll need more help in the form of big upsets to move up from here. Even taking their remaining schedules into consideration, just winning out probably won’t earn either of them a trip to the national championship game.

The one-loss Cardinal and Ducks could still be considered BCS title long shots, but with four undefeated teams left, it’s incredibly likely that at least two of them will end the regular season with unblemished records.

Of course, Alabama is in search of its third consecutive national championship, but unlike Florida State, has some challenges left on its slate, including an Iron Bowl match-up against in-state rival Auburn, which vaulted to No. 7 in the BCS after thrashing Arkansas this weekend. For the majority of the season, Alabama has resembled an absolute juggernaut, but the one time it appeared somewhat vulnerable was against the spread attack of Texas A&M in what eventually became a 49-42 Crimson Tide win. Auburn will test Bama will a similarly effective spread offense.

Most bettors are expecting FSU and OSU to run the table, but then again, there weren’t many who saw Oregon losing a regular season game either. As we’ve seen plenty of times in the past, crazy things can happen at the end of the college football season, so stay tuned because you won’t want to miss a snap as the championship picture becomes clearer down the stretch.