BCS Rankings 2012: Easiest and Hardest Remaining Game for Each Top 25 Team

The BCS poll was released for the first time during 2012 on Sunday night. There were a few surprises that came with the release, but there is a lot of football left to play that will bring a lot of shifts throughout the Top 25.

Each team has tough games remaining, but there are some cupcakes as well. We will take a look at each team’s schedule, and breakdown the easiest and hardest reaming games for this year. 

Some teams have the upper hand with scheduling, but they are not as deep as the teams at the top. This season has been full surprises with a number of upsets already in the bag. There could be more.

Here is a look at what is to come for each Top 25 team.

No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide

Easiest Game: Western Carolina Catamounts

Hardest Game: No. 6 LSU Tigers

Alabama has been rolling over the competition so far this season. The closest game they have played was a 33-14 win over Ole Miss to finish out September. 

The Tide currently boast the No. 1 defense in every major category. The Tide are leading in scoring, pass, rushing, pass efficiency and total defense. What else matters?

A game against Tennessee looks to be a fun one to watch, but the game at LSU to start November will be the focus of the country. It is by far the Crimson Tide’s toughest game remaining on the schedule. 

It will match Alabama’s No. 1 defense against LSU’s No. 2 total defense. LSU also ranks as the No. 8 scoring, No. 6 rushing defense and No. 2 pass defense in the country. 

Both the Tide and Tigers are bad at throwing the football, but their rushing attacks win football games. Whoever moves the ball on the ground will win this football game. 

The easiest game that Alabama will have is easily against the Western Carolina Catamounts. It is Alabama’s FCS competition for the season and falls right before the Auburn game. 

It was a struggle to choose this game over Auburn. 

Halfway kidding there. In reality the Catamounts will see the Alabama second and third stringers by the start of the second half. 

No. 2 Florida Gators

Easiest Game: Jacksonville State Gamecocks

Hardest Game: South Carolina Gamecocks

Florida is the SEC surprise of the year, rising from the No. 23 ranking to the No. 2 team in the country after six straight wins. Will Muschamp has put this team on the map with his coaching style and defense, but the offense is picking up their play as well.

The Gators head into the heart of the schedule this coming Saturday when they host the No. 7 South Carolina Gamecocks. South Carolina is coming off of a tough road loss to LSU, now facing a second tough road test in as many weeks. 

The Gators have been impressive on defense, pulling a Top 20 ranking in every major category. LSU beat the Gamecocks with defense; expect for Florida to attempt to do the same.

Connor Shaw will be coming off of his worst game of the season, completing only 55.9 percent of his passes and tossing two interceptions. For only the second time this season he was held to negative yards on the ground. 

The big question will be in Jeff Driskel can find success against this Carolina defense. This should be one of the best SEC games to date. 

The same strategy will should work for Florida, but the Ole Ball Coach Steve Spurrier may have a few tricks left for his old hometown team. 

The Gamecocks from Jacksonville State are the FCS team that has landed on Florida’s schedule this season. Expect a big payday for the Gamecocks, but not much else. 

No. 3 Oregon Ducks

Easiest Game: Colorado Buffaloes

Hardest Game: USC Trojans

Oregon fans may feel like they got gypped falling to No. 3 in the BCS, but the Ducks have a lot of time left to climb the rankings. 

One of the biggest surprises for the Ducks has been the performance of freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota. Mariota has completed 67.9 percent of his passes and has 15 touchdown throws on the year. He has two games with four touchdown tosses. 

The Ducks offense has been led well, but the defense is also another big surprise. The Ducks have given up yards and points late in games, but that is when Chip Kelly clears the bench leading by 35 points.

The Ducks travel to USC to kick off the month of November. USC has been winning, but they have been inconsistent on defense. Oregon will shred the USC defense this year. It should be a fun game to follow for the first few quarters, but expect Oregon to win convincingly. 

The easiest game of the year comes against Colorado. The Buffaloes have lost to Sacramento State already this season so this doesn’t look to be a strong matchup for the Bufs. 

The Buffaloes have defeated Washington State in their one win of the year. Colorado is a bad football team. It won’t be close.

No. 4 Kansas State Wildcats

Easiest Game: Oklahoma State Cowboys

Hardest Game: West Virginia Mountaineers

The Kansas State Wildcats have been a big surprise on the national stage this year, but people in Manhattan, KS. aren’t taken off guard. Collin Klein is one of the best signal callers in the country, and he leads one of the best offenses in the country. 

The Rushing defense of the Wildcats has also been impressive, ranking as the No. 15 rushing defensive unit in the country. There pass defense needs help, coming in at No. 74, but this is the Big 12. 

Kansas State still has four Top 25 teams remaining on its schedule, with No. 13 West Virginia looking to be the most difficult. The Wildcats are not good against the pass and West Virginia is one of the most prolific passing offenses in the country. 

West Virginia did struggle against Texas Tech, but the Red Raiders are playing great defense this fall. Kansas State and West Virginia will mix offensive styles and produce a lot of points. This will be a fun game to follow. 

Oklahoma State is the easiest game that remains for the Wildcats this season. The Cowboys are a 3-2 team this year, and may have a few more wins before they square off against the Wildcats. This game will be one of the best remaining “easy” games for Top 25 teams this season. 

Kansas State has a gauntlet of a schedule remaining. If the Wildcats stay undefeated, they should land in the national title game. 

No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Easiest Game: Pittsburgh Panthers 

Hardest Game: Oklahoma Sooners

Notre Dame has been a very impressive defensive team this fall. The Irish are playing more inspired than they have for the past decade. This team is ready to make a run at a title. 

Before they can make it into the title game, Notre Dame has to face two Top 10 teams. No. 9 Oklahoma is the most concerning matchup, and it comes in Norman in just two short weeks. 

The Sooners are hitting on all cylinders offensively, finding yards through the air and on the ground. The most impressive offensive player has been Damien Williams, the Sooners running back. 

Williams has 508 yards on only 66 carries this year, averaging 7.7 yards per carry. He also has six touchdown runs. 

Notre Dame is playing tough defense, especially against the run. Notre Dame is the No. 25 rushing defense and No. 2 scoring defense in the country. There is no way Oklahoma puts 40 plus points on the Irish. 

The bigger question will be if Notre Dame can score. The Irish are No. 76 in total offense, coming in at No. 86 in passing offense. The Irish continue to rotate quarterbacks, which has led to inconsistency. This will be a tough win for Notre Dame. 

The Pitt game should be a cake walk for the Fighting Irish. Pitt is a really bad football team. They did beat Virginia Tech, but the Hokies are as lost as Texas and Auburn at this point. 

Get past Oklahoma, and the Irish are national title contenders. 

No. 6 LSU Tigers

Easiest Game: Arkansas Razorbacks

Hardest Game: Alabama Crimson Tide

LSU has been up and down all season. After a few weeks of really bad football against Auburn and Florida, the Tigers offense found the light and lit up the South Carolina defense this week. 

Jeremy Hill burst onto the scene as a premier style runner, and the Tigers have a lot of promise heading into the heart of the schedule. 

The Bayou Bengals will take on No. 1 Alabama to start November. The Tigers host the Crimson Tide in Baton Rouge it what will be a matchup of Top 5 teams. 

Two of the best defenses will be going head to head, with offensive yards extremely tough to come by. Watching the LSU and Alabama game may be a pain if you love offense, but it will be a thing of beauty if you like smash-mouth football. 

LSU will have the upper hand hosting the contest, but that doesn’t hand the Tigers the win.

The easiest game for LSU remaining is sadly the Arkansas game. What looked to be one of the toughest matchups of the season has turned into the worst game on the Tigers schedule. 

Arkansas was expected to be a dark-horse candidate to win the SEC West. Now the Razorbacks are clawing to remain relevant. 

No. 7 South Carolina Gamecocks

Easiest Game: Wofford Terriers

Hardest Game: Florida Gators

South Carolina was a national title contender before the loss to LSU this past Saturday. No breaks have been afforded for this Gamecocks squad, as they head to No. 2 Florida this week. 

This will be a defensive matchup that should result in a great football game, but Carolina will have to regroup quickly. A tough three game stretch that had Georgia, LSU and now Florida in it may derail the Gamecocks season completely.

Connor Shaw has to get things back on track and he could against Florida. The Gators have been decent against the pass currently coming in at the No. 22 spot in passing defense, but there have been some mistakes and blown coverage that could be exploited by Shaw. 

Jeff Driskel has to get the ball moving early, or it could be a long tough road for him against the tough South Carolina defense. 

The Wofford Terriers are easily the easiest game left for South Carolina to face. The Terriers are 5-1, but this isn’t going to result in one of the many FCS upsets that have come in the past few years. 

Beat Florida, and the Gamecocks could be right back in the heart of the national title discussion. 

No. 8 Oregon State Beavers

Easiest Game: Nicholls State Colonels

Hardest Game: Oregon Ducks

The Beavers have a very tough road left to travel this season. The Pac-12 surprise lost its star quarterback Sean Mannion just a few weeks ago, hurting the chances of this team to run the table. 

The easiest game that the Beavers will face is undoubtedly the postponed season ending contest that will come against Nicholls State. The Colonels are having a terrible season, and it won’t finish well against the Beavers. 

A real battle for the Pac-12 will go down at the end of November when the Civil War is played in Corvallis. Reser Stadium will be rocking in expectation of a great contest between this two instate teams. 

Oregon has an amazingly efficient offense, ranking as the No. 4 rushing offense in the country. Mike Riley has guided an Oregon State team that is currently boasting the No. 4 rushing defense.

This will be a great unit matchup, but Oregon is very good at the skill positions. Oregon State has lost starting quarterback Sean Mannion for what may be the season. If he returns, it may give the Beavers enough offense to stay with the Ducks.

Circle this game on the calendar. It should produce great football and an exciting close to a ridiculous college football season.

No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners

Easiest Game: Kansas Jayhawks

Hardest Game: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Oklahoma Sooners lost a tough game against No. 4 Kansas State earlier this season, but the Sooners have bounced back with a vengeance, destroying Texas 63-21 this past Saturday. 

The Sooners are scrambling to remain in the BCS chat and winning big has done that. The Sooners face four more ranked teams, so the climb could continue for this one loss Sooners squad. 

The toughest game that the Sooners will face is undoubtedly against Notre Dame. The Irish have the No. 14 pass defense and the No. 5 pass efficiency defense in the country. Landry Jones will have a tough time against this secondary, and will battle Manti Te’o who has been very good in coverage as well for the Irish. 

Oklahoma will need to force the Irish to pass; if that happens the Sooners will have the upper hand in the game. 

The Sooners have an easy contest to separate the tough Texas game and Notre Dame. Kansas comes to town this Saturday. The Sooners should throttle the Kansas team from start to finish. 

The Jayhawks simply don’t have it this fall. 

No. 10 USC Trojans

Easiest Game: Colorado Buffaloes

Hardest Game: Oregon Ducks

The Trojans have had a major fall this season. What was the No.1 team in the country is now struggling to hold on to the Top 10 spot.The Trojans have a schedule that could help them climb a lot more before the season concludes, but they have to win the tough game. 

Colorado lands on the schedule as a must win, but not as one of those tough games. The Buffaloes are one of the worst teams in the country this season and should lose to the Trojans handily. 

Expect USC to really get the offense cranked up when they host Colorado. 

The Oregon game that is waiting to start November is a different story. The Ducks are playing very well offensively and have a steady defense that makes plays when they need to. 

The USC offense has struggled against Stanford and Washington but not much else has stopped this team. If the Trojans can pull off the major upset and beat Oregon, they could return to the title talk, but it will be a difficult finish. Notre Dame closes out the year for the Trojans. 

No. 11 Georgia Bulldogs

Easiest Game: Georgia Southern Eagles

Hardest Game: Florida Gators 

Georgia was expected to battle South Carolina for the SEC East this season, but a 35-7 loss to the Gamecocks quickly stopped those discussions. 

Georgia could find its way back into the SEC East title game conversation with a big win over No. 2 Florida in a few weeks. The Gators are very strong defensively, a side of the football that the Georgia team has struggled on.

If Georgia can defeat the Gators, they will be right back in the national title discussion. It would put them within a stone’s throw of the Top 5. 

The easiest game will easily be the Georgia Southern Eagles. Georgia Southern is the only FCS team that lands on Georgia’s schedule this season. This will be a blowout win for the Bulldogs. 

No. 12 Mississippi State Bulldogs

Easiest Game: Arkansas Razorbacks

Hardest Game: Alabama Crimson Tide

Mississippi State has been on a role this season. The Bulldogs are currently 6-0, and only two weeks away with a major matchup with No.1 Alabama. The Crimson Tide is the runaway No. 1 team in the country, and the Bulldogs are this year’s SEC early surprise. 

The Bulldogs will be facing a really tough Alabama team in Tuscaloosa and will not be a favorite to win the game. The Bulldogs will need a big game from Tyler Russell in an attempt to expose the youth in the No. 1 ranked Alabama secondary. 

There is no secret to beating Alabama. It is about out-executing the Tide. It is so easy to type, but it is terribly difficult to do on the football field. 

The Arkansas Razorbacks will be the easiest game left on the Bulldogs schedule when Mississippi State hosts the Hogs the second to last weekend of the season.

The Bulldogs do face Middle Tennessee State this weekend, but I am far from convinced that the Blue Raiders won’t give the Bulldogs a tougher game than Arkansas. 

No. 13 West Virginia Mountaineers

Easiest Game: Kansas Jayhawks

Hardest Game: Kansas State Wildcats

The West Virginia Mountaineers were expected to be national title contenders until they traveled to Lubbock TX. and got throttled by the Red Raiders. Texas Tech shattered the title hopes of the Mountaineers with a 49-14 win. 

West Virginia still has four ranked teams remaining on the schedule with No. 4 Kansas State and No. 9 Oklahoma remaining. Kansas State will be the toughest game for the Mountaineers to win. 

The Wildcats will control the clock and keep the West Virginia offense limited in its opportunities. The Mountaineers will hope to pass often against the Wildcats mediocre secondary, but Texas Tech showed that pressure was the key to throwing off Heisman Hopeful Geno Smith’s game.

The Mountaineers do land a cupcake to finish the season, with Kansas traveling to West Virginia to finish the season. No matter what the rest of the season holds, the Mountaineers can rest a little easier with a win to close the season all but guaranteed. 

No. 14 Florida State Seminoles

Easiest Game: Maryland Terrapins 

Hardest Game: Florida Gators

The Seminoles were well on their way to playing for the national title, but a loss to N.C. State a few weeks ago derailed those hopes. 

Now the Seminoles sit in the middle of the Top 25 and have a long road ahead to climb back into the BCS conversation. Maryland will not help the Seminoles climb the polls, but the easiest game on the Seminoles schedule comes at a great time. 

The Seminoles face the Terps the week before the major showdown in Tallahassee against the No. 2 Florida Gators. 

FSU picked up the pieces against Boston College this past weekend, but there is still a long way to go before they can knock off the Gators. The Seminoles will have a tough time moving the football against the Gators, and will likely finish the season with a loss. 

No. 15 Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Easiest Game: Army Black Knights

Hardest Game: Cincinnati Bearcats

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have ridden the No. 3 scoring defense and No. 2 rushing defense in the country to the Top 15 of the BCS. The Scarlet Knights have a great shot at a BCS game by winning the Big East, but No. 21 Cincinnati and No. 16 Louisville stand in their way. 

The Scarlet Knights face a very easy game against Army at the best possible time this year. The Black Knights will travel to New Jersey the week before the Cincinnati game, and the week after a bye. 

The Scarlet Knights will defeat Army easily, and will have a good amount of overall rest before taking on the toughest game of the season. The No. 21 Bearcats on the road. 

The Big East will come down to Rutgers, Louisville and Cincinnati and this game is huge in deciding the winner. The Louisville game comes at home this year, making the Bearcats matchup a little tougher for Rutgers. 

No. 16 Louisville Cardinals

Easiest Game: Syracuse Orangemen

Hardest Game: Rutgers Scarlet Knights

The Cardinals were expected to be one of the favorites in the Big East this season, but few expected the conference to boast three undefeated teams by mid-season. 

Louisville has one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Teddy Bridgewater, but a mixture of solid defense and efficient offense has led to the undefeated run for the Cardinals.

A road trip to Syracuse looks to be the easiest game on the schedule remaining for the Cardinals. 

A season ending road trip to Rutgers could be very dangerous. That game stands the chance to determine the winner of the Big East, holding BCS implications to close the year. Rutgers is very good defensively and would match up well against this Cardinals team. 

It will be an interesting finish to the season in the Big East with Louisville playing a big part of the picture. 

No. 17 Texas Tech Red Raiders

Easiest Game: Kansas Jayhawks

Hardest Game: Kansas State Wildcats

Texas Tech pulled off the unexpected Saturday when they defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers at home. 

The Red Raiders have become a force under Tommy Tuberville, and they look to continue the impressive and unexpected march to victory this season. Facing Kansas in mid-November is a good place to keep on winning, but three ranked teams fall on the schedule before the Jayhawks.

The toughest of the three contests comes against the No. 4 Kansas State Wildcats. Texas Tech travels to Manhattan in two weeks to face the tough Bill Snyder directed team. 

Beating West Virginia was impressive. It would be unworldly if the Red Raiders made it through the next three games undefeated or with two wins.

No. 18 Texas A&M Aggies

Easiest Game: Sam Houston State Bearkats

Hardest Game: Alabama Crimson Tide

Texas A&M has had a great start in its first season in the SEC. The Aggies have played solid offensively, and have executed on defense just enough to keep the Aggies at the one loss point. 

The Aggies face No. 6 LSU at home this week, but the toughest game left on the schedule lands in November when the Aggies travel to No. 1 Alabama. 

Alabama is playing the best football of anyone in the country, but the A&M spread offense may match up well against the Alabama defense. It will be a fun game to watch unfold. 

The easiest game easily comes against Sam Houston State before the season ender against Missouri. The Aggies have a tough road to finish, but could be a very good middle of the pack SEC West team by seasons end. 

No. 19 Clemson Tigers

Easiest Game: Maryland Terrapins

Hardest Game: South Carolina Gamecocks

Dabo Swinney’s crew just can’t put together a completely solid season. The Tigers from Clemson were expected to be title contenders this season, but now the Tigers have tumbled to just inside the Top 20. 

The Tigers face a very winnable schedule for the rest of the season, but a season ending game against the No. 7 South Carolina Gamecocks will be tough. Clemson hosts the contest, but the Gamecocks have been very good this season, almost defeating LSU on the road this past Saturday. 

Clemson does have a lot of winnable games that will help them prep the season ending contest, with a November 10 game against Maryland being the easiest game left for the Tigers. 

No. 20 Stanford Cardinal

Easiest Game: Washington State Cougars 

Hardest Game: Oregon Ducks

The Cardinal is currently the highest ranked two-loss team in the country. They had a heart breaking loss to Notre Dame this past week in overtime, but there are a number of games left on schedule to give the Cardinal a boost.

Back to back games against Washington State and Colorado will be very easy, with the easiest label landing on the Cougars because it is a Cardinal home game. 

Stanford also has to face No. 3 Oregon, which is easily the toughest game remaining. Stanford could not beat Oregon with Andrew Luck, could this year be the change of luck needed with Nunes leading the offense? Don’t expect that to happen, but it should be a fun game in the Pac-12. 

No. 21 Cincinnati Bearcats

Easiest Game: Syracuse Orangemen

Hardest Game: Louisville Cardinals

The Cincinnati Bearcats are running a surprisingly efficient undefeated season right now. The Bearcats have played consistent football, but they have yet to face a true test. 

That comes in just a few short weeks against the No.16 Louisville Cardinals. The battle for the Big East has come down to Rutgers, Louisville and Cincinnati, with the October 26 game between the Bearcats and Cardinals determining the leader in the race. 

The easiest game for Cincinnati comes at home against Syracuse the week after the Louisville showdown. After the game against the Cardinals, a throttle down game will be needed. 

No. 22 Boise State Broncos

Easiest Game: UNLV Rebels

Hardest Game: Nevada Wolfpack

The Broncos are having as successful a season as could have been expected at the midpoint. A loss in the season opener to Michigan State has sealed the Broncos fate for the season, but the Broncos could win out and earn bid to a decent bowl game. 

The Broncos face UNLV this coming Saturday and should walk over the Rebels. UNLV is a terrible football team this year, giving up over 30 points in six of its seven games. 

Boise State will face one tough contest this season as they finish the year against the Nevada Wolfpack. Nevada has been a spoiler for Boise seasons in the past, but this year there is nothing to spoil. 

It will still be a tough win for Boise, with the game coming in Nevada. 

No. 23 TCU Horned Frogs

Easiest Game: Oklahoma State Cowboys

Hardest Game: Kansas State Wildcats

The TCU Horned Frogs are in a tough position this fall. They lost Casey Pachall to rehab a few weeks ago after a ton of offseason issues littered this team with holes at key positions. 

The Horned Frogs have arguably the toughest finish to the season with five ranked teams coming up in the final six games. 

Oklahoma State will be the easiest game to win, but the Cowboys are still having a moderately successful season.

No. 4 Kansas State travels to TCU, but the Horned Frogs are not equipped to win that football game. What was expected to be a Big 12 run now looks like a middle of the road disappointing season for the Horned Frogs.

No. 24 Iowa State Cyclones

Easiest Game: Kansas Jayhawks

Hardest Game: Oklahoma Sooners

Paul Rhoads has this Cyclones team playing very good football. The Cyclones are currently 4-2 and have made it to relevance in the Big 12 this season. 

The Cyclones held their own against No. 4 Kansas State, likely helping solidify the two-loss team in the Top 25. 

The Cyclones schedule continues to be a grind with No. 9 Oklahoma looming in the distance. Two other ranked teams also remain on the schedule. The Sooners will test the Cyclones defense, but the Iowa State defense may be able to make some plays. 

The easiest game of the season comes against Kansas. Granted the Cyclones take on the Jayhawks on the road, but the game should be an easy win for Iowa State. 

No. 25 Texas Longhorns

Easiest Game: Kansas Jayhawks

Hardest Game: Kansas State Wildcats

The Texas Longhorns were destroyed at the hands of Oklahoma this past Saturday, shattering any hopes the Longhorns had at being a one-loss title contender this season.

The Texas team faces a tough schedule to finish, with four ranked teams remaining on the docket.

The Longhorns toughest game comes against No. 4 Kansas State to finish the year. Expect the Wildcats to run away with that game much like Oklahoma did this past Saturday.

The easiest game will be a win against the Kansas Jayhawks. The Longhorns do travel to Kansas, but the home field advantage for the Jayhawks isn’t that intimidating. 

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