Horned Frogs leap into fourth in BCS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Last update: November 8, 2009 - 8:55 PM

All those blowouts have carried TCU to unprecedented heights in the BCS standings, giving the Horned Frogs hope -- however slim -- of becoming the first BCS buster to break into the national championship game.

TCU (.8620) moved up two spots to fourth place in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday behind Florida (.9842), Alabama (.9516) and Texas (.9234). It's the highest BCS ranking ever for a team from a conference without an automatic bid to the big-money bowl games. No potential BCS buster had ever done better than sixth in the BCS standings.

Florida is first for the fourth consecutive week, and Alabama and Texas switched spots for the second week in a row.

The Gators and Crimson Tide have clinched their respective divisions in the Southeastern Conference and will meet Dec. 5 in the league championship game. One of them is all but guaranteed a spot in the BCS title game on Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif., if they can get through the next month without a loss.

The same goes for Texas, which has three regular-season games and possibly the Big 12 championship remaining.

The other undefeated teams -- TCU, No. 5 Cincinnati (.8579) and No. 6 Boise State (.8125) -- need the top three to stumble to have any shot of reaching the title game.

Freshman to lead Iowa

Talk about a tough day for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa lost quarterback Ricky Stanzi, its unbeaten season and likely any shot to play for the national title Saturday in a 17-10 loss to Northwestern. Next up is a trip to Columbus to face No. 10 Ohio State, which knocked off Penn State in Happy Valley to pull into a tie with the 15th-ranked Hawkeyes for first place in the Big Ten.

Iowa (9-1, 5-1) still has its sights set on Pasadena, but now it's for the Rose Bowl rather than the BCS title game. The Hawkeyes can clinch a share of the Big Ten championship with a win over the Buckeyes, but they may have to do it behind freshman quarterback James Vandenberg.

Stanzi suffered a severe ankle sprain in the second quarter against the Wildcats (6-4, 3-3). Coach Kirk Ferentz compared his injury to the sprain suffered by running back Adam Robinson, and Robinson isn't expected back until Iowa's bowl game.

Etc.

• California tailback Jahvid Best has been released from a hospital in Oakland and will miss at least one game after suffering a concussion on a terrifying fall in the end zone in the Golden Bears' 31-14 loss to Oregon State on Saturday.

• LSU running back Charles Scott will miss the rest of the regular season because of a fractured collarbone he suffered in the Tigers' 24-15 loss to Alabama on Saturday.

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