Seventh 2013 BCS Rankings: Ohio State Holds Off Auburn For No. 2

The BCS just wont go down without a fight. Just more than a week ago we might have been wondering what would happen if we ended the season with four undefeated teams. Now we’re trying to piece together what just happened and explaining how a one-loss team is on the verge of making BCS history.

Official BCS Rankings
Rank	Team
1	Florida State Seminoles
2	Ohio State Buckeyes
3	Auburn Tigers
4	Alabama Crimson Tide
5	Missouri Tigers
Scroll down for more

After Alabama’s reign over college football was seemingly cut down by Auburn things got a bit wonky in the BCS.

Of course, this opened up the No. 1 spot for the first time this season, and fresh from an in-state victory over Florida, Florida State was more than happy to claim its spot atop these seventh BCS rankings.

Then things got interesting. Undefeated Ohio State was supposed to cruise to the No. 2 spot tonight. After all, no undefeated AQ conference team has ever been leapfrogged for a top-two spot in the BCS standings by a once-beaten team. But No. 3 Auburn made the No. 2 Buckeyes sweat for the second position tonight. And both teams will sweat for another week while we chew on the scenarios.

Auburn has Missouri to prepare for, Ohio State has Michigan State on its plate. Wins from both squads next weekend might set up a final chase for the No. 2 spot that will rival any of the best controversy the BCS has had to offer. We can sit back and enjoy it.

The rest of the BCS falls mostly into place as expected. Alabama claims No. 4 with SEC title game-bound Missouri rounding out the top-five. Oklahoma State, in the driver’s seat for a AQ bid for the Big 12, is in at No. 6, and Pac-12 title game combatant Stanford is in at No. 7. South Carolina, Baylor, Arizona State and Michigan State are setting themselves up for BCS eligibility while Oregon and rounds out the top 12.

Northern Illinois is just a win away from a second straight BCS buster bowl bid after entering the top 14 and seeing Fresno State lose at the most inopportune time.

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It’s all come down to one week. Not sure if we’re ready to say goodbye without one final blowout weekend.  Be sure to stay tuned to BCS Know How and @BCSKnowHow throughout the coming week for all the latest analysis and news.

Here’s the seventh BCS rankings of 2013:

BCS Standings Week Seven — December 1st

Rank	Team	BCS Score
1	Florida State Seminoles	.9948
2	Ohio State Buckeyes	.9503
3	Auburn Tigers	.9233
4	Alabama Crimson Tide	.8539
5	Missouri Tigers	.8428
6	Oklahoma State Cowboys	.7629
7	Stanford Cardinal	.7069
8	South Carolina Gamecocks	.7037
9	Baylor Bears	.6623
10	Michigan State Spartans	.6529
11	Arizona State Sun Devils	.5833
12	Oregon Ducks	.5321
13	Clemson Tigers	.5201
14	Northern Illinois Huskies	.4812
15	LSU Tigers	.4213
16	UCF Knights	.3838

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Some thoughts:

• BCS Know How’s Projected BCS vs. Actual BCS Rankings
  • 1-9 great, 10 not good, 11-12 good.

BCS Computer Rankings Week Seven: Ohio State Is A Force

Ohio State vaults to No. 2 in the BCS computer rankings after topping Michigan and watching Alabama fall by the wayside. Auburn is up to No. 3 in the computers and No. 3 in the BCS.

Here are the rankings of the six BCS computers:

Six BCS Computer Standings – BCS Week Seven (December 1)

Rank	Anderson	Billingsley	Colley	Massey	Sagarin	Wolfe
1	Florida St.	Florida St.	Auburn	Ohio St.	Florida St.	Florida St.
2	Ohio St.	Ohio St.	Ohio St.	Florida St.	N. Illinois	Ohio St.
3	Auburn	Auburn	Missouri	Auburn	Ohio St.	Auburn
4	Missouri	Alabama	Florida St.	Alabama	South Carolina	Alabama
5	Alabama	Missouri	Arizona St.	N. Illinois	Oklahoma St.	Missouri
6	Arizona St.	Stanford	Stanford	Arizona St.	Auburn	Arizona St.

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And the aggregate BCS computer rankings:

BCS Computer Rankings Aggregate – BCS Week Seven (December 1)

Rank	Team	Share of Vote
1	Florida State Seminoles	.990
2	Ohio State Buckeyes	.960
3	Auburn Tigers	.920
4	Alabama Crimson Tide	.840
5	Missouri Tigers	.830
6	Arizona State Sun Devils	.770
7	Stanford Cardinal	.740
8	South Carolina Gamecocks	.700
9	Oklahoma State Cowboys	.690
10	Northern Illinois	.670
11	Michigan State Spartans	.620
12	Baylor Bears	.600

Projected BCS Standings: Auburn’s Play For A Title Game Spot in Seventh Standings of 2013

The death knell for the BCS, perhaps most appropriately, will likely be one of controversy. The system would have it no other way.

Projected BCS Rankings
Rank	Team
1	Florida State Seminoles
2	Ohio State Buckeyes
3	Auburn Tigers
4	Alabama Crimson Tide
5	Missouri Tigers
Scroll down for more

Auburn’s stunning victory over Alabama likely clinched at least a somewhat controversial end to the BCS’s reign over college football as the Crimson Tide’s spot atop the college football world is now over.

Where, then, does that leave the BCS when the seventh standings of 2013 come out Sunday? Obviously for the first time this year, Alabama will not be No. 1. That honor will fall to Florida State, making its way back to the top of the BCS for the first time in what seems like ages.

Then it gets interesting. Clearly, Ohio State surviving its rivalry meeting with Michigan will be a huge boon to its national title game hopes. But Auburn’s victory over the previously unassailable Alabama could mean a huge swing of support in the Tigers’ direction. Who will land at No. 2 this week?

It’s likely Ohio State, as the voters will give the benefit of the doubt to the undefeated and long-revered Buckeyes. But Auburn will lurk at No. 3. And with a chance to clinch the SEC title next weekend and the growing tradition of SEC champs playing for the BCS title, Auburn’s not out of this yet. A win over likely BCS No. 5 Missouri next weekend paired with a close Ohio State victory in the Big Ten title game could cause the chaos we’ve come to expect.

After Missouri, it’s all battling for the at-large and automatic BCS bowl bids, including Northern Illinois’ quest for a second-straight bowl game bid and Clemson, Oregon, Michigan State and Baylor angling for eligibility and spots. Plus, the auto-bids given to the champs of the six AQ conferences.

Just one more BCS standing after Sunday, ever. The end is close!

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Remember, we’ll be here to take you through all of it, starting with tomorrow’s releases of the human polls, computer rankings and BCS. Follow along all day @BCSKnowHow and here to stay up to the second with projections, mathematical breakdowns of the computers, human polls and everything in between. Then follow along this week as we break down scenarios and implications.

Here’s what the BCS standings will likely look like when they are released tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN:

Projected BCS Standings – BCS Week Seven (December 1st)

Rank	Team
1	Florida State Seminoles
2	Ohio State Buckeyes
3	Auburn Tigers
4	Alabama Crimson Tide
5	Missouri Tigers
6	Oklahoma State Cowboys
7	Stanford Cardinal
8	South Carolina Gamecocks
9	Baylor Bears
10	Clemson Tigers
11	Michigan State Spartans
12	Arizona State Sun Devils

BCS Computer Rankings Week Seven: Notre Dame And Florida Close Out Years With Computer Love

More to come.

Here are the rankings of the six BCS computers:

Six BCS Computer Standings – BCS Week Seven (November 25)

Rank	Anderson	Billingsley	Colley	Massey	Sagarin	Wolfe
1	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Notre Dame
2	Florida	Oregon	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida
3	Kansas St.	Alabama	Stanford	Alabama	Oregon	Georgia
4	Georgia	Kansas St.	Oregon	LSU	Georgia	Alabama
5	Alabama	Georgia	Alabama	Georgia	Stanford	South Carolina
6	Oregon	Florida	Kansas St.	Oregon	Kansas St.	Stanford

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And the aggregate BCS computer rankings:

BCS Computer Rankings Aggregate – BCS Week Seven (November 25)

Rank	Team	Share of Vote
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	1.000
2	Florida Gators	.960
3	Alabama Crimson Tide	.870
4	Georgia Bulldogs	.860
5	Oregon Ducks	.850
6	Kansas State Wildcats	.790
6	Stanford Cardinal	.790
8	LSU Tigers	.700
8	South Carolina Gamecocks	.700
10	Oklahoma Sooners	.650
11	Texas A&M Aggies	.620
12	Nebraska Cornhuskers	.580

Seventh BCS Rankings of 2012: BCS Busters Make The Story While Notre Dame Holds No. 1 Into Season’s Final Weekend

With the drama seemingly run dry in the previous two weeks, the next to last BCS rankings of the season holds few surprises — but there’s plenty to be found if you look close enough.

Official BCS Rankings
Rank	Team
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2	Alabama Crimson Tide
3	Georgia Bulldogs
4	Florida Gators
5	Oregon Ducks
Scroll down for more

That simple equation we’ve been talking about — Notre Dame and the SEC champion for the BCS title game — is all but written in stone. With Notre Dame’s season-ending victory over USC, the Fighting Irish land at No. 1 in this week’s BCS rankings, and will land there again next weekend.

No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia will play in a de facto national semifinal game in the SEC Championship. Florida lands in the No. 4 spot just behind Georgia. But fret not Bulldog and Crimson Tide faithful, win the SEC and you’re in — much like it’s been these last few years.

Further down, No. 5 Oregon and No. 6 Kansas State lead a group of small changes in the BCS’s top 10 this weekend, as what was expected after a rivalry weekend full of ranked matchups whittled the field down.

So pretty bland at the top. But little further down the intrigue for yet another non-AQ BCS buster bid is in store.

Three teams — No. 17 Kent State, No. 20 Boise State and No. 21 Northern Illinois — are all within striking distance of the top 16. A spot inside the BCS’s top 16 will mean an automatic bid to a BCS this year, as the Big East’s champion will land outside the top 16, activating a clause in the BCS to include a deserving non-AQ team in the BCS process.

Although none of the three are in the mix this weekend, Northern Illinois and Kent State are set to battle for the MAC title next weekend, the winner hoping to get associated BCS bump with a win over another ranked team. A Kent State win might give the Golden Flashes just enough to claim that elusive BCS bid. Northern Illinois will need some help if they are victorious.

Boise State is doomed by its poor computer showing, and will likely not be able to crack the top 16.

Next weekend could also solidify most, if not all, of the BCS spots. Here is what’s in store:

• The ACC Championship Game will feature Florida State and Georgia Tech. The winner is headed for the Orange Bowl.
• The Big East will be decided Thursday when Louisville and Rutgers face off. The winner is guaranteed a BCS bowl bid.
• The Big Ten Championship Game will feature Nebraska and Wisconsin. The winner is headed for the Rose Bowl.
• The Big 12 will come down to Kansas State and Oklahoma. A Kansas State win over Texas gives the Wildcats the conference championship and a Fiesta Bowl bid. It also likely another Oklahoma win gives the Sooners at least an at-large spot. An Oklahoma win combined with a Kansas State loss gives Oklahoma a Fiesta Bowl bid with the conference title.
• The Pac-12 Championship Game will feature Stanford and UCLA. The winner is headed for the Rose Bowl.
• The SEC Championship Game will feature Georgia and Alabama. The winner is likely headed for the BCS title game. If Alabama wins, Florida is all but guaranteed a Sugar Bowl bid. If Georgia wins, either Alabama or Florida is likely Sugar Bowl bound.
• The MAC Championship game will feature Northern Illinois and Kent State. The winner could vie for a BCS bid, needing to finish in the top 16 to make a BCS bowl.
• As it stands, explore our projected BCS bowls. 

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It all comes down to this final weekend. Though we can be pretty sure about a lot, there’s almost nothing guaranteed other than Notre Dame’s bid in the title game. Be sure to stay tuned to BCS Know How and @BCSKnowHow throughout this final week for all the latest analysis and news.

Here’s the seventh BCS rankings of 2012:

BCS Standings Week Seven — November 25th

Rank	Team	BCS Score
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	.9979
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	.9236
3	Georgia Bulldogs	.8911
4	Florida Gators	.8882
5	Oregon Ducks	.8626
6	Kansas State Wildcats	.7735
7	LSU Tigers	.7357
8	Stanford Cardinal	.7299
9	Texas A&M Aggies	.6861
10	Florida State Seminoles	.6689
11	Oklahoma Sooners	.6129
12	Nebraska Cornhuskers	.5393
13	Florida State Seminoles	.4645
14	Clemson Tigers	.4570
15	Oregon State Beavers	.3790
16	UCLA Bruins	.3304

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Some thoughts:

• BCS Know How’s Projected BCS vs. Actual BCS Rankings
  • Less change than expected, certainly.

Projected BCS Standings: Stanford, Florida Big Winners While Notre Dame To Lead Seventh BCS Rankings of 2012

After a weekend of classic BCS mid-November chaos, the tame holiday weekend we just saw might have left some wanting for more chaos.

Projected BCS Rankings
Rank	Team
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2	Alabama Crimson Tide
3	Florida Gators
4	Georgia Bulldogs
5	Oregon Ducks
Scroll down for more

And although nothing we took in this weekend came anywhere close to providing the upheaval and strange combinations that losses from the top two teams in the BCS can provide, we certainly were able to answer some questions.

That starts at the top, of course, as Notre Dame will bow at the top of the BCS standings both this week and next, and will be on its way to a national title game.

That’s the luxury of ending your season a weekend early, and ending it with a nationally televised win over your traditional rival, in this case USC. After that it gets a bit funny, but nothing we can’t explain.

Alabama again will occupy the No. 2 spot in tomorrow’s BCS rankings, awaiting its SEC title showdown with Georgia, which will slip one spot this weekend to No. 4. Why? Well, the Bulldogs’ win over a ACC title game-bound Georgia Tech squad will not prove the impact win they might want the weekend before the SEC title game.

Florida will instead occupy that spot on the strength of the best out-of-conference victory of the weekend, and will slide into No. 3. But any fret that result may cause either Alabama or Georgia fans hoping the two teams are playing in a de facto national semifinal should be short-lived.

Whichever team wins the SEC will play the Fighting Irish in the BCS title game. You can be sure of it.

After that, things will look pretty familiar. Stanford’s win over UCLA — setting up a rematch less than a week from now for the Pac-12 title — will prove more of a mover of votes that you might expect, and give the Cardinal a push past LSU for the No. 7 spot.

Oklahoma and Nebraska will slide back into the top 12 after losses from Clemson and the Seminoles open up the way.

But that’s the simple stuff. The things to keep an eye on? The non-AQ chase. With Boise State, Northern Illinois and Kent State angling for a spot in a BCS bowl, the possibility remains that any of the three could steal a BCS bid away from an AQ conference school with a finish in the top 16.

Expect all three to land outside the top 16 this weekend. Next weekend, however, the BCS might just sneak in its fourth non-AQ team in five seasons.

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Remember, we’ll be here to take you through all of it, starting with tomorrow’s releases of the human polls, computer rankings and BCS. Follow along all day tomorrow @BCSKnowHow and right here to stay up to the second with projections, mathematical breakdowns of the computers, human polls and everything in between. Then follow along this week as we break down scenarios and implications.

Got all that? Hope so.

Here’s what the BCS standings will likely look like when they are released tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN:

Projected BCS Standings – BCS Week Seven (November 25th)

Rank	Team
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2	Alabama Crimson Tide
3	Florida Gators
4	Georgia Bulldogs
5	Oregon Ducks
6	Kansas State Wildcats
7	Stanford Cardinal
8	LSU Tigers
9	Texas A&M Aggies
10	South Carolina Gamecocks
11	Oklahoma Sooners
12	Nebraska Cornhuskers

BCS Computer Rankings Week Eight: Alabama Gets Just Enough

With the knowledge that Oklahoma State was set to make up ground in the computers after a victory over Oklahoma, Alabama faithful had to hope the damage wasn’t too severe. And it wasn’t.

The Crimson Tide retained a .930 computer share, which was integral to them retaining the No. 2 spot in the final BCS standings.

Oklahoma State’s .950 proved to just not be enough.

Here are the rankings of the six BCS computers:

Six BCS Computer Standings – BCS Week Eight (December 4)

Rank	Anderson	Billingsley	Colley	Massey	Sagarin	Wolfe
1	LSU	LSU	LSU	LSU	LSU	LSU
2	Oklahoma St.	Oklahoma St.	Oklahoma St.	Oklahoma St.	Alabama	Alabama
3	Alabama	Alabama	Alabama	Alabama	Oklahoma St.	Oklahoma St.
4	Stanford	Stanford	Kansas St.	Kansas St.	Arkansas	Arkansas
5	Kansas St.	Oregon	Stanford	Arkansas	Kansas St.	Kansas St.
6	Oklahoma	Boise St.	Boise St.	Baylor	Oklahoma	Oregon

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And what the aggregate BCS computer rankings were:

BCS Computer Rankings Aggregate – BCS Week Eight (December 4)

Rank	Team	Share of Vote
1	LSU Tigers	1.000
2	Oklahoma State Cowboys	.950
3	Alabama Crimson Tide	.930
4	Kansas State Wildcats	.850
5	Arkansas Razorbacks	.800
5	Stanford Cardinal	.800
7	Oklahoma Sooners	.760
8	Oregon Ducks	.710
9	Boise State Broncos	.680
10	South Carolina Gamecocks	.670
11	Baylor Bears	.660
12	Georgia Bulldogs	.490

BCS Computer Rankings Week Seven: LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma State in a Class of Their Own

LSU, retaining a perfect computer score for the second straight week, leads a trio of teams — joined by Alabama and Oklahoma State — who are leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the pack in the BCS computers.

Stanford, at No. 4, is well behind the rest of the field with a .820 aggregate, .110 less than Oklahoma State’s .930. The Cardinal had a huge boost in the computers this week, much of that contributing with the Cardinal’s jump past Virginia Tech.

Here are the rankings of the six BCS computers:

Six BCS Computer Standings – BCS Week Seven (November 27)

Rank	Anderson	Billingsley	Colley	Massey	Sagarin	Wolfe
1	LSU	LSU	LSU	LSU	LSU	LSU
2	Oklahoma St.	Alabama	Oklahoma St.	Alabama	Alabama	Alabama
3	Alabama	Oklahoma St.	Alabama	Oklahoma St.	Oklahoma St.	Oklahoma St.
4	Stanford	Stanford	Oklahoma	Arkansas	Arkansas	Arkansas
5	Houston	Oregon	Kansas St.	Kansas St.	Kansas St.	Stanford
6	Oklahoma	Oklahoma	Boise St.	Oklahoma	Oklahoma	Houston

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And what the aggregate BCS computer rankings were:

BCS Computer Rankings Aggregate – BCS Week Seven (November 27)

Rank	Team	Share of Vote
1	LSU Tigers	1.000
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	.950
3	Oklahoma State Cowboys	.930
4	Stanford Cardinal	.820
5	Oklahoma Sooners	.800
6	Arkansas Razorbacks	.780
6	Kansas State Wildcats	.780
8	Houston Cougars	.730
9	Boise State Broncos	.680
10	Virginia Tech Hokies	.620
10	Oregon Ducks	.620
12	South Carolina Gamecocks	.600

Seventh BCS Rankings of 2011: LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma State Lead The Way into Season’s Final Weekend

A weekend that seemed like snooze turned in a BCS standings riddled with wrinkles, all of which will need to be ironed out next weekend — the last of the 2011 college football season.

LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma State find themselves in relatively familiar positions, the top three, which all three have occupied for many weeks this season (although Oklahoma State’s loss to Iowa State last weekend momentarily kicked them out of there).

Stanford, who finished last season at No. 4, sits there once again, with a very good shot of reaping the benefits of the position once again. If the third place team in the final BCS standings does not win its own AQ conference, it automatically receives a bid to a BCS bowl. The same goes for the fourth-place team if the third-place team is in fact an AQ conference champion. Stanford achieved that qualification last season, and if Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma next weekend, the Cardinal will once again be on its way to a BCS bowl.

No. 5 Virginia Tech has its own easy path to a BCS bowl, win the ACC championship game next weekend.

Houston can clinch its spot in a BCS bowl game with a victory in the C-USA championship game, which would assure the Cougars of being the highest-ranking non-AQ conference champion and a top-14 finish, enough to get the Cougars an automatic bid to a BCS bowl as well.

Some of those on the outside looking in, at least at this point, include No. 16 Michigan. The Wolverines, although a plenty attractive at-large team for any BCS bowl, need to enter the top 14 on the last weekend of the season to be eligible.

Just one week remains. Check out the projections from last night to see a complete list of the important games next weekend, and be sure to stay tuned to BCS Know How and @BCSKnowHow for all the latest.

Here’s the seventh BCS rankings of 2011:

BCS Standings Week Seven — November 27

Rank	Team	BCS Score
1	LSU Tigers	1.000
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	.9551
3	Oklahoma State Cowboys	.8712
4	Stanford Cardinal	.8559
5	Virginia Tech Hokies	.7811
6	Houston Cougars	.7399
7	Boise State Broncos	.7027
8	Arkansas Razorbacks	.7003
9	Oregon Ducks	.6862
10	Oklahoma Sooners	.6710
11	Kansas State Wildcats	.5702
12	South Carolina Gamecocks	.5684
13	Michigan State Spartans	.5369
14	Georgia Bulldogs	.5348
15	Wisconsin Badgers	.4576
16	Michigan Wolverines	.4310

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Some thoughts:

• BCS Know How’s Projected BCSvs. Actual BCS Rankings
  • Another odd week. Thought Arkansas would drop far less than they did.

BCS Computer Rankings Week Seven: Stanford Gets the Suppot They Need

Stanford was in an odd position coming into this weekend as a team with support across the board, but an unlikely road to a BCS bowl.

Well with the dominoes that fell over the weekend, Stanford moved up into the No. 5 spot in both human polls.

With the added computer support the Cardinal received this weekend, Stanford rose to No. 4 — the spot which would guarantee the Cardinal of a spot in a BCS bowl — all because of the computer help.

Auburn remains perfect in the computers, and uses that strength added to increased support from the human element to claim the No. 1 spot this week.

So, here’s what the top of each computer ranking looked like:

Six BCS Computer Standings – BCS Week Seven (November 28th)

Rank	Anderson	Billingsley	Colley	Massey	Sagarin	Wolfe
1	Auburn	Auburn	Auburn	Auburn	Auburn	Auburn
2	Oregon	Oregon	Oregon	Oregon	Oregon	Oregon
3	TCU	TCU	TCU	TCU	Arkansas	TCU
4	Wisconsin	Wisconsin	Oklahoma	Stanford	Stanford	Stanford
5	Ohio State	Boise State	Stanford	Arkansas	LSU	Arkansas
6	Oklahoma	Ohio State	Michigan State	LSU	TCU	LSU

—

And what the aggregate BCS computer rankings were:

BCS Computer Rankings Aggregate – BCS Week Seven (November 28th)

Rank	Team	Share of Vote
1	Auburn Tigers	1.000
2	Oregon Ducks	.960
3	TCU Horned Frogs	.920
4	Stanford Cardinal	.840
5	Arkansas Razorbacks	.770
6	Oklahoma Sooners	.760
7	Wisconsin Badgers	.730
7	LSU Tigers	.730
9	Ohio State Buckeyes	.660
10	Missouri Tigers	.640