BCS Rankings 2012: Projecting Biggest Movers After Upset Filled Week 12

College football and upsets go hand-in-hand, and following Week 12's action, the projected BCS rankings for Sunday should be a scrambled version of last week's.

It's as if somebody took pieces to an already-placed puzzle and decided to stir them to form a completely different looking picture. But hey, that's college football, right?

With Kansas State, Oregon, USC and Louisiana Tech all going down, the new BCS poll, which will be released on Sunday, will see some significant jumps taking place.

These are the most likely candidates to make those biggest jumps.

Notre Dame

Making the transition to the No. 1 team in the country doesn't come without any burdens. Just ask Alabama and Kansas State.

The Crimson Tide wore the crown for the entire season, but against Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M, that crown suddenly became too heavy to carry. Heck, Kansas State couldn't even carry it for one week.

But as Notre Dame enters its last game of the season against a USC club that's potentially without Matt Barkley, the Irish should be able to survive and secure their berth in the national championship game.

The No. 1 ranking is new territory for Notre Dame, as the Irish have never held the No. 1 spot in the BCS standings. For that reason alone, it makes for a tremendous jump.

Alabama

Well, it didn't take long for Alabama to get back into the national championship conversation.

It's as if Nick Saban is poking his head back in the door with a smile, saying, "Thought you got rid of us?"

SEC commissioner Mike Slive would be right behind him going, "Come on, you know better than that."

The SEC is back in the title hunt, and if Alabama and Georgia take care of business against Auburn and Georgia Tech, respectively, the SEC championship featuring both clubs should serve as a play-in game. That's assuming both teams come in at No. 2 and No. 3 in tonight's new BCS rankings, however.

Hard to believe that a week ago, fans thought the SEC would not be defending its title reign.

Stanford

The reason the SEC's title hopes are still alive can be credited to Stanford, the team that knocked off No. 2 Oregon.

With the 17-14 upset victory, Stanford should launch itself into the Top 10 of the BCS. The Cardinal should move up at least four spots from its previous 13th slot.

Defeating a team like Oregon will give Stanford the credibility of being one of the top two-loss teams in the country, and it should jump a few one-loss teams as well.

Expect Stanford to move ahead of every two-loss team, minus LSU.

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State will benefit from Texas Tech, Louisiana Tech and USC losing in Sunday's polls.

The Pokes came into their Top 25 matchup against Texas Tech ranked at No. 24, and after the Cowboys trampled the Red Raiders 59-21, Oklahoma State improved to 7-3.

With teams ahead of the Cowboys falling and Oklahoma State coming off of a mauling against another ranked team, the Pokes should get close to that No. 20 slot.

Here's my projected Top 25 for Sunday night's BCS rankings:

1. Notre Dame

2. Alabama

3. Georgia

4. Florida

5. Kansas State

6. Oregon

7. LSU

8. Stanford

9. Texas A&M

10. Florida State

11. South Carolina

12. Clemson

13. Oklahoma

14. Nebraska

15. Oregon State

16. Texas

17. UCLA

18. Michigan

19. Louisville

20. Oklahoma State

21. Rutgers

22. Boise State

23. Northern Illinois

24. Kent State

25. Washington