(PhatzRadio / AP) — OK, now I should be happy about this poll but I’m not. No matter how much I want Notre Dame to be No. 1, they are not the best team in the nation. Alabama is the best team. Period! – Now, we can debate No.2 through No.5 which should be Kansas St. No.2, Notre Dame No.3, Oregon No.4, and LSU No.5 / Georgia should get a strong mention here. They did beat Florida and Tennessee but that lost to South Carolina – that was a bad one.

The Fighting Irish became the latest team to move past Oregon on Sunday, taking third place behind Alabama and Kansas State. The Ducks remained fourth.

Florida fell out of the top five with a 17-9 loss to Georgia, helping to set the field in the race for the BCS title game with a month to go in the regular season.

Alabama is locked in at No. 1, and if the Crimson Tide can keep winning it will play for its third championship in four years. The Wildcats (.9400), Fighting Irish (.9147) and Ducks (.9136) need to remain unbeaten, and keep an eye on each other.

The computers ratings are still holding the Ducks back because their strength of schedule lags behind the other contenders.

The Ducks are second in the Harris poll and USA Today coaches’ poll, but ranked fifth by the computer ratings.

Kansas State is third in each poll and Notre Dame is fourth. But according to the computers, the Wildcats and Fighting Irish are tied for first.

Oregon’s upcoming schedule could help solve the Ducks’ problem. Oregon plays three opponents in the BCS top 25 (Southern California, Stanford and Oregon State) in its last four games, starting with the Trojans in Los Angeles on Saturday. The Pac-12 title game, if the Ducks get there, should give Oregon another quality opponent.

Notre Dame, with four games left, faces only one more team with a winning record (USC). Kansas State has three winning teams in its four remaining opponents, though only No. 25 Texas is in the BCS top 25.

Alabama is an overwhelming No. 1 in the Harris poll and USA Today coaches’ polls, and comes in third behind Notre Dame and Kansas State in the computer ratings. The Tide’s BCS average is .9759.

Alabama has what looks to be its toughest test of the season coming up this week, when it visits fifth-place LSU on Saturday in an SEC West showdown.

Kansas State plays Oklahoma State at home Saturday and Notre Dame faces Pittsburgh.

Down the list, it looks as if Boise State could make another run at the BCS, with help from the Big Ten.

The Broncos are 21st in the current standings. If they can get into the top 16 and be ahead of a champion from one of the automatic qualifying conferences, the Broncos would earn an automatic bid to the marquee bowls,

The highest ranked Big Ten team is Nebraska at 22nd.

Bowl Championship Series Rankings

Updated: Monday October 29, 2012 02:07 AM

- Harris Poll Coaches’ Poll -
Rank Team Record Rank Votes Avg. Rank Votes Avg. Comp

1 Alabama Crimson Tide 8-0 1 2,868 .9976 1 1,475 1.0000 .9300 .9789 1
2 Kansas State Wildcats 8-0 3 2,656 .9238 3 1,366 .9261 .9700 .9400 3
3 Notre Dame 8-0 4 2,553 .8880 4 1,307 .8861 .9700 .9147 5
4 Oregon Ducks 8-0 2 2,725 .9478 2 1,391 .9431 .8500 .9136 4
5 LSU Tigers 7-1 5 2,382 .8285 5 1,225 .8305 .7900 .8163 6
6 Georgia Bulldogs 7-1 6 2,205 .7670 6 1,149 .7790 .7800 .7753 10
7 Florida Gators 7-1 8 2,061 .7169 8 1,024 .6942 .8700 .7604 2
8 South Carolina 7-2 11 1,588 .5523 11 838 .5681 .6700 .5968 13
9 Florida State Seminoles 8-1 7 2,193 .7628 7 1,121 .7600 .2000 .5743 12
10 Louisville Cardinals 8-0 10 1,714 .5962 10 888 .6020 .5000 .5661 16
11 Oregon State Beavers 6-1 13 1,449 .5040 13 684 .4637 .7000 .5559 7
12 Oklahoma Sooners 5-2 12 1,473 .5123 12 758 .5139 .6100 .5454 8
13 Clemson Tigers 7-1 9 1,917 .6668 9 976 .6617 .2000 .5095 18
14 Stanford Cardinal 6-2 14 1,307 .4546 15 626 .4244 .5800 .4863 17
15 Mississippi St. 7-1 15 1,231 .4282 18 569 .3858 .3600 .3913 11
16 Texas A&M Aggies 6-2 18 996 .3464 16 592 .4014 .3300 .3593 20
17 USC Trojans 6-2 16 1,200 .4174 17 583 .3953 .2400 .3509 9
18 Texas Tech Red Raiders 6-2 19 604 .2101 20 284 .1925 .5700 .3242 14
19 Boise State Broncos 7-1 17 1,142 .3972 14 634 .4298 .1100 .3123 21
20 Nebraska Cornhuskers 6-2 21 542 .1885 21 283 .1919 .3900 .2568 NR
21 West Va. Mountaineers 5-2 20 554 .1927 19 326 .2210 .3400 .2512 19
22 Arizona Wildcats 5-3 29 81 .0282 33 14 .0095 .4700 .1692 NR
23 Texas Longhorns 6-2 22 392 .1363 22 200 .1356 .2200 .1640 23
24 Oklahoma State Cowboys 5-2 25 245 .0852 24 166 .1125 .0700 .0893 NR
25 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 7-1 24 304 .1057 23 191 .1295 .0000 .0784 NR

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