2012 BCS Rankings Update: Week 13

The sixth BCS rankings came out Sunday. This ranking is important because it decides which if a school makes a BCS bowl game or not and which two schools goes to the BCS National Title Game. I don't really like the BCS because it doesn't give every team a chance to compete for a National Title. There will be a 4 team playoff in starting in the 2014 season which is a start. I would prefer a 16 team playoff, that way if you lose you can still compete for the National Title. The top was shaken up a lot again after #1 Kansas State feel at home to Baylor and #2 Oregon also lost at home to Stanford in overtime. There are now 2 undefeated teams left, Notre Dame and Ohio State. No madder how good Ohio State is this year they will not appear in the BCS rankings due to their postseason ban for this season.

1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 11-0

Next Game: @ USC.

Last Game: vs. Wake Forest, W 38-0.

Last Week Rank: 3rd ↑

Projected BCS Bowl: BCS Title

More Information: Notre Dame's defense has looked great. They are tied for 1st in the nation allowing 10.1 PPG on defense. Manti Te'o has led the defense with 6 INTs and 96 tackles and is looking like a Heisman candidate. Notre Dame hasn't looked the most impressive this year but are the last undefeated standing not counting Ohio State. Notre Dame just has one more test and if they win they should be in the BCS Title game. They travel to USC which won't be easy. If they win they should end up in the Title game vs. the SEC Champion. Notre Dame might not be the best team in the nation but assuming they go undefeated they deserve to play for the National Title. My Rank: 1st

2. Alabama Crimson Tide 10-1 (6-1)
Next Game: vs. Auburn.  
Last Game: vs. Western Carolina, W 49-0.

Last Week Rank: 4th ↑

Projected BCS Bowl: BCS Title / Sugar

More Information: Just like last year Alabama's defense is great. They are tied for 1st in the nation at 10.1 PPG allowed on defense. Alabama offense has been very good as well. AJ McCarron also has been very solid. He has 2291 passing yards, 21 TDs and 2 INTs. Just one week earlier after Alabama lost to Texas A&M the SEC thought their 6 straight BCS Title streak would end this season. Now with Oregon and Kansas State loss Alabama has already jumped back to #2 and would be in the Title Game. If Alabama wins this week vs. Auburn they will win the SEC West and will have to play in the SEC Title game vs. #3 Georgia. The winner of the SEC mostly will play in the BCS Title game vs, Notre Dame if they win or someone else if Notre Dame loses. Alabama looks to make it back to the BCS Title game and be the first team since Ohio State in 2006 and 2007 to do so. They also look like they could become the first team ever in the BCS era to win back to back National Championships and bring home the 7th straight BCS Natioanl Title for the SEC. My Rank: 2nd

3. Georgia Bulldogs 10-1 (7-1)

Next Game: vs. Georgia Tech. 

Last Game: vs. Georgia Southern, W 45-14.

Last Week Rank: 5th ↑

Projected BCS Bowl: BCS Title / Any one besides the Title Game

More Information: Georgia has struggled a times this season. They did win the SEC East and will probably have to face #2 Alabama for the SEC Title in 2 weeks. Aaron Murray has looked good this year with 2986 passing yards and 28 passing TDs. They need to win this week if they want to make the BCS Title game. They should easily beat Georgia Tech. If they pull the upset vs. Alabama they will probably play in the BCS Title game vs. Notre Dame. If they lose to Alabama in the SEC Title game at 11-2 they will have a chance to make a BCS Bowl it will depend on how the other teams finish. I think Georgia is really good but I'm surprised their 3rd when you compare their only loss to Alabama, who lose by 5, Florida, who they beat by 8, and Oregon, who lost by 3 in OT. I don't see how Georgia is ranked higher than Florida and Oregon when Georgia lost by 28 in their only loss. My Rank: 5th

4. Florida Gators 10-1 (7-1)   

Next Game: @ Florida State.  
Last Game:  vs. Jacksonville State, W 23-0.

Last Week Rank: 6th ↑

Projected BCS Bowl: Any one besides the Title Game

More Information: Florida's defense is very strong. They are 3rd in the nation at 11.7 PPG allowed on defense. They haven't allowed 20 points or more in an of their games. Florida will finish 2nd in the SEC East due to their loss vs. Georgia. After 2 easy games they have to play at #10 Florida State this week which will be very hard. If If they go 11-1 they might a make a BCS Bowl it will depend on how the other teams in the SEC finish since only 2 teams per conference can play in BCS Bowls. If Notre Dame they might sneak into the BCS Title game vs. Alabama or Georgia. I would hope that if Notre Dame losses we would have another all-SEC BCS Title game this year. My Rank: 4th

5. Oregon Ducks 10-1 (7-1)

Next Game: @ Oregon State.

Last Game: vs. Stanford, L 17-14, OT.

Last Week Rank: 2nd ↓

Projected BCS Bowl: Any one besides the Title Game

More Information: Oregon has a great at offense averaging 51.1 PPG which is 2nd in the nation. Oregon's defense isn't bad either. Their offense was finally slowed this week when due to a missed field goal in OT they were upset at home vs. Stanford. Marcus Mariota has been a great QB for only being a freshman just like Johnny Manziel from Texas A&M. Mariota has put Heisman like numbers with 2976 total yards and 32 total touchdowns. Kenjon Barner didn't have the a great game but still looks like the best RB in the nation. He is 6th in the nation in rushing yards with 1426 yards and is tied for 4th in the nation with 19 rushing TDs. Barner stills remains in the Heisman race if with another sub par game. They were looking primed to take the #1 ranking after Kansas State loss but then they lost too. This was the first time since 2007 that #1 and #2 lost in the same week. Due to their to Stanford they will need to win at #15 Oregon State which won't be easy and need UCLA to beat Stanford to win the Pac-12 North now. If they win the Pac-12 North they will host UCLA in the Pac-12 Title game in 2 weeks which won't be easy either. If Notre Dame and Florida were to both loss Oregon could still jump back into the BCS Title game and play the SEC Champion. My Rank: 3rd
 

6. Kansas State Wildcats 10-1 (7-1)

Next Game: vs. Texas. 

Last Game: @ Baylor, L 24-52.

Last Week Rank: 1st ↓

Projected BCS Bowl: Fiesta

More Information: After taking the #1 spot last week, Kansas State got destroyed by Baylor this week by 28. Their offense has been great this season, scoring 40 or more 7 times out of 11 games. They are averaging 40.5 PPG which 10th in the nation. Collin Klein continues to look like the Heisman candidate (probably not the front runner after the loss) with 3093 total yards and 34 total touchdowns. With the loss they probably have a very small chance of getting into the BCS Title by the way they lost by 28. As long as they beat Texas in 2 weeks which won't be easy if they play like they did this past week they win the Big 12 and earn the Big 12's automatic bid to the Fiesta Bowl. My Rank: 6th

7. LSU Tigers 9-2 (5-2) 

Next Game: @ Arkansas.  
Last Game: vs. Mississippi, W 41-35.

Last Week Rank: 7th ↔

Projected BCS Bowl: Unlikely to make one

More Information: Like most SEC teams, LSU has a defense which is very strong. They are 12th in the nation at 17.3 PPG allowed on defense. Their QB, Zach Mettenberger, has struggled at times. LSU has struggled quite a bit during their 7 SEC games. They continue to struggle only beating Mississippi by 6 points this week. Their last regular season game is this week. They travel to Arkansas which should be pretty easy. At 10-2 they are unlikely also to make a BCS bowl with 3 SEC teams in front of them in the rankings. LSU is a very solid team but they will probably have to settle for a non-BCS Bowl this season. My Rank: 10th

8. Stanford Cardinal 9-2 (7-1)

Next Game: @ UCLA.

Last Game: @ Oregon, W 17-14.

Last Week Rank: 13th ↑

Projected BCS Bowl: Rose / Any one besides the Title Game

More Information: This week week Stanford went to Oregon and surprised everyone by holding the Ducks' offense just 14 points and coming out with a 3 point overtime win. Stanford's defense is very strong. They are averaging only 16.9 PPG which is 10th in the nation. If they beat UCLA this week they will host UCLA again for the Pac-12 Title game. If they win the Pac-12 they will play in the Rose Bowl due to the Pac-12's automatic bid to the Rose Bowl. If they lose they won't play in the Pac-12 Title game and still could make a BCS bowl. One of Stanford losses was to Notre Dame only be 3 in overtime earlier in the year. If they didn't lose to Washington by 4 earlier in the year they might have a chance to play for the National Title. Still Stanford is a very solid team even after losing Andrew Luck to the NFL. My Rank: 7th

9. Texas A&M Aggies 9-2 (5-2) 

Next Game: vs. Missouri.  
Last Game: vs. Sam Houston State, W 47-28.

Last Week Rank: 8th ↓

Projected BCS Bowl: Unlikely to make one

More Information: Texas A&M has a very strong offense. They are averaging 43.5 PPG which is tied for 6th in the nation. Johnny "Football" Manziel might be the Heisman front runner now. He has 4161 total yards and 38 total touchdowns. Those numbers are better than Klein's whose was considered the Heisman front runner. More amazingly he is just a freshman. This week he became only the 1st freshman QB to have more than 3000 passing yards and 1000 rushing yards in a season. They did lose Florida by 3 to open the season and to LSU by 5 earlier in the year but with the win vs. Alabama some experts have them making a BCS bowl rather than Florida or LSU even though they are ranked lower. They can still win the SEC West if Auburn beats Alabama and they beat Missouri. If Alabama, Texas A&M and LSU all tie at the top of the SEC West with a record of 6-2 the winner will be the highest ranked team in the BCS since each team loss to one of the two teams and beat the other. My Rank: 8th

10. Florida State Seminoles 10-1 (7-1)   

Next Game: vs. Florida.  
Last Game: @ Maryland, W 41-14.

Last Week Rank: 10th ↔

Projected BCS Bowl: Orange

More Information: Florida State has looked strong but they had a very week schedule. They do have a strong offense and defense. They are averaging 42.9 PPG which is 7th in the nation and are only allowing 13.1 PPG on defense which is 5th in the nation. They have only played one ranked team. They beat then #10 Clemson by 12. They did fall to NC State by 1 point or else they would have a good chance to make the BCS Title game. This week they have a big statement game vs. #4 Florida.  If they win and get a few upsets they might have a chance to play in the BCS Title game. They would probably need Notre Dame and Oregon both to lose and maybe more. They will have to beat the ACC Coastal Division Champion (probably Geogia Tech) in the ACC Title game in 2 weeks. They should easily win the ACC and play in the Orange Bowl regardless of what happens in the Florida game this week. My Rank: 9th