The Florida Gators’ 45-15 victory Saturday over their intrastate rivals, the Florida State Seminoles, on a rainy and slippery Bobby Bowden Field at Doak S. Campbell Stadium apparently provided coach Urban Meyer’s team with no love, at least in the eyes of the coaches’ poll and the computer rankings.
Oklahoma’s 61-41 victory over Oklahoma State in Stillwater – the fourth straight game in which the Sooners have scored 60 points, including a 65-21 mauling of then No. 2 Texas Tech in Norman that allowed Oklahoma to jump from No. 5 to No. 3 past Florida – moved coach Bob Stoops’ team past Texas into the No. 2 spot in this week’s BCS standings behind unbeaten Alabama.
What it also did, since the Sooners, Longhorns and Red Raiders finished tied in the Big 12 South Division, was provide Oklahoma a ticket to Kansas City this Saturday to play in the Big 12 Championship Game against North Division winner Missouri (9-3).
Texas, which knocked off Oklahoma on Oct. 11 in Dallas 45-35 but lost the top ranking when beaten by Texas Tech 39-33 on Nov. 1 in Lubbock, fell to No. 3 in the rankings despite finishing off an 11-1 regular season with a 49-9 Thanksgiving Night victory at home against Texas A&M.
With two-thirds of the BCS rankings determined by human votes from the USA Today coaches’ poll and the Harris Interactive Poll, it was the average of six computer rankings that once again felled Florida. The Gators remained No. 2 in the Harris Interactive Poll behind Alabama, their opposition Saturday in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. But the Gators dropped a spot to No. 4 in the coaches’ poll as Texas moved from No. 4 to No. 3.
In the coaches’ poll, a single point separated Oklahoma (1,397) from Texas (1,396) and Florida was 11 more points behind the Longhorns. In the Harris Interactive Poll, Florida was a solid No. 2 behind Alabama, 44 points ahead of third-place Oklahoma, which was six points better than Texas.
It is the computer rankings – Anderson & Hester, Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Massey, Sagarin and Wolfe – that continue to keep the Gators fourth in the rankings. Oklahoma’s computer average was No. 1, followed by Texas and Alabama. Florida’s computer average was only the sixth best, trailing Texas Tech (BCS No. 7) and Utah (BCS No. 6).
Florida was third, according to the Billingsley computer, rated fourth by Colley Matrix, sixth by the Anderson & Hester, Massey and Sagarin computers and seventh by the Wolfe computer.
It will be interesting to see what happens after this Saturday’s two championship games. If Oklahoma beats Missouri and Florida knocks off Alabama, will that provide enough momentum for the Gators to jump past Texas into the No. 2 spot, assuring them a BCS National Championship Game matchup with the Sooners on Jan. 8 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. Or will the Longhorns get a second chance to play a team it already has beaten this season?
Prior to the SEC Championship Game coaches’ press conference Sunday involving Urban Meyer of Florida and Nick Saban of Alabama, an SEC spokesman promoted the Crimson Tide-Gators matchup Saturday in the Georgia Dome as a showdown between the Nos. 1 and 2 teams according to the Associated Press poll. The AP poll, determined by media members, has no effect on the BCS rankings, but the SEC’s use of it also could be a way to hype the game and also bring attention to the conference, which seems to have taken a backseat to the Big 12 over the last month.
The final BCS rankings will be released Sunday night at 8 p.m. in a special show on FOX.
USA TODAY COACHES POLL
THIS WEEK
Team Record Points Pvs
1. Alabama (58) 12-0 1521 1
2. Oklahoma (2) 11-1 1397 2
3. Texas 11-1 1396 4
4. Florida (1) 11-1 1385 3
5. USC 10-1 1298 5
6. Penn State 11-1 1176 6
7. Utah 12-0 1153 7
8. Texas Tech 11-1 1116 8
9. Boise State 12-0 1044 9
10. Ohio State 10-2 999 10
LAST WEEK
Team Record Points Pvs
1. Alabama (56) 11-0 1518 1
2. Oklahoma (4) 10-1 1412 5
3. Florida (1) 10-1 1401 3
4. Texas 10-1 1370 4
5. USC 9-1 1288 6
6. Penn State 11-1 1157 8
7. Utah 12-0 1153 7
8. Texas Tech 10-1 1073 2
9. Boise State 11-0 1033 9
10. Ohio State 10-2 994 10
HARRIS INTERACTIVE POLL
THIS WEEK
Team Record Points Pvs
1. Alabama (107) 12-0 2815 1
2. Florida (4) 11-1 2619 2
3. Texas (1) 11-1 2575 4
4. Oklahoma 11-1 2569 3
5. USC 10-1 2378 5
6. Penn State 11-1 2177 6
7. Utah (1) 12-0 2111 8
8. Texas Tech 11-1 2090 7
9. Boise State 12-0 1937 9
10. Ohio State 10-2 1856 10
LAST WEEK
Team Record Points Pvs
1. Alabama (108) 11-0 2839 1
2. Florida (3) 10-1 2644 3
3. Oklahoma (2) 10-1 2598 5
4. Texas 10-1 2577 4
5. USC 9-1 2387 6
6. Penn State 11-1 2187 7
7. Texas Tech 10-1 2118 2
8. Utah (1) 12-0 2113 8
9. Boise State 11-0 1901 9
10. Ohio State 10-2 1827 10
BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES RANKINGS
THIS WEEK
Team Coaches Harris Comps Avg Pvs
1. Alabama (12-0) .9974 .9965 .9200 .971 1
2. Oklahoma (11-1) .9161 .9094 .9800 .935 3
3. Texas (11-1) .9154 .9115 .9400 .922 2
4. Florida (11-1) .9082 .9271 .8200 .885 4
5. USC (10-1) .8511 .8418 .7300 .808 5
6. Utah (12-0) .7561 .7473 .8500 .784 6
7. Texas Tech (11-1) .7318 .7398 .8700 .781 7
8. Penn State (11-1) .7711 .7706 .6700 .737 8
9. Boise State (12-0) .6846 .6857 .7400 .703 9
10. Ohio State (10-2) .6551 .6570 .5900 .634 10
LAST WEEK
Team Coaches Harris Comps Avg Pvs
1. Alabama (12-0) .9954 .9961 .9700 .987 1
2. Texas (11-1) .8984 .9042 .9600 .921 3
3. Oklahoma (11-1) .9259 .9116 .9000 .912 5
4. Florida (11-1) .9187 .9277 .7800 .875 4
5. USC (10-1) .8446 .8375 .7100 .797 6
6. Utah (12-0) .7561 .7414 .8600 .786 7
7. Texas Tech (11-1) .7036 .7432 .8900 .779 2
8. Penn State (11-1) .7587 .7674 .7300 .752 8
9. Boise State (12-0) .6774 .6670 .6300 .658 9
10. Ohio State (10-2) .6518 .6411 .5700 .621 10
ASSOCIATED PRESS MEDIA
THIS WEEK
Team Record Points Pvs
1. Alabama (62) 12-0 1620 1
2. Florida (3) 11-1 1516 2
3. Texas 11-1 1488 4
4. Oklahoma 11-1 1480 3
5. USC 10-1 1355 5
6. Penn State 11-1 1257 6
7. Utah 12-0 1216 8
8. Texas Tech 11-1 1197 7
9. Boise State 12-0 1103 9
10. Ohio State 10-2 1069 10
LAST WEEK
Team Record Points Pvs
1. Alabama (63) 11-0 1622 1
2. Florida (2) 10-1 1512 3
3. Oklahoma 10-1 1486 5
4. Texas 10-1 1482 4
5. USC 9-1 1352 6
6. Penn State 11-1 1238 7
7. Texas Tech 10-1 1212 2
8. Utah 12-0 1206 8
9. Boise State 11-0 1064 9
10. Ohio State 10-2 1043 10