Stanford, whose only loss is to college football's new No. 1 Oregon, is 12th in the initial BCS standings unveiled tonight. After an upset-filled weekend, the Cardinal climbed to 12th and 14th in the AP and USA Today polls, respectively. Fun fact from ESPN's BCS Ranking Show that probably means nothing: LSU was 12th in the initial BCS standings in 2003 and went on to win the BCS championship.
CBS's most recent bowl projections have Oregon meeting Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship Game. As a result of the new rule that requires the Rose Bowl to select a non-BCS team that finishes in the top 12 of the regular season BCS standings in the event that the Pac-10 champion plays in the National Championship Game, CBS projects Iowa to play Boise State in Pasadena.
That drops Stanford, the projected Pac-10 runner-up, to the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29. It's very hard to see Oregon losing once, much less twice, but road losses by the Ducks at USC on Halloween Eve and at Oregon State in the Civil War--coupled with the Cardinal's running the table, of course--is one way for Stanford to smell the roses. A highly improbable way, but still, a way. Off Tackle Empire and Ted Miller, among others, also project Stanford in the Alamo Bowl. Oregon is No. 2 in the initial BCS Rankings. Oklahoma is No. 1.