College Football Rankings 2014: Latest Standings and Predictions for Week 12

Any fear that the College Football Playoff would devalue the regular season should be long gone. 

Every Saturday is another 14-hour drama that unfolds before the fans’ eyes from the early noon ET kickoffs to the Pac-12 games that thrill us into the wee hours of the morning. Week 11 was certainly no different, as six games featured clashes between ranked teams.

Here is a look at the resultant fallout in the polls, including Bleacher Report’s official Top 25, heading into Week 12.

Rank	Team
1	Mississippi State
2	Florida State
3	Oregon
4	Alabama
5	TCU
6	Arizona State
7	Baylor
8	Ohio State
9	Auburn
10	Ole Miss
11	Nebraska
12	Kansas State
13	Michigan State
14	Notre Dame
15	Georgia
16	UCLA
17	Arizona
18	LSU
19	Duke
20	Clemson
21	Wisconsin
22	Marshall
23	Georgia Tech
24	Colorado State
25	Utah

Week 12 Predictions

Alabama Ends Mississippi State’s Undefeated Dream

Wade Payne/Associated Press

The SEC is down to one undefeated team, and it is Mississippi State. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the bullies on the SEC block will end that dream on Saturday.

Alabama gets Mississippi State at home and will unleash its dominant defense against Dak Prescott and the Bulldogs offense. The Crimson Tide rank second in the country in points allowed per game at 13.9, and they are fresh off a game-saving defensive performance against LSU in overtime.

The Crimson Tide will win this game by forcing a timely turnover in the second half. Mississippi State had 18 turnovers in its first nine games, and the Crimson Tide bring the best defense it has faced all year to the table.

Jim Lytle/Associated Press

At least head coach Dan Mullen recognized the problem before the Week 11 game against UT Martin, according to The Associated Press, via Fox Sports: "We take a lot of pride in protecting the football. I am obviously not very happy to have almost two years' worth of turnovers in eight games." 

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Mullen won’t be happy after Saturday’s game either.

Florida State Survives Scare

Jeff Gammons/Getty Images

Florida State has followed a familiar pattern all season—let the opponent hang around for the opening half and then do enough to win after intermission.

The Seminoles survived in that fashion against Oklahoma State, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Louisville and Clemson. You will be able to add archrival Miami to that list after Week 12.

The Hurricanes will be plenty motivated at home to end Florida State’s College Football Playoff hopes behind a balanced offensive attack that averages 33 points a game. Miami comes into this one with a three-game winning streak, and all three of its losses came on the road against quality opponents (Louisville, Georgia Tech and Nebraska). 

The Seminoles allowed at least 20 points in each of the last four games and will struggle to contain Miami’s offense. It will take an impressive second half from Jameis Winston for Florida State to avoid its first loss since 2012.

Ohio State Survives Stiff Test From Minnesota

Ohio State made a louder statement than anyone else in the country in Week 11 (outside of perhaps TCU) when it walked into Michigan State and dominated the Spartans from the middle of the second quarter on.

It was a cathartic revenge game for the Buckeyes against the team that knocked them out of the national championship game a season ago. However, their clash at Minnesota is the classic definition of a trap game.

Ohio State is fresh off its biggest win in years and now has to motivate itself again for another road contest against a less talented opponent. It probably doesn’t help that the kickoff will be at noon ET, before the entire Minnesota student section even files in. It will certainly have a different feel than the prime-time game at Michigan State. 

The bottom line is, the Buckeyes must avoid overlooking the Gophers, and that will be easier said than done. Jeff Svoboda of Buckeye Sports Bulletin also had an important message for Ohio State fans assuming that this will be an easy victory:

The good news for Buckeyes supporters is that coach Urban Meyer understands that his team cannot overlook the Golden Gophers. At least he does if this quote, via Patrick Maks of Eleven Warriors, is any indication:

Ohio State will do enough to win and stay firmly in the race for one of the four College Football Playoff spots, but we will not see the same intensity we did against Michigan State.

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