College blue bloods at top

Notre Dame, Alabama on course to meet for title

The Bowl Championship Series standings subbed out Kansas State and Oregon for two of college football’s most valuable properties.

Notre Dame and Alabama, traditional powers that each have won eight Associated Press titles in their storied histories, are No. 1 and No. 2 in the BCS standings released Sunday.

Notre Dame, the only eligible undefeated school in the national title race, has a BCS average of .9973, followed by Alabama at .9333.

The schools will meet for the national title on Jan. 7 in South Florida provided Notre Dame wins at USC this week and Alabama closes with victories against Auburn and Georgia.

Georgia is third in the BCS with an average of .8763, followed by Florida and Oregon. Kansas State fell from first to sixth this week and is followed by LSU, Stanford, Texas A&M and Florida State.

NotreDame isNo. 1 in the BCS for the first time in school history, while Alabama held the top spot for the first four weeks this season before its Nov. 10 home loss to Texas A&M.

Notre Dame improved to 11-0 with a 38-0 home win over Wake Forest. After the game, Irish coach Brian Kelly retreated to his home to watch Saturday games featuring No. 1 Kansas State andNo. 2 Oregon.

Kansas State was the first pillar to fall as the Wildcats were shocked at Baylor, which was followed shortly by Stanford’s overtime win against Oregon.