USC narrowly reclaims top
spot in latest BCS standings
BY RALPH D. RUSSO
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Texas had a short stay at No. 1 in
Bowl Championship Series standings.
USC jumped over the Longhorns on
Monday, returning to first place after a
one-week absence. The margin be
tween USC and Texas is still small —
only .0038 — though up from last
week when the margin separating first
and second was the slimmest in the
eight-year history of the BCS.
Third-place Virginia Tech gained on
the top two, but the Ttojans and Long
horns remain on course for a Rose
Bowl showdown.
The top five teams in the BCS are
unbeaten, with Alabama fourth and
UCLA moving up a spot to fifth.
USC has been No. 1 in The Associat
ed Press, coaches’ and Harris Interac
tive polls all season, but last week
Texas inched ahead in the BCS stand
ings because the computer rankings
favored the Longhorns. It marked the
first time in the past two seasons USC
was not No. 1 in the BCS standings.
The coaches’ and Harris polls each
make up a third of a team’s BCS aver
age. A compilation of six computer
rankings makes up the final third, with
best and worst grades thrown out for
each team.
Texas is tops in the computer
rankings again this week, but USC’s
55-13 victory over Washington State
helped boost the Ttojans’ computer
score enough for them to reclaim
first. The Longhorns rallied from 19
points down to beat Oklahoma State
47-28 Saturday.
USC’s BCS average is .9767. Texas is
at .9729, and for the first time the top
two teams in the BCS standings flipped
positions in consecutive weeks.
The top two teams in the final BCS
standings play in the Rose Bowl on
Jan. 4 for the national title.
Virginia Tech is now .0435 behind
second place. The Hokies get their best
chance to change the minds of voters
and up their computer grade on Satur
day at home when they face Miami,
sixth in the BCS standings.
Notre Dame (5-2), which needs
to finish the season with nine wins
and a top-12 finish in the BCS
standings to be eligible for the Sug
ar, Orange or Fiesta bowls, is 14th.
The Fighting Irish have moved up
one spot each of the last two weeks.
Oregon dropped two spots to
No. 13.
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» *
Basketball: Fouls, turnovers
keep game close in first half
Continued from page 5
The undersized Thunderbirds
showed why they are No. 3 among
Canadian universities with their
team’s speed and shooting ability.
Julie Little and Caitlin Haggarty
both had 11 points and cut Oregon’s
lead to two late in the game after
Oregon squandered a 41-35 lead go
ing into halftime. The Ducks’ nine
turnovers and 11 fouls helped keep
the game close, but Cicely Oaks and
Kristen Forristall of Oregon both
came off the bench in the second
half to slow the Thunderbirds of
fense and preserve the win.
British Columbia went 20-22
from the free-throw line, but its lack
of size proved its undoing. The
Thunderbirds may have ended with
just more than half as many re
bounds (25) as the Ducks (43), but
they were enough to make the
game uncomfortable for Smith.
“Even though they were an under
sized team, they are a very seasoned
veteran team who has already played
eight games this year,” Smith said.
“They played really well together,
which is what we expected.”
Sealing the win for Oregon was
the Ducks’ outside play, highlight
ed by senior guard Chelsea Wagner
and Carolyn Ganes. Wagner buried
two jumpshots late in the second
half to break the game open and
Ganes drained a three-pointer with
five seconds left in regulation.
Oregon ends preseason play be
fore hosting the Women’s Sports
Foundation tournament with an
other exhibition Sunday against
Northwest Sports at McArthur
Court. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
sadams@ daily emerald, com
018472
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