As we mentioned earlier, the USA Today coaches’ poll plays a role in determining the BCS standings, which will be revealed later tonight. Among the more pressing questions is whether Northern Illinois, at No. 16 in the coaches’ poll, received enough of a boost to make it into the top 16 of the BCS to secure an Orange Bowl berth against Florida State.
(For what it’s worth Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated is reporting that NIU will go to the Orange Bowl)
In the meantime, at least you can see how each coach voted this weekend via a USA Today chart, which you can conveniently view right HERE.
Some of the more interesting votes include:
- Notre Dame got 56 first-place votes. Not among them was Vanderbilt coach James Franklin, who ranked the Irish at No. 4 behind Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
- Oregon received two second-place votes from Oregon State’s Mike Riley and Fresno State’s Tim DeRuyter. Dana Holgorsen from West Virginia voted the Ducks as the eighth-best team in the country, the lowest by any coach.
- Two coaches -- Baylor’s Art Briles and Washington’s Steve Sarkisian -- voted Georgia outside the top 10 at No. 11.
- Northern Illinois was ranked as high as No. 11 (UCF’s George O’Leary) and as low as No. 25 (Michigan’s Brady Hoke). Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops voted the Huskies No. 24. OU’s BCS at-large hopes likely hinge on whether NIU receives an at-large bid or not.
- Less than half the coaches voting ranked Big Ten champion Wisconsin at all. The Badgers are 8-5.