BCS Rankings Week 11: Northern Illinois Slips To No. 18 In Latest Rankings

The Northern Illinois Huskies (9-0, 5-0 MAC) can't get no respect it seems. After dismantling the UMass Minutemen 63-19 Saturday, and getting dissed in the human polls, the Huskies actually slipped a spot in this week's BCS rankings, falling to No. 18.

The Huskies gained points overall, but fell back after Michigan State shot up five spots taking over the No. 17 spot this week. Fresno State stayed put at No. 16, putting some space between the Bulldogs and NIU. Despite falling, Northern Illinois still comes in ahead of both Louisville and UCF, though the lead is getting smaller.

The Cardinals did slip a spot to No. 20, but UCF jumped up two spots this week taking over No. 21. NIU's main competition in the BCS rankings is Fresno State, but it also needs to worry about those two American Athletic Conference schools. In order to earn an automatic bid NIU needs to finish No. 16 or higher and ahead of an AQ-Conference champion (hence the importance of Louisville and UCF), but also would need to finish ahead of Fresno State. The Huskies can earn an automatic bid regardless of finishing ahead of the AAC champion if it finishes in the Top 12, but would also need to be ahead of the Bulldogs, as only one non-AQ team can earn an automatic bid in that scenario.

With just three games to go in the regular season, and back-to-back games against Ball State and Toledo, the Huskies will need to win over voters and pull off some style wins that will carry more weight than a 44-point victory over UMass.

Here's a look at the full BCS standings for Week 11: