Oklahoma rides computers to No. 1 in BCS rankings

The first BCS standings are out and Boise State is already chasing a couple of teams from the power conferences.

Oklahoma was first and Oregon was second last night, with Boise State in third place and in need of plenty of help to become the first team from a conference without an automatic Bowl Championship Series bid to play for the BCS title.

The Sooners took first place by grading out No. 1 in the computer ratings. Oklahoma, coming off a 52-0 victory against Iowa State, is No. 3 in the USA Today coaches' poll and No. 4 in the Harris Poll.

Oregon is No. 1 in all the human polls, including the AP top 25 which is not used in the BCS calculations, but rated eighth in the computer rankings.

Boise State is No. 2 in all the human polls and seventh according to the computers, but the math leaves the Broncos third in the BCS standings.

"The computers do not like this team," said Jerry Palm, who analyzes the BCS standings at collegebcs.com. Palm said that despite a better early-season showing in the polls than ever before, Boise State is a long shot to play for the national championship. "They just need too much to happen to get excited about their chances."

With 10 undefeated teams in major-college football, there's potential for much BCS controversy this season, even beyond whether Boise State from the Western Athletic Conference or maybe a Mountain West Conference team such as TCU or Utah gets a chance to play in the biggest BCS game.

With the possibility of undefeated champions coming out of the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten, just winning might not be enough for Oklahoma and Oregon to hold on to their spots. Auburn is fourth in the BCS standings, followed by TCU and LSU. Michigan State from the Big Ten is seventh. LSU and Auburn play Saturday.

"I would be shocked if the winner [of LSU-Auburn] didn't jump Boise next week in the polls," Palm said.- AP