NCAA Football Rankings: Overrated Teams Set to Plummet Down BCS Standings

The Week 9 BCS rankings were of little surprise, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see a number of these teams stumble down from their perch, or even exit the standings completely within a few weeks.

Let’s take a look at a few teams that have some struggles looming on the horizon and predict exactly when, where and how they will fall from their current NCAA football ranking. 

No. 5 Notre Dame

The Irish are tough to attack here, but they just haven’t shown the offensive capability that they’ll need to make an undefeated run toward a BCS championship game.

In fact, it’s highly unlikely that Notre Dame even has what it takes to get past No. 8 Oklahoma this upcoming Saturday.

We believe that the Sooners are simply too dominant on both sides of the ball—especially the offensive one—for the Irish to handle. Brian Kelly’s squad is going to struggle to put up points—as it has all season—and that is bound to be the reason why it finally loses in a close Week 9 skirmish.

Next Loss: Week 9 vs. Oklahoma, 21-13

No. 17 Stanford

The Andrew Luck-less Cardinal have been quite a surprise in 2012. Their two losses came against Washington in a 17-13 thriller and Notre Dame in an overtime nail-biter.

However, they aren’t going to be able to finish this year out quite as strongly as they started—with a win over then-No. 2 USC—as they face No. 7 Oregon State and No. 4 Oregon in back-to-back games come Week 11 and 12.

While it’s certainly possible they win one of those, there is no chance they escape with both victories. There’s also a tough matchup against UCLA to close the season, and that could likely be the end of their Top 25 bid.

Next Loss: Week 11 vs. Oregon State, 21-20 

No. 20 Texas A&M

While the Aggies have been doing surprisingly well in their first SEC season, they have two extremely tough matchups coming on the heels of a heartbreaking loss to No. 6 LSU.

The first is against undefeated No. 11 Mississippi State in two weekends, followed by No. 1 Alabama just seven days later.

It’s likely that TAMU puts up a fight in these contests, but the SEC West is where the big boys roam, and it’s going to be tough enough to overcome the Bulldogs, without even getting into how tough the Crimson Tide will be as they look for a repeat national championship.

A&M will be lucky to leave with a narrow loss to Miss St., but it isn't scratching the Tide, and that’s going to drop its ranking. 

Next Loss: Week 10 vs. Mississippi State, 27-21