BCS Standings 2012: Predicting the Top 25 After Week 12

For the third week in a row we will see a new projected BCS title game, and for the second week in a row a new team at the top of the standings. 

It’s as if Baylor and Stanford took the BCS standings, shook it up like a BCS snow globe and watched as former No. 1 Kansas State and No. 2 Oregon tumbled down in the Week 13 standings.

After the top two teams, the new Top 10 should resemble last week’s standings with the SEC having a stranglehold on top.

Looking further down in these projected standings you’ll notice the absence of such teams like USC, Louisiana Tech and Texas Tech. 

In Louisiana Tech and USC’s case, the loss also knocked them out of contention for their conference championships. 

However, entering the new standings should be Boise State, Mississippi State and Kent State. Boise State and Mississippi State will be reentering the BCS standings while Kent State will be making its first ever appearance among the BCS Top 25.

Here is how the standings should look like when they’re released at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

	Team	Record
No. 1	Notre Dame	11-0
No. 2	Alabama	10-1
No. 3	Georgia	10-1
No. 4	Florida	10-1
No. 5	Oregon	10-1
No. 6	LSU	9-2
No. 7	Texas A&M	9-2
No. 8	South Carolina	9-2
No. 9	Florida State	10-1
No. 10	Stanford	9-2
No. 11	Clemson	10-1
No. 12	Kansas State	10-1
No. 13	Oklahoma	8-2
No. 14	Nebraska	9-2
No. 15	Texas	8-2
No. 16	UCLA	9-2
No. 17	Oregon State	8-2
No. 18	Louisville	9-1
No. 19	Michigan	8-3
No. 20	Rutgers	9-1
No. 21	Oklahoma State	7-3
No. 22	Washington	7-4
No. 23	Boise State	9-2
No. 24	Mississippi State	8-3
No. 25	Kent State	10-1

As you can see, Oregon should fall to No. 5. With LSU struggling at home to Ole Miss—winning 41-35—the Tigers should not be placed ahead of the Ducks. 

At No. 5, Oregon still has a shot at playing for the BCS championship. With a win next week against Oregon State, they’ll clinch the Pac-12 North. If the Ducks can then subsequently beat out UCLA for the conference title, it will give Oregon two victories over top-seeded teams. 

Should Notre Dame or Alabama lose in one of its final games, then the Ducks could sneak back into the BCS title game. 

Meanwhile, Kansas State’s 52-24 blowout loss to Baylor should send the Wildcats out of the Top 10, though they still have the inside track at the Big 12 title if they can beat Texas in two weeks. 

As always, just don't be too surprised if these BCS standings could look completely different after Thanksgiving weekend. 

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