Texas Tech bypassed Penn State in the Bowl Championship Series rankings with the Red Raiders' upset of Texas Saturday, but one college football analyst said the Red Raiders' win still puts the Nittany Lions in a better position to play for the national championship.
Penn State (0.928) stayed at No. 3 in the BCS rankings, behind Alabama (0.974) and Texas Tech (0.937), and remained on the outside looking in at a spot in the BCS championship game Jan. 8 in Miami.
But BCS analyst Jerry Palm said the Red Raiders' win worked to Penn State's advantage. Texas Tech's remaining regular season games include a home game with No. 9 Oklahoma State and a road trip to No. 6 Oklahoma before a possible Big 12 conference championship game.
"Texas Tech is just now getting into the difficult portion of its schedule," Palm said. "You definitely would rather have Texas Tech win."
Texas finished the most challenging part of its schedule -- the Longhorns played a team ranked in the AP top 10 the past four consecutive weeks -- and doesn't have a ranked team remaining on its regular season schedule.
Palm said the Red Raiders jumping Texas, which slipped to fourth in the BCS, meant nothing for Penn State.
"If it hadn't happened this week, it was going to happen eventually," Palm said. "Penn State doesn't have a realistic chance of catching a 13-0 SEC or Big 12 team."
Texas Tech was ranked No. 7 in the BCS when it beat No. 1 Texas, 39-33, but jumped the idle Lions in the BCS rankings.
Penn State did jump to No. 2 in the USA Today coaches' poll and Harris rankings, both of which are counted in the BCS' formula, and stayed at No. 3 in the AP poll, which is not factored into the BCS rankings.
Texas Tech, though, leapt to the top spot in half of the six computer polls for enough of a cushion to bypass Penn State.
An Alabama loss could also put Penn State in its first national championship game since 1986. The Crimson Tide visit No. 19 LSU Saturday, and the SEC championship game is also on the horizon, which could mean a matchup against No. 5 Florida.
The Lions received six first-place votes in the AP poll, including one from Pete DiPrimio, who covers Notre Dame for the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel.
DiPrimio said he wasn't surprised to see Texas Tech pass Penn State.
"I know with Texas Tech upsetting Texas, they'd probably move up," DiPrimio said.
Penn State was three votes away from moving up to No. 2 in the AP poll.
Mitch Vingle, who covers West Virginia for the Charleston Gazette, also voted Penn State No. 1.
He ranked the Lions ahead of Alabama, which beat Arkansas State, 35-0, on Saturday. Some of the appeal of the Crimson Tide's 41-30 win over Georgia earlier this season also may have been lost with the Bulldogs' 49-10 loss to the Gators on Saturday.
"I just thought Penn State's body of work was superior to what Alabama has done, especially when you look at the close games Alabama had," Vingle said. "I thought Penn State, overall, has proven themselves more than Alabama."
