BCS Standings Week 12: Strengths and Weaknesses of Top 25 Teams
The fifth BCS Standings were released after Week 12 of college football finished play.
There was movement in the top-25, with the Florida State Seminoles and Miami Hurricanes of the ACC squeezing their way into the rankings.
Texas A&M moved up six spots to No. 19, Virginia Tech moved up four spots to No. 16 and South Carolina moved up six spots to No. 17.
Teams like Iowa, Arizona, and Utah dropped considerably.
And with the NCAA season nearing its end, let's take some time to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each of the Top-25 teams in the BCS.
No 25 Florida State
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Strength: Rushing offense
Florida State’s three-headed monster of Chris Thompson (550 yards, 4 TD, 7.3 ypc), Jermaine Thomas (484 yards 6 TD, 5.7 ypc) and Ty Jones (444 yards 2 TD, 7.2 ypc) make up one of the country’s deepest rushing attacks.
Each one of them has a 100-yard performance to his name, and they are the reason that the Seminoles rank 31st in rushing offense at 186.6 yards per game.
Weakness: Containing opposing quarterbacks
In the Seminoles’ three losses (to Oklahoma, NC State, and UNC), they have allowed opposing quarterbacks to put up otherworldly numbers.
Oklahoma’s Landry Jones threw for 380 yards and 4 TD, NC State’s Russell Wilson amassed 247 total yards and 4 TD, while UNC’s T.J. Yates recorded a career-high 439 yards with 3 TD.
Florida State has the nation’s 19th ranked scoring defense, but the defense just hasn’t shown up in its three losses.
No. 24 Miami
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Strength: Defense
Miami has the nation’s 15th-ranked scoring defense, allowing just 18.2 points per game.
Weaknesses: Jacory Harris
Harris — who entered the season as a Heisman contender — has been a huge disappointment, throwing for just 14 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.
For a guy who is supposed to be the best player on his team, that’s unacceptable.
Turnovers
The Hurricanes turned the ball over a combined 11 times in its three losses.
No. 23 Utah
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Strengths: Scoring offense and defense
Utah has the nation’s 15th-ranked scoring offense at 37.2 points per game and it also has the 17th-ranked defense at 18.8 points per game.
Weakness: Psyche
The Utes have blown out almost all of their weak opponents this year, but other than their thrilling overtime win against Pittsburgh, they haven’t shown up in their only two games against prestigious opponents.
Utah lost by a combined 65 points the past two weeks, showing it wasn’t ready to take on two big-name foes in TCU and Notre Dame.
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No. 22 Arizona
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Strength: Passing offense
Nick Foles leads the nation’s 11th-ranked passing offense at over 300 yards per game.
Weaknesses: Rushing offense
The Wildcats are one-dimensional on offense ranking just 73rd in the nation in rushing.
Consistency
Arizona has two impressive wins over Iowa and Cal, but lost a trap game to Oregon State, and is currently on a two-game losing streak after falling to Stanford and USC.
No. 21 Mississippi State
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Strength: Defense
The Bulldogs have the country’s 16th-ranked scoring defense, only giving up 18.3 points per game.
They also held Auburn to a season-low 17 points in a losing effort.
Weakness: Beating quality opposition
Mississippi State’s three losses have come to arguably the top-three teams in the SEC, Auburn, LSU, and Alabama.
It's one of only a few teams in the country without a bad loss.
But other than mediocre wins against Florida and Georgia, Mississippi State hasn’t beaten anyone.
It will get another chance though when it hosts Arkansas next week.
No. 20 Iowa
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Strengths: Defense
Iowa holds its opponents to just 15 points per game, the seventh-best mark in the nation.
Ricky Stanzi
After throwing 15 interceptions in a shaky season last year, Stanzi has improved mightily with 22 touchdowns and just four picks.
Stanzi has been the key to Iowa’s success, and deserves to at least be talked about in the Heisman conversation.
Weakness: Winning close games
After stringing together multiple miracle comebacks last season, the Hawkeyes have struggled to replicate their late-game magic this year.
Their three losses (to Arizona, Wisconsin and Northwestern) have come by a combined 12 points.
No. 19 Texas A&M
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Strength: Scoring offense
The Aggies put up 34.9 points per game, good for 21st in the country.
Weakness: Jerrod Johnson
The Aggies former starting quarterback was benched for Ryan Tannehill, who has led the team to three straight wins.
Johnson entered the season as a Heisman contender, but struggled with turnover problems and inconsistency all year.
His benching has coincided with the Aggies recent hot streak, and that’s no coincidence.
No. 18 Nevada
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Strength: Rushing offense
The Wolfpack run for 310.5 yards per game, good for third in the country.
Scoring
Nevada also score 43.3 points per game, which ranks fourth in the nation.
Weakness: Competition
The Wolfpack own an impressive win over Cal, but haven’t beaten anyone else. And in its toughest WAC test against Hawaii, they lost.
But they’ll get a chance to prove themselves against Boise State in two weeks.
No. 17 South Carolina
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Strength: Balance
The Gamecocks can beat you in the air with the underrated Stephen Garcia and on the ground with freshman stud Marcus Lattimore.
Weakness: Consistency
Despite dominating performances in wins over Alabama and Florida, the Gamecocks haven’t won more than three games in a row this season.
Two of the losses came to top-opponents Auburn and Arkansas, but South Carolina also fell to Kentucky.
That’s a game you have to win.
Nonetheless, the Gamecocks are the SEC East champs.
No. 16 Virginia Tech
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Weakness: Losses to non-BCS teams
Virginia Tech is undefeated against automatic-qualifying teams, but lost to Boise State of the WAC and FCS James Madison.
Strength: Smashmouth mentality
Virginia Tech rushes for over 200 yards per game and only gives up 19.1 points per game.
They control the ball with the running game and don’t give up a lot of points.
And that’s why they are dominating this year's subpar ACC.
No. 15 Missouri
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Weakness: Lack of an explosive offense
Blaine Gabbert is a good quarterback, but he has only one throw of over 50 yards, and that came last week against Kansas State.
The Tigers are solid all around, but they are one of least explosive teams in the top-15.
Strength: Defense
Missouri has the nation’s 10th-ranked scoring offense, allowing just 17.5 points per game.
No. 14 Oklahoma
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Strength: Passing offense
Landry Jones has six 300-yard games, including one 453-yard performance.
He’s thrown for 3154 yards on the year, with 27 TD and 6 INT.
Weakness: Beating quality opposition
The Sooners lost to Missouri and Texas A&M, two of the Big 12’s top teams.
They’ve beaten up on everyone else, but losses to the Tigers and Aggies have smashed the Sooners’ hopes to be considered one of the Big 12’s elite teams.
No. 13 Arkansas
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Strength: Ryan Mallett
Mallett — a sure-fire first rounder in next year’s NFL draft — has thrown for just under 3000 yards with 24 touchdowns on the season.
Weakness: Rushing Defense
The Razorbacks don’t have a bad defense, but it’s certainly the team’s weakness.
They gave up 65 points in a loss to Auburn, who racked up 330 rushing yards.
In their other loss, Alabama put up 227 yards rushing.
No. 12 Michigan State
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Strength: Defense
The Spartans only give up 18.8 points per game, 17th-best in the country.
Weakness: Third-down conversions
Despite only losing one game this year, Michigan State has struggled with third-down conversions all season long.
In their loss to Iowa, the Spartans went 4-14 on third down and were embarrassed 37-6.
No. 11 Alabama
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Strength: Defense
Alabama only gives up 13.4 points per game, 4th-best in the country.
Weakness: Defense (in losses)
Alabama’s defense has been dominant in its eight victories, but not so much in its two losses.
The Crimson Tide gave up a combined 59 points and 744 yards in its two defeats.
No. 10 Oklahoma State
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Strength: Brandon Weeden
Sure, the system helps, but Brandon Weeden is putting up astronomical numbers under center for the Cowboys.
He’s thrown for 3391 yards and 27 touchdowns on the year, including a staggering three 400-yard games.
Weakness: Defense
The Cowboys give up 27.2 yards per game, good for 68th in the nation.
And they gave up 51 points to Nebraska in their only loss.
No. 9 Ohio State
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Strength: Blowing teams out
The Buckeyes put up 41.6 points per game (5th in the country) and only give up 13.6 (6th in the country).
That’s as dominant as almost any team in the nation, and the Buckeyes have no trouble demolishing weaker opponents.
Weakness: Strength of schedule
In Ohio State’s only tough game this season, it was blown out by Wisconsin.
The Buckeyes will be tested somewhat in the next two weeks against Iowa and Michigan, but neither would be an overly impressive win.
Their win over Miami seemed notable, but the Hurricanes have fallen off the map.
No. 8 Nebraska
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Strength: Taylor Martinez
Martinez — a freshman expected to sit at No. 3 on the depth chart for the Huskers — has piled up 2285 total yards with 21 touchdowns. He’s also only thrown four interceptions on the season.
Weakness: Passing offense
Martinez has been fantastic overall — including some big passing performances — but the Huskers can’t count on his passing to be there every week.
In Nebraska’s loss to Texas, Martinez was just 4/12 for 63 yards and zero touchdowns.
He has one 300-yard game but if you take that game out, his season-high is 167 yards passing.
No. 7 Wisconsin
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Strength: Rushing offense
John Clay has run for just under 1,000 yards and 13 TD — and he might not even be the best running back on his team.
Freshman James White is averaging 6.8 ypc, and has 11 TD.
Weakness: Passing offense
Scott Tolzien is a solid quarterback, but he won’t be winning any awards for his performance.
He’s good enough to manage the Badgers’ 74th-ranked passing offense and not make mistakes, but he isn’t an elite quarterback.
No. 6 Stanford
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Strength: Balance
The Cardinal do everything well, ranking 34th in passing offense, 17th in rushing offense, 9th in scoring offense, and 27th in scoring defense.
Having a potential future top-overall pick in the NFL draft in Andrew Luck doesn’t hurt, either.
Weakness: 2nd-half play (against Oregon)
Stanford hasn’t shown any weaknesses in its nine wins, but against Oregon, its second-half performance was pathetic.
It was outscored 28-0 in the second half, being manhandled by the Ducks.
Then again, with how Oregon has looked this year, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise.
No. 5 LSU
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Weakness: Passing offense
The Tigers rank 114th in the nation in passing, at a pathetic 141.3 yards per game.
Strengths: Everything else
LSU runs the ball effectively, has one of the nation’s top defenses, and has proven itself against top opponents.
The Tigers received a lot of criticism early on, but after beating Alabama and nearly taking out Auburn; it’s clear LSU is for real.
No. 4 Boise State
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Strengths: Everything
The Broncos can throw (7th ranked passing offense), run (16th ranked rushing offense), score (2nd-ranked scoring offense), and defend (2nd-ranked scoring defense).
To see how dominant they’ve been, realize that they score 47.6 points per game but give up just 12.8. Other than a three-point victory to Virginia Tech, the Broncos have won every game by double digits.
Weakness: Schedule
Boise State has proven itself against Virginia Tech and Oregon State, but the rest of its schedule is less than impressive.
And with the decline of the ACC and Oregon State’s recent disappointments, the Broncos wins aren’t as great as they seemed at the beginning of the year.
No. 3 TCU
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Strength: Balance
The Horned Frogs have the nation’s 7th-ranked scoring offense (41.3 points per game) and top scoring defense (10.9 points per game).
That’s right, they give up 10.9 points per game.
Weakness: Last week’s performance
TCU has looked invincible this year, with the exception of last week against San Diego State.
The Aztecs are one of the country’s most underrated teams (they beat Air Force and also nearly took out Missouri), but no one expected them to challenge the Horned Frogs to the degree that they did .
TCU escaped and still keeps its national title hopes alive, but last week’s performance raised some red flags.
No. 2 Auburn
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Strength: Cam Newton
It’s no secret that Newton is the Auburn offense, and that he is the clear Heisman front-runner.
Newton is the best player in college football and unless someone can contain him, the Tigers won’t lose.
Allegations, schmallegations.
Weakness: Pass Defense
Auburn has struggled defending the pass all year, the main reason why they give up 24.9 points per game.
Their weakness was on full display in last week’s scare against Georgia, when Bulldog quarterback Aaron Murray threw for 273 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions in a losing effort.
No. 1 Oregon
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Strength: Offense
Oregon has the nation’s most explosive offense by a wide margin, scoring a staggering 50.7 points per game.
And while that is the Ducks’ main strength, their defense is nothing to scoff at, giving up just 17.2 points per game (8th in the nation).
Weakness: Kicking game
The Ducks have no glaring weaknesses — but their kicking game was an area of concern in last week’s two-point escape of Cal.
Kicker Rob Beard — who was a perfect eight-for-eight going into the game — missed both of his attempts last week.
It was likely just a one-week aberration, but the Ducks have been so dominant that you really have to dig deep to try and find a chink in their armor.
Comments
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What do you think?
Let me know in the comments.
Matt Rudnitsky is a student at the University of Michigan and a writing intern at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Mattrud
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