Now This is a Plot Twist

Does Stanford Really Deserve to Rank Ahead of Oregon?

By Caroline Davenport

Since when is a one-loss Stanford team better than a one-loss Oregon team? I guess when that one-loss Stanford team beats undefeated Oregon, that’s when.

As many of you college football lovers know, Stanford knocked off No. 3 Oregon in a weekday battle-royal last Thursday. But what I find funny is that Stanford got so many “style” points for this game that they are somehow ranked better than the team they beat, and a fantastically-undefeated Baylor team.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Here’s how the standings look right now…

1. Alabama

2. Florida State

3. Ohio State

4. Stanford

5. Baylor

6. Oregon

This is crazy to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Stanford and everything they have done with its football program over the past couple years, but since when does a loss to a currently 4-5 Utah team place you higher in the BCS rankings than a loss to a top-five team.

Oregon had some missteps last week, and by missteps I mean “didn’t have an offense for the first three quarters of the game,” and Stanford exposed them. But for some reason, I still have faith in the Ducks.

Even though Stanford’s defense completely dominated the Ducks for the majority of the game, Heisman front-runner (and my main-man) Marcus Mariota still had an impressive game with 250 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. And that was all done in one quarter. Imagine the possibilities if Mariota and gang could actually get things together in the other three quarters. I would not be writing this if the Ducks could pull themselves together last week.

But they couldn’t.

Now here’s the plot twist. Oregon is playing those pesky Utah Utes this week. The same Utah Utes who beat Stanford in week seven. So lets say Stanford beats USC this week, and Oregon beats Utah…where does that put us?

I don’t think anywhere. As the BCS indicated this week: even if Oregon beats the team Stanford lost to in the middle of the season, I don’t think its ranking will change.

Maybe if Baylor loses to Texas Tech, or even say Florida State to Syracuse (counting on the upset!), Oregon and Stanford could be No. 5 and 6, respectively. But, there is no way Oregon will overtake Stanford at any point, unless they lose. The BSC has spoken, and at this point, they’ve set a precedent that cannot be changed. Do I agree with the ranking? No, I do not. But the experts have spoke. I just can’t wait to be an “expert” one day.

Remind me though. A team that is 103rd overall for passing yards, 28th overall for rushing, 52nd for points for and 18^th for points against is obviously better than a team that is 20th overall for passing yards, seventh for rushing, third for points for and tenth for points against.

That’s what the BCS is saying. But, remember, statistics aren’t wrong: people are.