College Football Rankings 2013 Week 12: AP Standings Unveiled
The official release of the Associated Press’ Week 12 Top 25 college football rankings has the fans in a frenzy, and the focus has shifted to where every team stands after another wild chapter in the 2013 season.
Next year will feature the first College Football Playoff, but fans of the sport are stuck with the standard rankings system for now. Here are the full standings and breakdown heading into Week 12 after an exciting week with some notable outcomes.
*All statistics via ESPN.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| 1 | Alabama | 9-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Florida State | 9-0 | 3 |
| 3 | Ohio State | 9-0 | 4 |
| 4 | Baylor | 8-0 | 5 |
| 5 | Stanford | 8-1 | 6 |
| 6 | Oregon | 8-1 | 3 |
| 7 | Auburn | 9-1 | 7 |
| 8 | Clemson | 8-1 | 8 |
| 9 | Missouri | 9-1 | 9 |
| 10 | Texas A&M | 8-2 | 11 |
| 11 | South Carolina | 7-2 | 13 |
| 12 | Oklahoma State | 8-1 | 15 |
| 13 | UCLA | 7-2 | 16 |
| 14 | Michigan State | 8-1 | 18 |
| 15 | UCF | 7-1 | 19 |
| 16 | Fresno State | 9-0 | 17 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 7-2 | 21 |
| 18 | LSU | 7-3 | 10 |
| 19 | Louisville | 8-1 | 20 |
| 20 | Northern Illinois | 9-0 | 22 |
| 21 | Arizona State | 7-2 | 23 |
| 22 | Oklahoma | 7-2 | 12 |
| 23 | Texas | 7-2 | NR |
| 24 | Miami (Fla.) | 7-2 | 14 |
| 25 | Georgia | 6-3 | NR |
After watching the No. 6 Oregon Ducks lose in heartbreaking fashion to the No. 5 Stanford Cardinal Thursday night, it was clear that both the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 2 Florida State Seminoles were the class of the field.
If both programs remain undefeated through the rest of the regular season, there is little doubt that Alabama will play Florida State in the BCS National Championship Game.
Fans of Stanford, the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes and the No. 4 Baylor Bears will all believe they have done enough to warrant a spot in the national title conversation. As well as the aforementioned teams have played, the Seminoles and Crimson Tide will decide their own fates.
Oregon may have lost in Week 11, but the team is still one of the most dangerous in the nation. The Ducks will now be looking to find redemption the rest of the season by earning a spot in another BCS bowl game (possibly the Sugar Bowl, via Bleacher Report’s BCS guru Samuel Chi).
The rest of the Top 10 isn’t easy to decipher, either. No. 7 Auburn, No. 8 Clemson and No. 9 Missouri all have one loss and have faced much tougher competition than many of the other teams fighting for BCS contention.
Perennial college football powerhouses like No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 11 South Carolina, and No. 22 Oklahoma each have amassed two losses and will not be fighting for the top bowl berth unless at least two teams slip in the final stages of the season.
While teams continue to jostle for position in the heart of the rankings—teams like No. 24 Miami (Fla.) keep falling and programs like No. 12 Oklahoma State continue to climb—the battle for the non-automatic qualifying position is also heating up.
No. 16 Fresno State and No. 20 Northern Illinois are both undefeated and looking to win out to ensure they make it into a BCS bowl game. If either team losses, the program would immediately fall out of contention and leave the door open for the other.
Add in all of the top programs desperate to secure a marquee bowl berth for themselves, and it’s clear that the 2013 regular season is going to get even wilder as teams continue jockeying for position in the waning weeks.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
