Newest BCS Standings has: #1 Alabama, #11 Mississippi State

NEW YORK (WCBI/ESPN) — Alabama is holding on strong as the #1 team for the second straight week in the BCS standings.

The Crimson Tide (.9625) and Florida (.9310) stayed at 1-2 after the Gators grabbed a firmer grip on second with a 44-11 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.

The Gators are tops in the computer ratings and Kansas State is second. The Wildcats (.9111) beat West Virginia 55-14 for their third Big 12 road victory.

Fourth-place Oregon (.8966), coming off a 43-21 win at Arizona State, is sixth in the computer ratings.

Notre Dame is fifth in the standings heading into its game at Oklahoma. The Sooners are eighth.

LSU is sixth and unbeaten Oregon State is seventh.

The Ducks aren’t likely to gain any ground this week unless the teams in front of them lose. Oregon plays Colorado (1-6) at home, while the rest of the teams ahead of the Ducks play ranked opponents.

Oregon should be able to start making up ground Nov. 3. The Ducks play USC that day, then go to Cal. They finish with Stanford at home and Oregon State in Corvallis. Oregon would also have to play in the Pac-12 championship game if it gets that far.

The all-SEC BCS championship game between LSU and Alabama last year notwithstanding, it would seem this season the SEC stands a better chance of working itself out by Dec. 1.

If Alabama and Florida keep winning they’ll play each other that day in the SEC championship for a spot in the national title game.