Ohio State Remains Atop BCS Standings

MORRISTOWN, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Boston College benefited from a bye and gave Ohio State a new partner atop the Bowl Championship Series standings. The idle Eagles climbed one spot to assume the No. 2 spot behind the undefeated Buckeyes in the second BCS standings, which were released Sunday afternoon.

Boston College was ranked third last Sunday when the season's first BCS standings were released. But despite having a bye this week, the Eagles moved up courtesy of South Florida, which was upset by unranked Rutgers, 30-27, in Piscataway on Thursday night. The previously undefeated Bulls entered the contest ranked second in the BCS but fell to 10th Sunday.

Boston College (7-0) is ranked second in both the Harris Interactive and the USA Today coaches' polls for a BCS average of .950 out of a possible score of 1.000. The Eagles will face their biggest challenge of the season this upcoming Thursday when they visit Virginia Tech in a contest with major championship implications in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Boston College trails only Ohio State (8-0), which owns a .976 average and is atop the standings for the 10th consecutive week in the regular season.

The Buckeyes, who held the No. 1 spot throughout the 2006 campaign, raced to a 24-point lead Saturday before holding on for a 24-17 victory over Michigan State. Louisiana State (7-1) is third with a .911 average. Following last week's triple-overtime loss at Kentucky, the Tigers rallied for a 30-24 victory over Auburn on Saturday. Arizona State (7-0) is fourth, followed by Oregon (6-1), Oklahoma (7-1), West Virginia (6-1) and Virginia Tech (6-1). Kansas (7-0) and South Florida (6-1) rounded out the top 10.

Defending national champion Florida (5-2) is 11th while Southern California (6-2) climbed two spots to 12th. Missouri (6-1), Kentucky (6-2) and Virginia (7-1) completed the top 15.