BCS Standings: Overrated Teams That Will Be Exposed This Fall

The most troubling thing about being on top is that there is nowhere to go but down.

For a handful of top-ranked college football teams this fall, undefeated starts mean increased attention and overexposure. Both are vital ingredients in forming an overrated football team.

Now that the season's first BCS standings are out, these teams can't avoid the spotlight and will ultimately cave to pressure thrust upon them by college football's flawed system.

Here are three overrated teams set to experience a letdown or two this fall.

No. 4 Kansas State

After winning their sixth straight game last weekend at Iowa State, Bill Snyder's Kansas State Wildcats were propelled to No. 4 in the BCS standings. Unfortunately, they won't be there for long. 

Kansas State will be on the road this weekend in Morgantown to take on No. 13 West Virginia. Quite frankly, the Wildcats could not be coming to town at a worse time. The Mountaineers are fresh off a 35-point beatdown at Texas Tech last weekend and will be out to not only win, but embarrass Kansas State en route to getting back into the BCS race.

Collin Klein and the Wildcats have yet to face a passing attack as potent as the Mountaineers'. Despite its loss in Week 7, WVU is still ranked third in the nation in passing yards and seventh in scoring offense. 

No. 5 Notre Dame 

The Fighting Irish should move to 7-0 with relative ease this weekend hosting unranked Brigham Young in South Bend. Notre Dame's second-ranked scoring defense should keep the Cougars' offense in check and keep them off the scoreboard for the most part.

However, 8-0 won't be so much a guarantee for Brian Kelly's squad. Week 9 will see Notre Dame travel to Norman to take on No. 9 Oklahoma. The Sooners are coming off a 42-point rout of Texas in the Red River Shootout, and they feature the country's ninth-best scoring offense. 

The Irish's luck will have to run out sooner or later, and if by some miracle Notre Dame can escape Oklahoma with a win, then it will have to step up once more in the season finale at No. 10 USC. 

The Fighting Irish are a 10-2 team at best, but their controversial win over Stanford last week has them flying high in the BCS standings. 

No. 8 Oregon State

Like Notre Dame, Oregon State should cruise in Week 8 and remain undefeated heading into their last October matchup of the season.

That's when things get tricky for the Beavers.

Mike Riley's squad is already in uncharted territory, but it will have to win at Washington, at No. 20 Stanford and at home against the No. 2 Oregon Ducks in order to remain perfect and inside the Top 10 of the BCS standings.

With starting quarterback Sean Mannion still recovering from midseason meniscus surgery (via Oregon Live), the Oregon State offense is undermanned, which it can ill-afford to be when going up against the aforementioned Pac-12 powerhouses. 

To this point, the Beavers' two signature wins have come against Wisconsin and UCLA, neither of which is in the BCS Top 25 standings after Week 7.

2012 BCS STANDINGS
1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Oregon
4. Kansas State
5. Notre Dame
6. LSU
7. South Carolina
8. Oregon State
9. Oklahoma
10. USC
11. Georgia
12. Mississippi State
13. West Virginia
14. Florida State
15. Rutgers
16. Louisville
17. Texas Tech
18. Texas A&M
19. Clemson
20. Stanford
21. Cincinnati
22. Boise State
23. TCU
24. Iowa State
25. Texas

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