BCS Rankings Projections Week 13: Who Will Move Up the Most This Week?
The BCS rankings for Week 13 are due out Sunday night, but we've got projections for you on who will be moving up the most this week.
With teams like Boise State and Stanford helping their causes with big wins, the top 10 could see some shakeup when the new rankings are released tomorrow night.
But as always, there will also be plenty of turnover at the bottom of the rankings, as some new teams will occupy the spots left open by those who fell.
Here are the 10 teams who will be moving on up come Sunday night.
10. Syracuse
1 of 10
Current Rank: Unranked
Why They Will Move Up: If the Orange can win at home against a Huskies team that is coming off a win over Big East leader Pittsburgh, then they stand a pretty good chance of being the first Big East team to crack the BCS standings since West Virginia. They're down 10-3 at the half as I'm writing this, so it will take a second-half comeback to make it happen.
Their biggest competition for the No. 25 spot will come from Northern Illinois, but it's hard to see the computers giving too much love to a team from the Mid-American conference.
Predicted Rank: 25
9. North Carolina State
2 of 10
Current Rank: Unranked
Why They Will Move Up: The Wolfpack cracked the rankings in Week 10 after their win against Florida State, and were subsequently banished after they lost to Clemson. They've won two in a row since, including a 29-25 win over North Carolina today.
With No. 24 Miami and No. 20 Iowa both going down on Saturday, there will be spots to fill in the bottom five, and the Wolfpack are good candidates.
Predicted Rank: 24
8. Florida State
3 of 10
Current Rank: 25
Why They Will Move Up: No. 24 Miami has lost, so the Seminoles are guaranteed to move up at least one spot if they can beat Maryland, and maybe even further given the fact that No. 22 Arizona is idle this weekend.
Predicted Rank: 23
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. Arizona
4 of 10
Current Rank: 22
Why They Will Move Up: Arizona is idle this weekend, but it could be that they receive an indirect boost in the standings thanks to both of the teams ahead of them going down.
No. 20 Iowa got beat by Ohio State at home today, and they're likely to be out of the BCS rankings altogether come Sunday night.
No. 21 Mississippi State actually has a lead on Arkansas heading into the half, but I just don't trust it after watching the Razorbacks so closely in recent weeks. They will lose, and the Wildcats will move up a spot by default.
Predicted Rank: 21
6. Utah
5 of 10
Current Rank: 23
Why They Will Move Up: At the time I'm writing this, No. 20 Iowa has lost and Utah has yet to kick off in their game on the road against San Diego State. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Utah ends their two-game losing streak tonight, as I just don't think a team that had been 8-0 is that liable to fall as far from grace as the Utes appear to be doing.
Besides, they too should benefit from Arizona's idle week.
Predicted Rank: 20
5. Virginia Tech
6 of 10
Current Rank: 16
Why They Will Move Up: The Hokies won their ninth in a row on Saturday, beating Miami on the road by a score of 31-17. As of right now, none of the teams ahead of them have either lost or are in danger of losing. But Missouri is currently locked in a tight one against a sub-.500 Iowa State team, and they can ill afford another mediocre performance given the way the quality of their play has decreased over the past weeks.
Predicted Rank: 15
4. Arkansas
7 of 10
Current Rank: 13
Why They Will Move Up: Arkansas isn't too far behind Michigan State in terms of BCS average (.513 to .607). They're actually down against Mississippi State at the time I'm writing this, but I'm going to go ahead and bank on the very real possibility that Ryan Mallett and Knile Davis can put some points on the board in the second half.
If the Razorbacks do pull out a win, then their victory over a ranked Bulldogs team will simply look better than Michigan State's close win over Purdue.
Predicted Rank: 12
3. Oklahoma State
8 of 10
Current Rank: 10
Why They Will Move Up: The Cowboys are barely behind No. 9 Ohio State in terms of their BCS average (.660 to .674), and their blowout win at Kansas should equip them with enough style points to impress the voters.
The Buckeyes did beat No. 20 Iowa, but it was a very close game, and it took a late drive to seal the deal. They won't move up if Nebraska takes care of business against Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State's consistent dominance should finally give them a boost into single-digit territory.
Predicted Rank: 9
2. Stanford
9 of 10
Current Rank: 6
Why They Will Move Up: Andrew Luck and the Cardinal did themselves a huge favor by pulling out a road blowout over a Cal team that had just held the Oregon Ducks to 15 points the week before. That should give them a boost with the writers and coaches, who currently have Stanford at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively.
With LSU winning yet another tight one, this time against an Ole Miss team that got blown out by Tennessee the week before, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see Stanford jump ahead to the No. 5 spot. At the very least, they will narrow the gap in a significant way.
Predicted Rank: 5
1. Boise State
10 of 10
Current Rank: 4
Why They Will Move Up: Combined with TCU's idle week, the Broncos' 51-0 win over Fresno State should narrow the gap that was already significantly decreased this past week when the Frogs struggled against San Diego State and Utah got beat by the Irish. The voters already have Boise at No. 3, and it wouldn't be at all surprising if they got an extra first place vote or two.
In short, this could be the week the Boise leapfrogs the Frogs for good.
Predicted Rank: 3
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
