BCS Rankings Week 13: Who's Too High, Too Low in Latest Rankings?
The BCS Rankings for Week 13 are here, and nothing has changed at the top with Oregon, Auburn, TCU and Boise State still leading the way as unbeatens, and LSU, Stanford and Wisconsin not too far behind.
The next tier consists of Ohio State and Oklahoma State, and then things drop off considerably with Michigan State, Alabama and Arkansas rounding out the top 12.
Nebraska dropped all the way to No. 15 after falling to Texas A&M, while the Aggies rose to No. 17 by virtue of the win.
NC State re-entered the top 25 after beating UNC, and Iowa and Mississippi State both moved to the bottom of the standings after disappointing losses.
There wasn't a whole lot of change overall, but the BCS (as usual) messed things up throughout the rankings.
With that being said, here are the most notably over- and under-ranked teams by the BCS.
Too High: No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes
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Too High: No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State is the most criminally overranked team in the BCS.
Here are the only teams it has played that a win would be anything worthy of mentioning:
Miami (W: 36-24)
Illinois (W: 24-13)
Wisconsin (L: 31-18)
Penn State (W: 31-14)
Iowa (W: 20-17)
All of those teams are decent, but the fact is that none of them has less than four losses (except Wisconsin, who beat the Buckeyes).
How can a team who hasn't beaten anyone with less than four losses be the eighth-ranked team in the nation?
Until they prove they can beat someone good (that won't ever happen with only Michigan left on the schedule), the Buckeyes don't deserve to be in the top eight.
Too High: No. 24 Iowa Hawkeyes
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Too High: No. 24 Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa is one of the 24 most talented teams in the country, but they have four losses.
All of the Hawkeyes' losses have come by virtue of late-game collapses, but just because their losses have been close (by a combined 15 points) doesn't mean they should be over-ranked.
There shouldn't be any teams with four losses in the top 25.
Too High: No. 25 Mississippi State Bulldogs
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Too High: No. 25 Mississippi State Bulldogs
Speaking of four-loss teams, Mississippi State is a curious case.
The Bulldogs four losses are to Auburn, LSU, Alabama and Arkansas (in double-overtime).
But they're 3-4 in the SEC, and their best two wins are against Florida and Georgia.
If they can't beat anyone better than Florida, they shouldn't be ranked.
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Too High: No. 19 Nevada Wolfpack
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Too High: No. 19 Nevada Wolfpack
I'm impressed at the Wolfpack's 10-1 record, but not much else.
A win over Cal is impressive for a WAC team, but don't forget that the Golden Bears are 5-6.
And you can say that the WAC is pretty strong at the top, but realize that Nevada lost to the conference's No. 2 team (Hawaii) and hasn't played its No. 1 team yet (Boise State).
If it can pull off a miracle against Boise State this weekend I'll take this back, but I don't see that happening.
Too High: No. 20 Utah
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Too High: No. 20 Utah
I'm all for the non-AQ schools, but if a non-BCS school has two losses, they better be to really good teams.
The TCU loss can be overlooked (even though it was a rout), but losing to Notre Dame? That's just too much.
Utah shouldn't be in the top 25.
Too High: No. 1 Oregon Ducks
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Too High: No. 1 Oregon Ducks
Before you go crazy at me, realize that I do think Oregon should be No. 2.
But other than the Stanford win, the Ducks haven't had to prove themselves.
Compare that to Auburn's resume (wins over South Carolina, Arkansas and LSU), and you'll see that the top two teams should clearly be switched.
The computers are right when it comes to the top two.
Too Low: No. 2 Auburn Tigers
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Too Low: No. 2 Auburn Tigers
Like I said, their wins are just way more impressive than the Ducks'.
Then again, if both win-out they'll play each other, so this is really a moot point.
Too Low: No. 17 Texas A&M Aggies
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Too Low: No. 17 Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M has beaten Nebraska, Baylor and Oklahoma in the past three weeks.
The Aggies' three losses all came to good teams (Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Missouri) and they all came with Jerrod Johnson under center.
Since Ryan Tannehill has taken over, the Aggies are a top-10 team.
Too Low: No. 16 Virginia Tech
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Too Low: No. 16 Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech has won nine in a row and is storming through the ACC.
The Hokies' opening-game loss to Boise could have gone either way, and it's clear that the loss to James Madison was a fluke.
It's understandable that they're being hurt for their early-season struggles, but the Hokies are one of the best 10 teams in the country today.
Too Low: Unranked Miami (FL)
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Too Low: Unranked Miami (FL)
Miami hasn't shown enough to live up to its lofty preseason ranking, but you can't fault the Hurricanes for any of their losses outside of Virginia.
They don't deserve to be ranked highly, but they should be in the bottom of the rankings over a team like Utah.
Comments
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Do you agree?
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Matt Rudnitsky is a student at the University of Michigan and a Featured Columnist/writing intern at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Mattrud.
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