West Virginia moves up to No. 3 in BCS

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia was a precarious No. 3 in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday, leading a tightly packed group of nine teams trailing Ohio State and Michigan.

The Mountaineers replaced Southern California, which had been in third place before losing 33-31 at Oregon State on Saturday. But unlike the Trojans, West Virginia's hold on third isn't strong enough for the Mountaineers to control their destiny in the national title race.

West Virginia's BCS average of .7862 was just ahead of Florida (.7791) and Big East rival Louisville (.7621).

Auburn, Texas, USC, Notre Dame, California and Tennessee all had BCS averages of at least .7000, giving each of those one-loss teams legitimate hopes of reaching the national title game.

West Virginia plays at Louisville on Thursday night. The winner should get a big boost in the next BCS standings, but with the numbers the way they are now, going undefeated might not keep either Big East power from eventually getting passed by one of the one-loss teams.

-- The Associated Press