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BCS Rankings: Sun Devils up to No. 17 in latest rankings

After breaking into the top 20 in the AP poll on Sunday morning, the Sun Devils also gained a few places in the BCS rankings.

Ralph Freso

For Sun Devil football fans, analyzing the various polls and rankings can be a maddening experience. Many believe that Arizona State is undervalued in most polls, but the ranking that matters most is the one that rates the Sun Devils the best.

On Sunday evening, the week 13 BCS rankings were released and Arizona State appeared at No. 17 which is two spots higher than its place in the AP poll and five spots above its place in the Coaches' and Harris polls.

The Sun Devils receive a more favorable view in the BCS poll because the BCS rankings take into account computer simulations that grade the Sun Devils as one of the most battle-tested teams in the country. ESPN analyst David Pollack said the computers have Arizona State 11th overall.

Arizona State's strength of schedule continues to improve on a weekly basis, as its opponents pick up steam and fight their way up the rankings as well.

On Saturday night, a USC team that gave up 62 points in a loss to the Sun Devils defeated a Stanford squad that beat ASU by 14 points. Stanford is still considered one of the nation's top teams, and with USC breaking into the BCS rankings at No. 23 this week, Arizona State saw its strength of schedule move up yet again.

Of course, even the BCS rankings are imperfect in the eyes of Sun Devil fans. Arizona State is ranked below Fresno State and Northern Illinois teams that are undefeated, but don't have quality wins on its resumes.

Next week, the Sun Devils will travel to Pasadena with a prime opportunity to climb into the top 15 with a showdown against the UCLA Bruins. The Bruins are the third highest-ranked Pac-12 team in the BCS rankings with an overall slotting of 14th. The Bruins are also 8-2 but the Sun Devils own a one-game lead in the Pac-12 South because of a better conference record.

The Week 13 BCS Rankings

BCS Harris Poll USA Today Computer Rankings

RK TEAM AVG PVS RK PTS % RK PTS % AVG A&H RB CM KM JS PW %
1 Alabama .9914 1 1 2620 .9981 1 1544 .9961 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 .980
2 Florida State .9661 2 2 2517 .9589 2 1487 .9594 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 .980
3 Ohio State .8869 3 3 2375 .9048 3 1404 .9058 5 4 3 4 6 5 7 .850
4 Baylor .8856 5 4 2343 .8926 4 1386 .8942 3 3 5 5 4 4 4 .870
5 Oregon .7917 6 5 2102 .8008 5 1231 .7942 6 6 4 9 5 10 6 .780
6 Auburn .7860 7 7 1967 .7493 7 1145 .7387 3 5 7 3 3 6 3 .870
7 Clemson .7681 8 6 2019 .7691 6 1217 .7852 7 9 6 6 8 12 5 .750
8 Missouri .7231 9 8 1919 .7310 8 1129 .7284 8 7 11 7 9 9 8 .710
9 Stanford .6238 4 11 1584 .6034 12 865 .5581 8 8 8 8 7 11 9 .710
10 Oklahoma State .5890 12 9 1660 .6324 9 1030 .6645 14 12 12 15 20 8 18 .470
11 South Carolina .5883 10 12 1459 .5558 11 882 .5690 10 10 9 11 11 7 10 .640
12 Texas A&M .5394 11 10 1626 .6194 10 928 .5987 17 16 18 16 13 19 14 .400
13 Michigan State .4646 16 13 1269 .4834 13 729 .4703 15 14 16 14 15 16 15 .440
14 UCLA .4615 13 15 1110 .4229 14 700 .4516 13 13 13 17 12 15 12 .510
15 Fresno State .4134 14 14 1126 .4290 16 622 .4013 16 18 19 13 25 13 13 .410
16 Northern Illinois .3729 15 18 864 .3291 21 418 .2697 12 21 10 12 14 3 16 .520
17 Arizona State .3414 19 22 570 .2171 22 352 .2271 11 11 22 10 10 14 11 .580
18 UCF .3033 17 20 793 .3021 20 446 .2877 18 20 14 18 22 17 17 .320
19 Wisconsin .2907 22 19 794 .3025 17 511 .3297 20 19 24 21 18 20 20 .240
20 Oklahoma .2760 18 21 746 .2842 18 502 .3239 21 15 17 19 23 24 23 .220
21 Louisville .2664 20 16 1010 .3848 15 627 .4045 26 NR 15 25 NR NR NR .010
22 LSU .2645 21 17 880 .3352 19 478 .3084 23 NR 21 NR 17 21 21 .150
23 USC .1070 NR 23 202 .0770 25 115 .0742 22 17 23 20 21 23 24 .170
24 Ole Miss .1048 NR NR 110 .0419 NR 35 .0226 19 22 20 24 16 18 19 .250
25 Minnesota .0604 NR 25 183 .0697 23 173 .1116 28 NR NR 23 NR NR NR .000