NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Predicting the Top 25 After Week 12
Week 12 was a wild one. From the comeback that was stopped short of an onside kick between Mississippi State and Alabama and Ohio State's survival of a feisty Minnesota team to Florida State winning yet another thriller, this week is sure to shake up the polls
One thing is almost for certain: Week 13's AP Poll will feature a new No. 1 after the Bulldogs fell to the Tide.
Pollsters are always impossible to prognosticate, but here's our best crack at it.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| 1. Florida State | 10-0 | 2 | def. Miami, 30-26 |
| 2. Alabama | 9-1 | 4 | def. Mississippi State, 25-20 |
| 3. Oregon | 9-1 | 3 | bye |
| 4. Mississippi State | 9-1 | 1 | lost to Alabama, 25-20 |
| 5. Baylor | 8-1 | 6 | bye |
| 6. TCU | 9-1 | 5 | def. Kansas, 34-30 |
| 7. Ohio State | 9-1 | 8 | def. Minnesota 31-24 |
| 8, Georgia | 8-2 | 16 | def. Auburn 34-7 |
| 9. Ole Miss | 8-2 | 10 | bye |
| 10. Michigan State | 8-2 | 12 | def. Maryland, 37-15 |
| 11. Kansas State | 7-2 | 13 | bye |
| 12. UCLA | 8-2 | 14 | bye |
| 13. Arizona State | 8-2 | 7 | lost to Oregon State, 35-27 |
| 14. Wisconsin | 8-2 | 22 | def. Nebraska, 59-24 |
| 15. Auburn | 7-3 | 9 | lost to Georgia, 34-7 |
| 16. Arizona | 8-2 | 17 | def. Washington, 27-26 |
| 17. Georgia Tech | 9-2 | 24 | def. Clemson, 28-6 |
| 18. Nebraska | 8-2 | 11 | lost to Wisconsin, 59-24 |
| 19. Marshall | 10-0 | 21 | def. Rice, 41-14 |
| 20. Utah | 7-3 | 25 | def. Stanford, 20-17 |
| 21. Colorado State | 9-1 | 23 | bye |
| 22. Notre Dame | 7-3 | 15 | lost to Northwestern, 43-40 OT |
| 23. Clemson | 7-3 | 18 | lost to Georgia Tech, 28-6 |
| 24. LSU | 7-4 | 20 | lost to Arkansas 17-0 |
| 25. Oklahoma | 7-3 | unranked | def. Texas Tech 42-30 |
Note: Rankings reflect a prediction of the Week 12 AP poll—not how the author would rank the teams himself.
Biggest Risers
Wisconsin
Climbing on the back of Melvin Gordon, who set an FBS record with 408 rushing yards in a game, the Wisconsin Badgers thrashed the Nebraska Cornhuskers 59-24 and are projected to shoot up eight spots in the polls.
In a game between No. 11 Nebraska and No. 22 Wisconsin by AP Poll standards, the Huskers are a big letdown, while Gordon and Co. have thrust their way into the national spotlight. The Badgers now control their own destiny to the Big Ten title game, where they'll likely have a shot to upend Ohio State.
Georgia
The Georgia Bulldogs are that significant other that never goes away to the SEC. Saturday's 34-7 beatdown of Auburn just a few weeks removed from an upset loss to Florida has put Georgia in a place to contend with Missouri for the SEC East title.
The Bulldogs' SEC slate is complete, while the Tigers still have two games left to play in the league, which include matchups with Tennessee and Arkansas, the latter of which just upended LSU.
Could Georgia play spoiler to the SEC in their hunt for two bids to the playoffs? It sure looks like it.
Biggest Fallers
Nebraska
What in the world happened at Camp Randall?
One of the best rush defenses in the country heading into Saturday, ranked 19th nationally, gave up 581 yards on the ground to the Wisconsin Badgers. Worse yet, they also lost 59-24, which should cause them to drop at least seven spots.
Nebraska is also all but out of the hunt for the Big Ten title game, as they'd need to win out and have the Badgers lose out. All in all, it's another promising season that will ultimately end in disappointment for Bo Pelini and Co.
Notre Dame
At just 3-6, nobody could've seen Northwestern upsetting Notre Dame.
But they did, 43-40. In overtime.
That's the beauty of the beast that is college football. Just three games ago, Notre Dame had projected No. 1 Florida State on the ropes, and now they're falling to a mediocre Big Ten squad.
The biggest takeaway from this loss is that Notre Dame's bid for a prime-time bowl game just took a serious hit.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
