BCS Bowl Projections 2013: Analyzing Potential Matchups After Week 12 Standings

With the Week 12 BCS rankings officially released, the BCS bowl picture is starting to shape up.

As expected, Alabama has stayed on top while the Florida State Seminoles were able to hold on to their No. 2 spot.  Meanwhile, Ohio State was able to move up to No. 3 with the Oregon Ducks dropping to No. 6 after falling to Stanford.  With all of the recent events of the past week, the BCS bowl projections have changed a bit.

Below are the updated standings for Week 12 and a breakdown of each BCS bowl game based off of those current standings.

Rank	Team
1	Alabama Crimson Tide
2	Florida State Seminoles
3	Ohio State Buckeyes
4	Stanford Cardinal
5	Baylor Bears
6	Oregon Ducks
7	Auburn Tigers
8	Clemson Tigers
9	Missouri Tigers
10	South Carolina Gamecocks
11	Texas A&M Aggies
12	Oklahoma State Cowboys
13	UCLA Bruins
14	Fresno State Bulldogs
15	Northern Illinois Huskies
16	Michigan State Spartans
17	UCF Knights
18	Oklahoma Sooners
19	Arizona State Sun Devils
20	Louisville Cardinals
21	LSU Tigers
22	Wisconsin Badgers
23	Miami (FL) Hurricanes
24	Texas Longhorns
25	Georgia Bulldogs

	Bowl Game
Alabama	BCS National Championship	Florida State
Clemson	Orange Bowl	Oregon
Auburn	Sugar Bowl	UCF
Ohio State	Rose Bowl	Stanford
Baylor	Fiesta Bowl	Fresno State

BCS National Championship

No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Florida State

It's the matchup everyone would love to see, with the Alabama Crimson taking on the Florida State Seminoles.

With Oregon dropping in the latest rankings, the stage is set for these two teams to play as long as they can both win out.  Based off of how well both teams have played, this seems to be a real possibility.

The game would put Jameis Winston, the Heisman hopeful, against the Crimson Tide defense, which is easily the best in the country.  Meanwhile, AJ McCarron and T.J. Yeldon would try to go against a defense that's been almost as good.

Two legendary programs going head-to-head.  What's not to love?

Orange Bowl

No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 6 Oregon

If Florida State goes to the national championship, Clemson would get the spot to replace the Seminoles in the Orange Bowl.  Meanwhile, since Oregon would be out of the Pac-12 title, they would be the top at-large bid, letting them still go to a BCS bowl game.

This would be an incredibly entertaining battle, with two quarterbacks that could be playing in the NFL next season in Tajh Boyd and Marcus Mariota.  The two have combined for over 5,100 passing yards and 58 total touchdowns with just six interceptions, all of which are Boyd's.

While neither team is at the top of their conferences, they're still some of the best programs out there right now.  There will be a number of exciting playmakers to watch, including Sammy Watkins and De'Anthony Thomas, that will make this another incredibly exciting game.

Sugar Bowl

No. 6 Auburn vs. No. 17 UCF

Auburn and Missouri currently have identical in-conference and overall records.  But considering that Missouri will have to play Alabama in the SEC championship, that would give Auburn the bid to go to the Sugar Bowl.  Since UCF is currently on top of the American conference, they're an automatic qualifier and would be eligible for this bowl game.

After going just 3-9 last season, Auburn has completely turned things around this season.  The Tigers have had a terrific year, ranking third in the country in rushing with 320 yards per game on the ground.  Tre Mason and Nick Marshall have been huge, combining for nearly 1,800 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns on the ground.

For the UCF Knights, they've been able to climb on top of the American conference after beating Louisville a few weeks ago.  The only loss for the Knights came against the South Carolina Gamecocks, and they only lost by three points.  With four games remaining against unranked opponents, the Knights shouldn't have much of a problem making it to this bowl game.

The Tigers will likely be a big favorite in this one, but that just means that the Knights have a chance to pull off an incredible upset on a national stage.

Rose Bowl

No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Stanford

Arguably one of the most exciting college football games of the year, the Rose Bowl will have both the Pac-12 and Big Ten champions going at it in Stanford and Ohio State.

The Buckeyes are well on their way to posting their second consecutive undefeated season, only this time, they will be able to go to a bowl game.  Braxton Miller has been big in the team's last two wins, putting up nine total touchdowns and just one interception.

Meanwhile, the Stanford Cardinal just took down Oregon, making them the top team in their conference.  The entire team is littered with pro-caliber players, and they have a relatively easy schedule to finish out the year.

Other than the national championship game, this might be the most interesting matchup, as we will finally see if the Buckeyes can handle a tough and physical team like the Cardinal.

Fiesta Bowl

No. 5 Baylor vs. No. 14 Fresno State

In the final BCS bowl, the Baylor Bears will be taking on the Fresno State Bulldogs.  Baylor is currently on top of the Big 12, and Fresno State would be the only at-large team that isn't from a non-automatic qualifier conference.

Baylor has the most electric offense in that nation, racking up almost 700 yards of offense and 61 points per game.  Bryce Petty is trying to make his own case for the Heisman trophy, as he's put up almost 2,800 total yards and 29 total touchdowns.

Fresno State is currently undefeated and making a real run coming out of the MWC.  Their offense is led by Derek Carr, who has thrown for 3,421 yards, 32 touchdowns and just four interceptions.  As a team, the Bulldogs are fourth in the nation in passing offense with 384 passing yards per game.

These two teams average a combined 105.3 points per game, meaning that this could be an incredibly exciting shootout with points scored in bunches.