BCS Rankings Week 12: Winners and Losers from Latest Poll

Another good week of college football is in the books and as the latest BCS rankings have been released, naturally there is massive movement among the top teams in the nation.

Losses by Stanford and Boise State have created some chaos around the top of the standings, and along with that will come a lot of what if questions for the final three weeks of the season.

Let's take a look at the winners and losers from the latest BCS rankings.

Winner: Alabama

Possibly the biggest winner of the week is Alabama, which thanks to losses from both Stanford and Boise State now just need one more domino to fall before a likely rematch against LSU in the BCS Championship Game.

A Stanford win on the road against Oregon likely may have seen them leap-frog the Crimson Tide in this week's BCS standings.

To get that and a Boise State loss in the same week and the the Crimson Tide definitely have to feel like winners.

Now they just need to hope for an Oklahoma State loss.

Loser: Boise State

What could have been for No. 10 Boise State?

To lose on a badly missed kick two years in a row will sit with this team for a long time.

Looking at how things played out and could still play out for the remainder of the season, this could have been the season that Boise State's argument might have really had some merit.

Even worse news for the Broncos is that in what seems like will be a one-loss season, they have no chance at being selected for an at-large BCS berth.

They have to win their conference to be eligible, and unless TCU drops a game to Colorado State or UNLV (both at home) that isn't going to happen.

Winner: Oregon

The Ducks have taken the long road back from their Week 1 loss to LSU and have climbed all the way back to No. 4 in the current rankings.

Climbing three spots from No. 7 in one week has Oregon in a fantastic spot, but it may not be enough to leap-frog Alabama.

Even with the midseason injury to LaMichael James, the Ducks have done a solid job of positioning themselves in a position to still reach the BCS Championship Game.

Loser: Stanford

The storybook return to school for his senior season of Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck won't have the happy ending that many would have liked.

The early-season soft schedule for Stanford was criticized, and if any team needed to make a statement against a good team it was the Cardinal. Maybe the computers had it right at the beginning when they didn't show Stanford much love.

A win at Oregon likely would have seen them leapfrog Alabama at No. 3 in the standings and have them in a solid position to play for the BCS championship if Oklahoma State should stumble.

Instead they fall to No. 9 and will be looking back at a blown opportunity and hope for an at-large berth to a BCS game.

Winners: Houston and Conference USA

Now some may argue that only in college football could a team like No. 11 Houston finish the season undefeated and not be afforded an opportunity to play for a national championship.

If that's the case, then that makes them a loser on this list.

Yet while I would agree partially with those that tend to take that stance, I have to call the Cougars winners in all of this.

It looks like they may be on pace to earn a BCS at-large bid and with that comes a huge payday.

The $17 million that will come from Houston being selected to a BCS bowl game gets split evenly among all current conference members, so Conference USA wins here as well.

Loser: Arkansas

Despite playing in the SEC and having their only loss come at the hands of No. 3 Alabama, the Razorbacks can't seem to do enough to get any love from the polls when it comes to one-loss teams.

They still are slightly in the mix for a BCS Championship Game appearance, but that would require beating LSU and winning the SEC Championship Game.

Even that would happen, it still likely wouldn't be enough as they sit at No. 6 and are ranked behind one-loss teams Alabama, Oregon and Oklahoma.

Winner: TCU

After a season-opening loss to Baylor, it was apparent that TCU wouldn't be returning to a BCS game this season, but not so fast.

Sitting right now ranked at No. 19, the Horned Frogs can still reach a BCS game if the following happen:

1. They win their conference

2. They finish in the top 16 of the final BCS standings.

3. They are ranked higher than an AQ conference champion.

Right now Houston holds all the cards to be a non-AQ representative in a BCS game, but the Cougars are coming up on the toughest part of their schedule. If they slip up then the door opens for TCU or maybe No. 20 Southern Miss.

TCU has two games remaining at home against Colorado State and UNLV, which shouldn't do much for their BCS ranking, but other teams ahead of them are bound to lose so the Horned Frogs are bound to move up.

They will definitely finish ahead of the Big East champion in the rankings, so the door isn't closed just yet.

Loser: Mountain West Conference

If anyone needed Boise State kicker Dan Goodale not to shank the potential game-winning field goal Saturday against TCU, it was the Mountain West Conference.

With that one swift kick, the MWC watched all sorts of money get washed down the drain.

Even worse for them is the fact that TCU did the honors to Boise State. That's the same TCU that's leaving for millions of guaranteed dollars from the the Big 12 Conference next season.

Maybe even worse could be that the outcome could change the minds of some schools being pursued by other conferences and more current MWC teams fleeing.

Winner: Wisconsin

If any Big Ten Conference team is currently in a good spot, it's the Wisconsin Badgers.

Just weeks ago we were talking about them possibly playing for the BCS Championship and then the Hail Mary against Michigan State happened.

Following another loss, the Badgers may have quickly fallen under the radar, but thanks to a Nebraska win at Penn State, the No.17 Badgers now control their own destiny to a probable Rose Bowl trip.

Loser: Big Ten Conference

In what has become a down year for the Big Ten Conference, every team currently has at least two losses. That means the loser of the Big Ten Championship Game will have three losses.

That also means the Big Ten has absolutely no chance of earning a BCS at-large bid.

Winner: Oklahoma

Boy, the Sooners have to look back at that Texas Tech loss and just kick themselves, but what they've done is position themselves nicely to still make a run at the BCS Championship Game.

First thing is first, and that is they must win Bedlam.

If they do, they will have to sit back and hope that it's a big enough bump in the BCS standings. It might not be, but either way they are in a position to have a chance if they win out.

Loser: Pac-12 Conference and Arizona State

Arizona State has been up and down for most of the year and fell out of position to win the Pac-12 South.

Yet they got second life when UCLA handed it control of the division back, but subsequently the Sun Devils went out and laid an egg against Washington State.

They surely would have stayed in the BCS rankings with a win. A 7-3 Arizona State team is attractive to a better bowl. A 6-4 Sun Devil team proves to be just mediocre.

It hurts the conference as a whole, and eventually could hurt Oregon the most.

With USC still serving sanctions, it's possible that in the first Pac-12 Championship Game, Oregon could be squaring off against a .500 or possibly under .500 team in the title game.

That won't help the Ducks get into the BCS Championship Game.

Loser: Virginia Tech and Clemson

With all the talk of one-loss teams and who should be in if certain teams lose at the end of the day, the two one-loss ACC teams get completely left out of the picture.

Even though they are both ranked in the top eight of the current BCS standings, neither team has a chance of reaching the BCS Championship Game.

Winner: Penn State

Just because they made it through a very trying week, the Nittany Lions come out winners.

Technically they still control their own destiny in the Big Ten Leaders Division, but the No. 21 Nittany Lions will have to get wins at both Ohio State and Wisconsin, which doesn't seem very likely.