College Football | Alabama, Texas Tech rise to 1-2 in BCS

NEW YORK — Scoreboard watching might not be necessary for Texas Tech.

Less than 24 hours after the Raiders gave the national-championship race a makeover by defeating then-No. 1 Texas, they received more good news when the Bowl Championship Series standings were released Sunday.

Texas Tech was in second place, behind Alabama and ahead of third-place Penn State. Each of those teams is 9-0. Last week, Alabama was second and Tech was seventh.

If Texas Tech of the Big 12 and the Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference win out, they will likely meet in the BCS National Championship Game in Miami on Jan. 8.

Penn State's Nittany Lions need to keep winning and probably will need help in the form of an Alabama or Texas Tech loss to reach the title game.

Computer rankings made the difference for Texas Tech.

The Raiders were a close No. 3 behind the Nittany Lions in the USA Today coaches poll and the Harris Interactive Poll. Alabama was a solid No. 1 in those polls.

But Texas Tech tied with Alabama for first place in the computer ratings, while Penn State was rated fourth in the compilation of six computer ratings the BCS uses.

Alabama had a BCS average of .9747. Texas Tech was at .9372 and Penn State .9286. Texas, which lost 39-33 at Tech, was fourth at .8531.

With Texas Tech facing ninth-place Oklahoma State and sixth-place Oklahoma in its next two games, plus a possible Big 12 title game down the road, the Raiders should be in position to expand their lead over Penn State if they can stay undefeated.

Big Ten school Penn State plays its remaining games against Iowa (5-4), Indiana (3-6) and Michigan State (8-2 and 18th in the BCS standings).

Alabama, Texas Tech and Penn State, in that order, are the top three teams in the Associated Press media poll.

Alabama, which moved up from second, is the fifth team this season to lead the AP poll — preseason pick Georgia, USC, Oklahoma and Texas also have been No. 1.

Nick Saban-coached Alabama plays Saturday at No. 15 Louisiana State — where Saban used to coach.

"It's going to be about our players and about our team," Saban said of visiting LSU. "I don't care how hard anybody tries to make it about something else, it's not going to be.

"I'm kind of giving you a little forewarning. If somebody wants to get a you-know-what chewing this week, that'll be a good way to get it."

AP top 25

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 1, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

Record		Pts	Pvs
1. Alabama (46)	9-0	1,600	2
2. Texas Tech (12)	9-0	1,528	6
3. Penn St. (6)	9-0	1,525	3
4. Florida (1)	7-1	1,398	5
5. Texas	8-1	1,353	1
6. Oklahoma	8-1	1,324	4
7. USC	7-1	1,250	7
8. Oklahoma St.	8-1	1,198	9
9. Boise St.	8-0	1,030	11
10. Utah	9-0	1,028	10
11. TCU	9-1	958	12
12. Ohio St.	7-2	898	13
13. Missouri	7-2	830	14
14. Georgia	7-2	808	8
15. LSU	6-2	746	15
16. Ball St.	8-0	594	18
17. BYU	8-1	536	17
18. Michigan St.	8-2	456	22
19. North Carolina	6-2	418	21
20. West Virginia	6-2	303	—
21. California	6-2	288	—
22. Georgia Tech	7-2	286	—
23. Maryland	6-2	242	25
24. Florida St.	6-2	128	16
25. Pittsburgh	6-2	96	—

Others receiving votes: Northwestern 88, Tulsa 72, Kansas 60, Minnesota 23, Cincinnati 16, Oregon St. 16, South Carolina 10, Louisville 8, Air Force 6, Arizona 3, Cent. Michigan 1, South Florida 1.

USA Today top 25

The Top 25 teams in the USA Today college football coaches poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 1, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

Record		Pts	Pvs
1. Alabama (40)	9-0	1498	2
2. Penn State (14)	9-0	1437	3
3. Texas Tech (6)	9-0	1409	5
4. Oklahoma (1)	8-1	1290	4
5. Florida	7-1	1268	7
6. USC	7-1	1232	6
7. Texas	8-1	1227	1
8. Oklahoma State	8-1	1066	10
9. Utah	9-0	1018	9
10. Boise State	8-0	958	11
11. TCU	9-1	862	12
12. Ohio State	7-2	843	13
13. Missouri	7-2	794	14
14. Georgia	7-2	693	8
15. LSU	6-2	683	15
16. BYU	8-1	591	17
17. Michigan State	8-2	516	21
18. Ball State	8-0	503	19
19. North Carolina	6-2	359	22
20. Georgia Tech	7-2	289	—
21. Maryland	6-2	243	25
22. California	6-2	192	—
23. West Virginia	6-2	172	—
24. Florida State	6-2	150	16
25. Northwestern	7-2	120	—

Others receiving votes: Kansas 101, Tulsa 99, Pittsburgh 91, Minnesota 52, South Carolina 18, Connecticut 9, Oregon State 9, Cincinnati 8, Illinois 8, Arizona 5, Miami 4, Oregon 3, South Florida 3, Kentucky 2.