The new BCS standings were released on Sunday night. After dropping down a spot to 12th last week, Michigan State is now ranked 10th as it heads into the final week of Big Ten conference play. The Spartans jumped Alabama, which had passed MSU a week ago, as well as Nebraska, which lost to Texas A&M on Saturday.
Here is a full look at the new BCS standings:
- Oregon
- Auburn
- TCU
- Boise State
- LSU
- Stanford
- Wisconsin
- Ohio State
- Oklahoma State
- Michigan State
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Virginia Tech
- Texas A&M
- South Carolina
- Nevada
- Utah
- Arizona
- Florida State
- North Carolina State
- Iowa
- Mississippi State
Michigan State is not within striking distance of Wisconsin when you look at the numbers, so the Spartans' Rose Bowl hopes ironically come down to Michigan. The Wolverines must upset Ohio State for MSU to have a shot at the Rose Bowl. If not, MSU will be Orlando bound barring Wisconsin being upset by Northwestern, which would open the door for an at-large BCS bid.
Despite beating Wisconsin earlier this season, MSU is behind them because of the timing of everything. Had MSU beat Wisconsin last week, the Spartans would likely be bound for Pasadena or at least another BCS game with a victory over Penn State. The problem is voters don't look at the whole picture more often than not, which is why MSU is only 10th in the Harris Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll (MSU is 11th in the AP Poll, which is not a BCS component). Wisconsin is actually fifth in both of those rankings because its one loss came much earlier in the season compared to the defeats OSU and MSU suffered. The computer rankings don't give much love to MSU either, which is why the Spartans are only 10th rather than higher up like the Badgers.
It should be an interesting final weekend of football, and although nothing will be official for another two weeks if there is a three-way tie, next week's BCS standings will provide a pretty good idea of where these Big Ten teams will be spending their holidays.