The Michigan State Spartans were on a bye this past week, getting a break before they have to get ready for their final two regular season games, against Purdue and Penn State. Since the Spartans were on a bye, not much movement in the new polls was expected to begin, but after how the action played out with the top teams in college football, it doesn't look like they will have any chance whatsoever of moving up in the new rankings
At the top of last week's BCS standings was Oregon, which survived a close game against Cal, winning by a score of 15-13. Next in the rankings was Auburn, which turned a close game into a comfortable victory, beating Georgia, 49-31. TCU, the No. 3 team in last week's BCS standings, also was involved in a close game, beating San Diego State by only five points. Rounding out the top five, Boise State and LSU both won in blowout fashion, meaning none of the top five teams suffered defeats.
The same is true for the latter part of the top ten of last week's BCS standings. Stanford, the No. 5 team last week, beat Arizona State by four points. Wisconsin absolutely destroyed Indiana, winning by a ridiculous score of 83-20. Nebraska cruised to a 17-point win over Kansas. Ohio State scored 35 unanswered points en route to a 38-14 win over Penn State. Finally, Oklahoma State handed Texas another loss, winning, 33-16.
Michigan State was ranked 11th in last week's BCS standings, and I'd be pretty surprised if the Spartans aren't there again in the new rankings that come out on Sunday night. None of the teams ranked ahead of MSU lost this past week and two of the teams ranked right behind the Spartans were defeated. Alabama, the team one spot behind MSU, did beat Mississippi State, but the No. 13 Iowa Hawkeyes lost to Northwestern and the No. 14 Utah Utes were embarrassed by Notre Dame. I don't see any team being able to jump the Spartans just as I don't see the Spartans being able to jump anybody after being on a bye, so it looks like they will spend another week being ranked No. 11 in the nation in the BCS standings.