BCS Standings 2013 Week 12: Most Surprising Developments of Recent Release

The updated BCS Rankings have been released. As always seems to be the case with one of the most heavily criticized systems in the history of sports, there were a number of shocking developments.

The question is, which rankings were the most surprising?

BCS Rank	Team	BCS Average	AP	Coaches
1.	Alabama	.9958	1	1
2.	Florida State	.9619	2	2
3.	Ohio State	.8926	3	3
4.	Stanford	.8689	5	5
5.	Baylor	.8618	4	4
6.	Oregon	.7665	5	7
7.	Auburn	.7206	7	9
8.	Clemson	.7200	8	6
9.	Missouri	.7118	9	8
10.	South Carolina	.5584	11	12
11.	Texas A&M	.5473	10	11
12.	Oklahoma State	.4671	12	10
13.	UCLA	.4548	13	15
14.	Fresno State	.4317	16	14
15.	Northern Illinois	.3505	20	21
16.	Michigan State	.3417	14	16
17.	UCF	.3411	15	19
18.	Oklahoma	.2926	22	17
19.	Arizona State	.2833	21	22
20.	Louisville	.2806	19	13

Stanford over Baylor

During Week 11 of the 2013 college football season, the No. 4 Stanford Cardinal and No. 5 Baylor Bears earned signature wins. One-loss Stanford ran through the No. 6 Oregon Ducks 26-20, while undefeated Baylor dominated the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners 41-12.

With all due respect to Stanford and its outstanding win, the fact that it's ranked above Baylor is an atrocity.

Baylor is 8-0 overall with a 5-0 record in the Big 12. It ranks No. 1 in scoring offense, No. 6 in scoring defense, No. 3 in passing offense and No. 9 in rushing yards per game. Its resume may not be mind-blowing, but the Bears are undefeated with a balanced and explosive roster.

To move Baylor down in the rankings after blowing Oklahoma out by 29 points is senseless.

This is no slight on Stanford, which could potentially beat Baylor if it were to face off in a neutral-site game. That speculation is trumped by the fact that the Cardinal lost a game and the Bears are still undefeated at this point.

Forgive me for being old fashioned, but 8-0 is more impressive than 8-1. A 29-point win over the rival Sooners is also comparable to a dominant defensive performance by Stanford against Oregon.

Stanford is elite, and Baylor may not have a proven track record, but the Bears deserve to be No. 4.

Two-Loss Love

Apparently losing two games to SEC opponents is a better result than losing one game to anyone else. That's what the most recent release of the BCS Rankings are telling us, at least.

Just take a quick look.

The 7-2 South Carolina Gamecocks are No. 10 and 8-2 Texas A&M Aggies are No. 11 in the most recent release of the BCS Rankings. Joining those SEC teams is the No. 13 UCLA Bruins, which currently rest at 7-2.

Who said every loss counts in the pursuit of a BCS Bowl Game appearance?

That puts those three two-loss teams ahead of the 8-1 Oklahoma State Cowboys and 8-1 Michigan State Spartans, amongst others. For what it's worth, the 9-0 Fresno State Bulldogs and 9-0 Northern Illinois Huskies are also trailing those two-loss squads.

It's less surprising once you name the teams behind the two-loss squads, but to see teams with that many defeats in the Top 13 is surprising after just 12 weeks of action.

Fresno State, Northern Illinois Get Love

The BCS system appears to be attempting to make up for past wrongs done to mid-major schools. This week's edition honored the under-the-radar squads, with the Fresno State Bulldogs ranked at No. 14 and Northern Illinois Huskies at No. 15.

The AP and USA Today Coaches Polls don't agree.

The AP Poll currently has Fresno State at No. 16 and Northern Illinois at No. 20. The Coaches Polls acknowledged Fresno State at the position of No. 14, but ranked the Huskies all the way down at No. 21.

The BCS' level of appreciation for Fresno State and Northern Illinois is something that few expected to see.

The Bulldogs are led by an NFL-caliber quarterback in Derek Carr, while Heisman Trophy candidate Jordan Lynch shines for Northern Illinois. Both teams are strong enough to compete, but it's quite unclear whether or not they're true contenders due to their level of competition.

Two-loss teams are strong, undefeated teams aren't good enough to top one-loss contenders and mid-major schools are in the Top 15. It's been another wild week with the BCS.