BCS Rankings 2013: Who's Too High, Too Low in Week 15 Standings?
It was a given that Auburn's astonishing defeat of Alabama would shake up the BCS standings—and it also provided a new source of controversy for college football's ranking system.
Who should be No. 2 in the BCS rankings? The Auburn Tigers or the Ohio State Buckeyes? The debate will rage all week long as the two approach their respective conference title games.
Elsewhere, which BCS at-large hopeful ended up as a snub in the Week 15 BCS rankings? And is Northern Illinois really deserving of a BCS bowl berth?
Right here, we'll settle all the big debates facing the newest rankings.
- Florida State
- Ohio State
- Auburn
- Alabama
- Missouri
- Oklahoma State
- Stanford
- South Carolina
- Baylor
- Michigan State
- Arizona State
- Oregon
- Clemson
- Northern Illinois
- LSU
- UCF
- Oklahoma
- UCLA
- Louisville
- Duke
- Wisconsin
- Georgia
- Fresno State
- Texas A&M
- Texas
High: Northern Illinois
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Week 15 Ranking: 14
If Northern Illinois and LSU met at a neutral site, would the Huskies have a chance?
With Jordan Lynch playing at a high level, they might keep it close for two or three quarters—but NIU just doesn't have the talent to keep up with the Tigers.
And yet, the Huskies rank at No. 14, one spot ahead of LSU.
The Huskies haven't beaten a single ranked team, while LSU is the only team to have beaten No. 3 Auburn. No. 16 UCF even has a better resume than NIU, with just one loss to No. 8 South Carolina.
While that might be splitting hairs, in the bigger picture, NIU's high ranking will result in a more deserving team, like perhaps Baylor, Clemson or Oregon, being left out of a BCS bowl.
Low: LSU
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Week 15 Ranking: 15
LSU certainly shouldn't be ranked lower than Northern Illinois, but its low ranking goes deeper than that.
LSU has a solid collection of wins, highlighted by triumphs over Auburn and Texas A&M.
The Tigers also have "good" losses, on the road against Alabama, Ole Miss and Georgia when those teams were at their best. UA, Ole Miss and UGA haven't looked better than on the day they each played LSU.
When comparing overall schedules, LSU's would stack up favorably with almost any team in the nation. And on the field, the Tigers have shown that they can compete with any team in the nation.
Are 15 teams really better than LSU? That's doubtful.
Just Right: Ohio State
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Week 15 Ranking: 2
If Ohio State beats Michigan State this weekend and finishes as the undefeated Big Ten champion, it deserves to be in the national title game.
The Buckeyes began the season at No. 2, have cast aside every challenger and should be rewarded as such. Oh, and have you heard that they hold the nation's longest winning streak at 24 games?
OSU's lone knock is its schedule, but Florida State at No. 1 has traversed a schedule that is just as weak, if not weaker than that of the Buckeyes.
While it may seem unjust for the SEC to be robbed of a chance to add to its seven-year BCS title streak, the conference had its chances at the national title. It just didn't work out this time.
That is, it likely won't work out if Ohio State and Florida State both win their respective conferences.
For now, and in a week, an undefeated Buckeye squad should be playing for the crystal football.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
High: Georgia
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Week 15 Ranking: 22
Georgia is a tough team to break down.
The Bulldogs have gone through as many ups and downs as any team in college football. They suffered their first loss in Week 1 to Clemson when they were a bit depleted by suspensions and still forming with several young contributors.
Then UGA began to take form as an improved squad that essentially had its postseason dreams on the line in Week 2, and notched a marquee win over South Carolina.
Just as this UGA team began to peak and look like a national title contender, the injury bug hit after its win over LSU. From there, the Dawgs have gone through even more ups and downs, suffering a bad loss to Vanderbilt and a near-upset win over Auburn.
At their best, the Bulldogs good enough to beat any team in the country. At their worst, they are a 6-5 team.
Their befuddling resume and season show that they should be a ranked team, but it was a bit of a shock to see them all the way up at No. 22—particularly ahead of a Texas A&M Aggies squad whose four losses came to teams ranked in the top 15.
It isn't a travesty to see UGA ranked so high, but it's definitely one of the surprises of these rankings.
Low: Baylor
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Week 15 Ranking: 9
Baylor has just one loss on the road to the No. 6 team in the nation, but still it finds itself looking up at a pair of two-loss teams.
Stanford and South Carolina at No. 7 and No. 8 are both higher than the Bears, while both boast losses uglier than BU's defeat to Oklahoma State.
The Cardinal fell to unranked Utah (5-7), which finished with just two Pac-12 wins against Stanford and Colorado. They also lost to the unranked USC Trojans.
The "other" USC—the South Carolina Gamecocks—fell to unranked Tennessee (5-7), which finished with just two SEC wins against South Carolina and Kentucky.
While the three are close, No. 7-9 should read: Baylor, South Carolina, Stanford. Instead, it's the opposite.
Just Right: Alabama
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Week 15 Ranking: 4
If the question were based solely on talent on the field, Alabama would be too low at No. 4. From a talent standpoint, 'Bama should probably still be ranked at No. 1—or No. 2 at the least.
The Crimson Tide largely outplayed Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium, outgaining the Tigers by more than 100 yards and committing zero turnovers along the way, but fate gave the victory to the home team.
The Tide lost, and their BCS resume shows it accordingly. 'Bama comes in as high as it possibly can—one spot behind the team that beat it.
If there were a playoff in college football, Alabama would be in it, and it might win it.
Since that isn't the case, UA will likely have to settle for a berth in the Sugar or Orange Bowl.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
