Florida State, USC Move Up in BCS

Florida State moved to the top of the one-loss crowd.

The Seminoles (10.34 points) were third in the bowl championship series standings released Monday, trailing only undefeated Oklahoma and Miami in the race to play for the national championship.

USC, third in both the AP and coaches polls after a 43-23 victory at Washington, is fourth at 11.07, followed by Georgia (11.15) and Ohio State (12.60).

Oklahoma, the top team in the polls all season, has been in first place in the first two BCS standings. Oklahoma will have to keep winning to guarantee itself a spot in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4, starting with a showdown against Oklahoma State on Saturday.

The Cowboys, 14th in the AP poll and the BCS standings, have defeated the Sooners the last two years.

“It’s another very important game this week,” Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said Monday. “The more you win, the more important they get. We’ve got to be on top of our game to stay undefeated and stay after the championships that we’re after.”

The BCS standings are used to determine which teams play in a national title game. The teams that finish 1-2 in the final BCS standings on Dec. 7, will play for the title in New Orleans.

The formula uses the AP media and coaches’ polls, seven computer rankings, strength of schedule, losses and a bonus-point system for quality wins.

The Sooners (8-0) have a 1.0 for poll average, 1.17 for computer-rank average, 0.28 for strength of schedule and zero for losses for a 2.45 total. Oklahoma is ranked first in five of the computers with Miami the top team in the other two. The Hurricanes (7-0), who play at Virginia Tech on Saturday, are second with 3.87 points, ahead of four tightly packed one-loss teams.

The Seminoles are at the top of that group based on their strong computer rankings. Florida State, which moved up one spot this week, is third in three computers and fourth in three others. The lowest ranking -- seventh in Richard Billingsley’s computer -- is discarded.

Texas Christian, major college football’s only other undefeated team, is in 12th place, in part because of the 99th toughest schedule out of 117 teams.

TCU will need to be in the top 12 to be eligible for one of the lucrative BCS games and the top six to guarantee a bid.

Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois had steep falls after losing for the first time last week. The Hokies went from third to 16th and the Huskies dropped from 10th to 23rd.