No surprise: Florida State, Auburn top college football polls
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The BCS lineup is all but a formality now that Sunday’s college football polls confirmed what we knew late Saturday night: Florida State is No. 1 and Auburn is No. 2.
Those schools will meet for the last Bowl Championship Series title on Jan. 6 at the Rose Bowl.
Florida State claimed all 62 first-place votes in the USA Today coaches’ poll and 56 out of 60 in the Associated Press media poll (Auburn received the other four).
Both polls had the same top four with Florida State, Auburn, Alabama and Michigan State. Stanford is No. 5 in the AP with Baylor at No. 6 while the coaches’ poll has that order reversed.
The Harris poll, which will be released later Sunday, should look very similar.
The polls also indicate Oklahoma and Clemson will finish in the BCS top 14 and be eligible for at-large bowl bids.
The expected bowl lineup:
BCS: Florida State vs. Auburn
Rose: Stanford vs. Michigan State
Fiesta: Baylor vs. Central Florida
Sugar: Alabama vs. Oklahoma
Orange: Clemson vs. Ohio State
That means the Pac-12 Conference, despite having a strong season, will end up with only one BCS bid: Stanford.
Oregon (10-2) is at-large eligible but will probably be a victim of BCS politics. The Ducks would appear a great matchup against Alabama in the Sugar but that bowl is expected to take Oklahoma.
Why? The Sugar Bowl and the Big 12 are about to become business partners in the new playoff system.
Clemson, despite losing two lopsided games, gets the Orange bid because of the bowl’s ties to the ACC.
Official bowl pairings will be announced Sunday night.
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