Inside LSU Football, Week VII (10/14)

BATON ROUGE -- The first edition of the 2007 Bowl Championship Series Standings were released on Sunday and LSU, despite its triple-overtime loss to Kentucky on Saturday, came in at No. 4 in the poll.

The No. 4 ranking for the Tigers marks the highest debut ever for LSU in the BCS Standings. The previous high for the Tigers came in 2005 when LSU was No. 6 in the first BCS Standings that year. In 2003, the year in which the Tigers claimed the BCS National Championship, LSU opened at No. 12 in the standings.

Last year, the Tigers opened at No. 18 in the BCS Standings and climbed all the way to No. 4 in the poll heading into their Sugar Bowl contest with Notre Dame.

Ohio State is No. 1 in the first BCS Standings, followed by South Florida, Boston College, LSU and Oklahoma. South Carolina is No. 6, followed by Kentucky at No. 7, Arizona State at No. 8, West Virginia at No. 9 and Oregon at No. 10.

Other Southeastern Conference teams in the standings include Florida at No. 14, Auburn at No. 18, Tennessee at No. 20, and Georgia at No. 21.

The BCS Standings, which determines the two teams who play in the BCS National Championship Game, is calculated by combining the Harris Interactive Poll, the USA Today Coaches Poll along with the computer rankings.

LSU dropped four spots in the other polls this week following its loss to Kentucky. LSU, which had been ranked No. 1 in the nation for the past two weeks in the Associated Press Poll, is No. 5 all three major polls this week – the AP Poll, the USA Today Coaches Poll and the Harris Interactive Rankings.

LSU (6-1 overall, 3-1 in SEC) returns to action on Saturday, hosting 19th-ranked Auburn (5-2, 3-1) at 8 p.m. in Tiger Stadium.

AP Top 25
1. Ohio State (50) 7-0 1,599
2. South Florida (11) 6-0 1,503
 3. Boston College (1) 7-0 1,448
 4. Oklahoma (1) 6-1 1,399
 5. LSU (1) 6-1 1,331
 6. South Carolina 6-1 1,247
 7. Oregon 5-1 1,177
 8. Kentucky 6-1 1,098
 9. West Virginia 5-1 1,090
10. California 5-1 1,065
11. Virginia Tech 6-1 951
12. Arizona State (1) 7-0 948
13. USC 5-1 932
14. Florida 4-2 865
15. Kansas 6-0 664
15. Missouri 5-1 664
17. Hawaii 7-0 551
18. Auburn 5-2 488
19. Texas 5-2 348
20. Tennessee 4-2 339
21. Georgia 5-2 279
22. Texas Tech 6-1 241
23. Cincinnati 6-1 194
24. Michigan 5-2 189
25. Kansas State 4-2 107

Others Receiving Votes
Penn State 95, Virginia 85, Illinois 75, Boise State 37, Alabama 27, Wake Forest 18, Wisconsin 18, Rutgers 18, Clemson 9, Connecticut 7, Florida State 6, Maryland 6, Air Force 4, Brigham Young 2, Troy 1.

Dropped From Rankings
Illinois 18, Wisconsin 19, Florida State 21.

USA Today Poll
 1. Ohio State (56) 7-0 1,495
 2. Boston College (1) 7-0 1,383
 3. South Florida (3) 6-0 1,320
 4. Oklahoma 6-1 1,288
 5. LSU 6-1 1,173
 6. Oregon 5-1 1,077
 7. West Virginia 5-1 1,007
 8. South Carolina 6-1 997
 9. California 5-1 983
 9. USC 5-1 983
11. Virginia Tech 6-1 982
12. Arizona State 7-0 936
13. Kentucky 6-1 874
14. Florida 4-2 726
15. Kansas 6-0 705
16. Hawaii 7-0 558
17. Missouri 5-1 519
18. Texas 5-2 396
19. Auburn 5-2 372
20. Georgia 5-2 282
21. Texas Tech 6-1 232
22. Tennessee 4-2 193
23. Cincinnati 6-1 192
24. Virginia 6-1 184
25. Penn State 5-2 128

Others Receiving Votes
Michigan 127, Wisconsin 82, Boise State 61, Illinois 59, Kansas State 42, Rutgers 25, Purdue 19, Florida State 16, Maryland 15, Alabama 13, Wake Forest 12, Louisville 9, Clemson 9, Brigham Young 8, Michigan State 8, Connecticut 7, Fresno State 2, Wyoming 1.

Dropped From Rankings
Wisconsin 15, Illinois 19, Florida State 21, Purdue 24.

Harris Top 25

Rk Team Points
1. Ohio State (110)  2845
2. Boston College 2650
3. South Florida (2)  2508
4. Oklahoma 2503
5. LSU (1)  2303
6. South Carolina 2009
7. Oregon 1974
8. West Virginia 1926
9. USC 1915
10. California 1894
11. Kentucky 1759
12. Arizona State (1)  1697
13. Virginia Tech 1638
14. Florida 1458
15. Kansas 1200
16. Hawaii 1198
17. Missouri 1053
18. Texas 786
19. Auburn 667
20. Georgia 528
21. Texas Tech 459
22. Tennessee 420
23. Cincinnati 369
24. Virginia 240
25. Michigan 229