Oregon Ducks Still Quacking Loudly Atop the BCS: Week 13 Rankings Reaction

As the regular college football season begins to come to an end, the race is truly on in the BCS Rankings. Oregon and Auburn continue to keep pace with each other. Auburn was once in first but dropped in the polls to Oregon, who doesn’t appear to be relinquishing its stranglehold on the top spot any time soon.

Oregon has been my No. 1 team for the majority of the season. I was dumbfounded when the BCS had Auburn unjustly ahead of Oregon earlier in the season. Since gaining the top spot, Oregon has consistently delivered, unlike the previous No. 1 teams. Oregon is here to stay and should be winning the BCS Championship this season.

Cam Newton may be the Heisman winner if all goes well, but his team may need a miracle to regain the No. 1 position.

Oregon is simply too good and the defense is underrated by most analysts. The offense with LaMichael James is top notch.

Cam Newton has shown he can do it all. Maybe he needs to set up a debate desk with the BCS to persuade them to put his Auburn Tigers back on top.

TCU continues to edge out Boise State, somehow, for the coveted third spot. Kellen Moore’s Broncos continue to do everything they can possibly to do jump back to No. 3. Moore’s high powered offense didn’t fail to disappoint, dropping 51 points on Fresno State. More impressively, the defense pitched a shutout.

With TCU on the bye and almost falling to San Diego State in Week 11, I figured the BCS polls would side with Boise State this week. Somehow, TCU kept the third spot.

LSU is making a big push, however.

If either Boise State or TCU manages to lose in the coming weeks, LSU will be the biggest benefactor.

It doesn’t seem anybody is faulting LSU for its loss to Auburn, who is easily the second-best team in the nation behind Cam Newton.

The Tigers' close win against Alabama is really what separated this team from the rest of the pack. Alabama has disappointed somewhat this season with two losses on its record, but Nick Saban’s squad is still one of the most respected programs in the game, and thus the LSU victory was huge for the standings.

It’s great to see Andrew Luck's Stanford squad in the thick of things. Luck may just be the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft and is pushing himself into the Heisman race as we speak with 27 total touchdowns. Stanford’s blowout win over Arizona to open November justly put this team over the top. Stanford has a great schedule coming up and should position itself for a top five spot.

Wisconsin lit up Rich Rodriguez’s dangerous Michigan team in Week 12. Denard Robinson did his thing to the tune of four touchdowns and 360 total yards. However, it’s tough to contain a dynamic player of Robinson’s caliber.

It was the rushing attack that shredded Michigan’s defense throughout the afternoon. James White and Montee Ball rushed 52 times for a whopping 318 yards and six touchdowns. Simply unstoppable. Wisconsin would be able to beat any team any week if it could rush as effectively and dominantly as it has the past two games. Last week against Indiana, Ball and White combined for 41 carries for 311 yards and five touchdowns. If it keeps this up, it will continue to progress up the rankings.

It’s great to see Terrelle Pryor’s Ohio State Buckeyes continue to inch back up the polls. They escaped Iowa with a 20-17 road victory, which was much needed to get this team back on track. After two big wins against Penn State and Iowa, they have the explosive Michigan Wolverines next. Even if they finish with another victory, it’s difficult to see them moving up if every other team ahead of them wins out as well.

Outside the Top 10

I found it extremely interesting that South Carolina dropped in the rankings this week. The Gamecocks beat Florida two weeks ago and jumped in the rankings. Now, they handle Troy, putting up 69 points on the way to a 45-point victory, yet somehow drop a spot in the BCS poll. I’ll have to agree with USA Today’s poll and at least keep the Gamecocks at No. 17, where they were last week.

Texas A&M beats Nebraska, who was in the top 10 last week, and only moves up two spots. With an upset like that, the Aggies should move up more. None of the polls agree with me on that notion though.

Any rankings you agree or disagree with? Which teams do you foresee losing in the future to drop them in the polls? Who will remain on top? Post your thoughts!