Frogs rank 14th in BCS poll
By Brent Yarina
Assistant Sports Editor

The Bowl Championship Series released its first poll Monday, and the Horned Frogs are ranked No. 14.

Joining the Frogs in the initial poll are the nation’s four other undefeated teams, including Northern Illinois University, the only other non-BCS school in the poll’s top 15.

“We’re excited about it,” head coach Gary Patterson said in an ESPN 103.3 radio interview Monday. “To be in the top 20 of any poll is a positive and a compliment for this football program. I’m sure our kids will be excited to see it. However, we won’t have any conversation about the BCS unless we win our next five games. We’ll keep taking them one at a time.”

Oklahoma is in a familiar place — first in the initial Bowl Championship Series standings. Oklahoma was No. 1 in the first BCS standings for the third straight year, matching the spot it has held in the two major polls all season.

“It’s a positive indicator that we’ve played awfully well for seven games,” Sooners coach Bob Stoops said Monday. “We’ve earned that position and have played well through this part of the season. Now, it’s our job to continue it, finish it and keep it.”

Miami and Virginia Tech, the other two undefeated teams from major conferences, are second and third.

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 at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 4.

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 (7-0) have a 1.0 for poll average, 1.33 for computer-rank average, 0.44 for strength of schedule and zero for losses for a 2.77 total. Oklahoma is ranked first in four of computers with Miami the top team in the other three.

The Hurricanes (7-0) have 4.10 points and Virginia Tech (6-0) has 10.23.

Georgia (12.99), Florida State (13.14), Ohio State (13.20), Southern California (13.83) and Purdue (21.50) round out the top eight. The top four teams in the BCS are the same as in the AP poll.

Northern Illinois (7-0) of the Mid-American conference is 10th, while TCU (7-0) of Conference USA is 14th. Both teams have poor strength of schedule rankings, with the Huskies 100th and the Horned Frogs 96th out of 117 Division I-A teams.

The BCS was started five years ago to create a national title game without playoffs. Champions of six conferences — the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC — qualify for a BCS game, and two at-large teams are selected to fill out the field. Teams outside those conferences automatically qualify for a BCS game with nine wins and a top six finish in the final standings.

Northern Illinois and TCU will need to be in the top 12 to be eligible for one of the lucrative bowl games. There has been pressure from schools outside the big six conferences to improve access to the BCS bowls — Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.