BCS Rankings 2013: Bowl Implications from Week 15 Standings

As it turns out, the No. 2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes' one-point win on the road at unranked Michigan was enough to hold off the No.3-ranked Auburn Tigers in the BCS standings—at least for now. 

The question is, will a win over the No. 10 Michigan State Spartans in the Big Ten title game keep them ahead of the Tigers if the latter wins the SEC title game against the No. 5-ranked Missouri Tigers?

Auburn deserves to be the No. 2 team in the country after defeating Alabama, but the BCS system is a slave to "the undefeated over one-loss concept." The system is far from black-and-white and any attempts to make it appear that way are misplaced.

Ohio State will earn a spot if they beat the Spartans, but based on who the Bucks have played up to now, the Tigers' one-loss campaign is more impressive than Ohio State's 12-0 record.

Many of our questions about the 2013 college football season were answered during rivalry week, but more were created for this coming Saturday's action.

 Here are a few of those questions and a look at the latest BCS standings.

BCS Standings
Rank	Team	Record
1	Florida State	12-0
2	Ohio State	12-0
3	Auburn	11-1
4	Alabama	11-1
5	Missouri	11-1
6	Oklahoma State	10-1
7	Stanford	10-2
8	South Carolina	10-2
9	Baylor	10-1
10	Michigan State	11-1
11	Arizona State	10-2
12	Oregon	10-2
13	Clemson	10-2
14	Northern Illinois	12-0
15	LSU	9-3
16	UCF	10-1
17	Oklahoma	9-2
18	UCLA	9-3
19	Louisville	10-1
20	Duke	10-2
21	Wisconsin	9-3
22	Georgia	8-4
23	Fresno State	10-1
24	Texas A&M	8-4
25	Texas	8-3

Can Alabama Still Get into the BCS Championship Game?

Alabama's exciting and heartbreaking loss to the Tigers on Sunday dropped the defending champions to No. 4 and almost certainly out of the national championship picture.

The Tide would need the No. 1 Florida State Seminoles to lose to the Duke Blue Devils in the ACC title game and the Buckeyes to lose to the Spartans in order to have a shot at defending their title. 

While it isn't an impossible scenario—especially as it relates to the Spartans-Buckeyes game—the chances that the Blue Devils topple the 'Noles is very slim. If this scenario were to come to pass and Auburn defeated Missouri in the SEC championship, we could very well see a Iron Bowl rematch for the BCS title.

Fans hate rematches most of the time, but who wouldn't want to see a redo of the classic we just watched on Saturday? 

Is Missouri More Disrespected Than Ohio State?

The No. 5-ranked Tigers took care of Texas A&M and earned a spot in the SEC title game on Saturday, but the BCS still kept them at No. 5. 

The Tigers' only loss of the season came in double overtime against a tough South Carolina team that handled the Clemson Tigers on Saturday. Missouri was without their starting quarterback James Franklin in that game and still had to be taken to double overtime before succumbing to the Gamecocks. Based on that win and South Carolina's 10-2 record, it is likely headed for the Outback Bowl.

With a 4-1 record against ranked teams and only one of those opponents staying within a touchdown in the final score, the Tigers have not only proven they belong in the SEC, but perhaps the team should even be a little higher in the BCS standings.

Because it sits at fifth heading into the conference championship, a win over Auburn probably won't be enough to move the Tigers past the Buckeyes if the latter wins. Missouri will more than likely find themselves outside of a BCS game with a berth in the Capital One Bowl likely.

That's a tough pill to swallow for the Show-Me State.

What About the Northern Illinois Huskies?

The undefeated team no one talks about—at least outside DeKalb—is the No. 14-ranked Huskies. Stud quarterback Jordan Lynch should be at least invited to the Heisman announcement. He's thrown for 2,457 yards, and he's third in the nation in rushing with 1,755 yards. 

The team hasn't played a ranked opponent but does own two wins over the Big Ten conference (Iowa and Purdue). It sounds a little like Ohio State's schedule.

Despite being undefeated and virtually unchallenged, the best the Huskies can do this season is a berth in the Fiesta Bowl—even if they smash Bowling Green as expected in the conference title game.

Still, that's not too bad for a team from the Mid-American Conference.