College Football Rankings 2013: BCS, AP and USA Today Standings Roundup

The final 2013 regular season college football rankings have been established, so it's worth looking at the deviations between the AP poll, the USA Today Coaches Poll and of course, the polarizing BCS standings.

Not much debate could be had as to who the best two teams in the country were, though, as the Florida State Seminoles were a clear-cut No. 1 across the board.

Thanks to a 59-42 win over Missouri in the SEC Championship Game, the Auburn Tigers earned the right to play for the national championship as the consensus second-ranked team after previous No. 2 Ohio State lost on Saturday.

Let's take a closer look at each poll, with an examination of the most notable movers and how they correspond to one another.

Note: Team statistics are courtesy of NCAA.com.

BCS Breakdown

Rank	Team	AVG	Previous
1	Florida State (13-0)	.9957	1
2	Auburn (12-1)	.9638	3
3	Alabama (11-1)	.9061	4
4	Michigan State (12-1)	.8600	10
5	Stanford (11-2)	.8191	7
6	Baylor (11-1)	.7722	9
7	Ohio State (12-1)	.7705	2
8	Missouri (11-2)	.7256	5
9	South Carolina (10-2)	.7152	8
10	Oregon (10-2)	.5811	12
11	Oklahoma (10-2)	.5756	17
12	Clemson (10-2)	.5553	13
13	Oklahoma State (10-2)	.5233	6
14	Arizona State (10-3)	.4416	11
15	Central Florida (11-1)	.4343	16
16	LSU (9-3)	.4322	15
17	UCLA (9-3)	.3703	18
18	Louisville (11-1)	.3199	19
19	Wisconsin (9-3)	.2365	21
20	Fresno State (11-1)	.1675	23
21	Texas A&M (8-4)	.1663	24
22	Georgia (8-4)	.1594	22
23	Northern Illinois (12-1)	.1572	14
24	Duke (10-3)	.1134	20
25	USC (9-4)	.0672	NR

The most notable move is obvious—the Big Ten champion Michigan State Spartans vaulting all the way to No. 4 from the 10th spot after defeating Ohio State 34-24, as the Buckeyes sank to seventh.

A couple of the computers do have Auburn ahead of Florida State for first in the country, but the Seminoles are the overwhelming favorite.

One team that gets a little more love from the BCS is No. 8 Missouri—the ninth-ranked team in both the other two major polls.

The Tigers hadn't lost a game this season with their starting senior quarterback James Franklin until the SEC title matchup with Auburn. Their only loss before then was with backup Maty Mauk under center, coming in double overtime to South Carolina, who is ranked ahead of Mizzou in the AP and USA Today polls.

Then again, Missouri's previously stout rush defense allowed 545 yards on the ground to Auburn and did deserve to take a bit of a hit in the rankings.

Auburn was led by junior running back Tre Mason, who ran for an SEC Championship single-game record 304 yards on 46 carries and four touchdowns.

AP Poll Analysis

Rank	Team	Record	Votes	Previous
1	Florida State (56)	13-0	1,496	1
2	Auburn (4)	12-1	1,444	3
3	Alabama	11-1	1,376	4
4	Michigan State	12-1	1,278	10
5	Stanford	11-2	1,217	7
6	Baylor	11-1	1,185	9
7	Ohio State	12-1	1,130	2
8	South Carolina	10-2	1,099	8
9	Missouri	11-2	1,066	5
10	Oregon	10-2	880	12
11	Oklahoma	10-2	878	18
12	Clemson	10-2	848	13
13	Oklahoma State	10-2	797	6
14	LSU	9-3	726	14
15	UCF	11-1	629	15
16	Arizona State	10-3	614	11
17	UCLA	9-3	544	17
18	Louisville	11-1	525	19
19	Wisconsin	9-3	383	21
20	Texas A&M	8-4	282	22
21	Fresno State	11-1	227	24
22	Duke	10-3	201	20
23	Georgia	8-4	196	25
24	Northern Illinois	12-1	144	16
25	Notre Dame	8-4	76	NR

Auburn received four of the 60 first-place votes, which hints at the perception that the SEC is the country's superior conference.

Head coach Gus Malzahn has just done a sensational job in his first season in charge, taking a 3-9 team that is rather one-dimensional offensively and molding the Tigers into a BCS national title finalist.

Beyond the mild South Carolina-Mizzou controversy, the next difference between the AP and the BCS comes at Nos. 14 and 16, where the AP has LSU and Arizona State slotted, respectively. The opposite is true in the BCS.

The Sun Devils were beaten handily for the second time this year, losing the Pac-12 Championship Game to Stanford, but two of the computers have ASU at No. 9. Overall, LSU has a computer average of .350 compared to .590 for Arizona State.

That doesn't really account for the big loss of LSU starting quarterback Zach Mettenberger, who tore his ACL in the regular-season finale against Arkansas.

USA Today Coaches Poll Analysis

Rank	Team (first place votes)	Record	Points	B/R Rank
1	Florida State (62)	13-0	1550	1
2	Auburn	12-1	1486	2
3	Alabama	11-1	1414	3
4	Michigan State	12-1	1342	4
5	Baylor	11-1	1275	5
6	Ohio State	12-1	1211	T7
7	Stanford	11-2	1188	T7
8	South Carolina	10-2	1108	9
9	Missouri	11-2	1088	6
10	Oklahoma	10-2	913	14
11	Clemson	10-2	899	11
12	Oregon	10-2	887	10
13	Oklahoma State	10-2	845	12
14	LSU	9-3	719	13
15	Central Florida	11-1	658	15
16	Louisville	11-1	611	18
17	Arizona State	10-3	602	17
18	UCLA	9-3	520	16
19	Wisconsin	9-3	408	19
20	Fresno State	11-1	344	23
21	Texas A&M	8-4	247	20
21	Duke	10-3	247	22
23	Northern Illinois	12-1	149	24
24	Georgia	8-4	135	21
25	Miami (Fla.)	9-3	73	25

Arizona State is a spot even further down at No. 17 in the USA Today poll, but ahead of the Sun Devils in the 16th spot is the Louisville Cardinals, led by top-flight quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

The junior signal-caller led his team to a massive 31-24 victory in the Ohio River rivalry over Cincinnati in Week 15.

This play can't be appreciated enough, as Bridgewater scrambles away from Bearcats defenders and delivers a strike to the end zone to help the Cardinals keep pace in what was an overtime thriller.

Louisville's defense deserves appreciation as well, though, because it is No. 2 in total defense, allowing just 257.9 yards per game and 4.27 yards per play.

Some of the season's surprise upstarts in Duke, Northern Illinois and Fresno State remain in the Top 25 of all three polls and will play in stellar bowl games, and UCF's 11-1 record garnered the program a No. 15 slot across the board. 

As a result, the Knights will take on the No. 6 Baylor Bears in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., as both programs make their maiden BCS appearances.