College Football Rankings 2014: Top 25 Teams with Most to Gain in Week 13

Since the first College Football Playoff rankings were released, the Top Four has been constantly revolving.

With Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Mississippi State all up against relatively easy opponents Saturday, though, that pattern should change for at least a week.

Still, although there isn't expected to be another major shakeup at the top, there are a couple of teams lurking further down in the rankings with excellent opportunities to earn a major rise.

Let's take a look.

No. 9 UCLA (and No. 15 Arizona)

Not long ago, the Bruins' season looked on the brink of destruction. In what turned out to be a fairly brutal month of October, they lost at home to Utah and Oregon and barely slipped past California and Colorado.

But Jim Mora's team is finally living up to the preseason expectations. It held Arizona's high-powered attack to seven points and then went into Washington and hung 44 on a team with several potential first-round picks on defense.

"If you were going to do a graph with us, it would be pretty jagged," Mora said (via ESPN.com's Ted Miller). "But it was always trending upward, even when it didn't seem like it."

Suddenly, the Bruins are at No. 9, and even with two defeats, they are not fully out of the national championship picture. But they'll need an impressive performance Saturday against No. 19 USC to stay there.

Fortunately for the Bruins, the selection committee has proven to be favorable to the Pac-12. With one loss, Oregon is ahead of undefeated Florida State and also ahead of Mississippi State, whose only loss is to No. 1 Alabama. Moreover, Arizona State climbed as high as No. 6.

A victory for the Bruins here could help surpass a few teams that have cupcakes on the schedule, as the Los Angeles Times' Chris Dufresne noted:

Perhaps more importantly, a win puts them in excellent position to win the South, an absolute must if they are going to have a chance at cracking the Top Four.

For many of the same reasons, No. 15 Arizona (up against No. 17 Utah) is in a similar position. However, the Wildcats are going to need a little more help. They also have two losses, but one of those came against UCLA.

Still, a Top 25 win would be massive for Arizona, which has struggled since its huge road win at Oregon in October.

No. 16 Wisconsin

If you missed out on Melvin Gordon's record-breaking day against Nebraska last week, don't worry. I've tracked down the highlights:

There's no way that doesn't impress the committee.

Unfortunately, thanks to a loss against Northwestern earlier in the season, it's difficult to imagine Wisconsin finding a way to crack the College Football Playoff. But the remaining schedule is going to give the Badgers a chance to get close.

They would obviously need to win out, finishing the season 11-2 with a win in the Big Ten Championship Game over (most likely) fringe playoff squad Ohio State. At that point, it would simply come down to how the committee views an ugly loss in early October vs. a red-hot final two months, as The New York Times' Marc Tracy explained:

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The Badgers have played only two ranked opponents, and one of them—No. 17 Louisiana State—defeated them. Wisconsin's other loss was to unranked Northwestern. A weaker schedule could also taint Wisconsin's status as the Football Bowl Subdivision's top defense, allowing 244 yards per game.

But if the committee instead notes that Wisconsin has not lost in six weeks—a longer streak than 14 of the 19 teams ahead of it—and just put up 59 points against a top-20 defense, then the Badgers will be in the mix.

"

It's an interesting debate, but first things first. Wisconsin must beat Iowa convincingly.

The Hawkeyes may not be ranked, but they are 4-2 in the Big Ten, and they'll be at home. A win would certainly stand as one of the Badgers' best of the season and maintain their crucial image as one of the hottest teams in America.