OU No. 3, OSU No. 4 In First BCS Rankings

Corey DeMoss, News9.com

NEW YORK CITY – The Bowl Championship Series released its first rankings of the year Sunday, and Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are two of the top four teams in the nation.

The Sooners and Cowboys are ranked Nos. 3 and 4 in the nation, respectively. They are only behind two SEC teams, LSU at No. 1 and Alabama at No. 2.

Based on the rankings, the top three teams have separated themselves from the pack. There is only .0221 total points separating LSU, Alabama and OU. But there is a much larger drop of .0733 from the Sooners to the Cowboys.

OSU's BCS average suffered because it is ranked No. 6 in both the Harris and USA Today polls, but the Cowboys have the highest computer ranking of any team in the nation. They are ranked No. 1 overall by four of the six computers.

The No. 4 ranking is Oklahoma State's highest in school history. The highest the Cowboys previously had climbed was No. 6 in the first BCS rankings of 2008.

The Sooners and Cowboys are two of five Big 12 teams ranked in the BCS Top 25. Kansas State debuted at No. 11, with Texas A&M at No. 17 and Texas at No. 24.

If OU and OSU both manage to make it to Bedlam undefeated, that contest would likely become a play-in game for the BCS National Championship Game.

Because LSU and Alabama play each other on Nov. 5, OU and OSU likely would both be ranked in the top three if they stay perfect. And because there is no Big 12 Championship Game this season, Bedlam would be the final determining factor in both teams' ranking.

Full BCS Rankings
1) LSU
2) Alabama
3) Oklahoma
4) Oklahoma State
5) Boise State
6) Wisconsin
7) Clemson
8) Stanford
9) Arkansas
10) Oregon
11) Kansas State
12) Virginia Tech
13) Nebraska
14) South Carolina
15) West Virginia
16) Michigan State
17) Texas A&M
18) Michigan
19) Houston
20) Auburn
21) Penn State
22) Georgia Tech
23) Illinois
24) Texas
25) Washington