BCS Rankings Week 14: Projecting the Top 25 after LSU and Boise State Upsets
BCS Rankings for Week 14 are due on Sunday and will surely have plenty of changes across the board.
After all, there were quite a few surprises, including losses by LSU and Boise State who were all top 5 teams in the standings.
Another big win in this week's action was the Auburn comeback against Alabama during the Iron Bowl. Have they finally separated themselves as the No. 1 team in the country?
What will the BCS rankings look like on Sunday? Let's make our projections.
25. Arizona Wildcats
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The Wildcats took a loss this week dropping them to a 7-4 record. They started the weekend ranked No. 21 in the BCS standings but they fell to the No. 1 ranked team in the country.
Arizona will take an expected fall in the standings but seeing them drop completely out of the Top 25 doesn't seem likely.
24. West Virginia Mountaineers
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After a big win against the Big East rivals Pittsburgh Panthers, in which they were able to limit them to only ten points in the entire game—the Mountaineers kept their Big East title hopes alive.
Not only are their title hopes still kicking but their three-game winning streak should find themselves a spot in the Top 25 with an overall record of 8-3.
23. Northern Illinois Huskies
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This could finally be the week that Northern Illinois makes it into the top 25.
After a 71-3 shellacking of MAC rivals Eastern Michigan, it's time to take notice of this upstart team with a potent running attack.
The Huskies are 10-2 with a perfect 8-0 in-conference record.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
22. Mississippi State Bulldogs
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The Bulldogs looked to finally end their two-game losing streak with a win against Ole Miss, and they got it.
With that win, the No. 25 Bulldogs are likely to jump a few spots in the rankings.
21. Utah Utes
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The Utes have not been impressive, to say the least.
Even by barely winning against BYU this week by putting together a fourth quarter comeback, Utah has looked to be as good of a team as many thought they were.
Another week of playing it close to an unranked foe should see that they drop from their former No. 20 ranking to No. 21.
20. Florida State Seminoles
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The Noles just made it to the ACC title game against the Virginia Tech Hokies.
They just took down the Florida Gators in an impressive 31-7 win.
Yes, they deserve to move up and yes, they're better than the Utes.
19. South Carolina Gamecocks
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The Gamecocks appear to be on their way to their ninth win of their season and a head-to-head duel with the Tigers for the SEC title.
But why do they drop back in the rankings?
Answer: The Nevada Wolf Pack just took down a top 5 team in Boise State.
18. Texas A&M Aggies
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The Aggies are streaking with six straight wins.
Most recently, they made sure the Texas Longhorns would finish the season with a losing record by defeating them 24-17.
Although that win streak and Texas take-down was impressive, the Boise State upset by Nevada was more worthy of a rise in the rankings.
17. Nevada Wolfpack
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The Wolfpack deserve to shoot up a few spots in the rankings after what happened against Boise State.
Nevada, with a combination of luck and grit, figured out a successful recipe to take down the No. 4-ranked team in the BCS.
Colin Kaepernick was crucial and with that performance, they need to jump up in the rankings.
16. Alabama Crimson Tide
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Most of us thought that the Crimson Tide were finally going to stand in the way of the Auburn Tigers in the Iron Bowl.
But they unraveled in the game and fell to Cam Newton and company. As a result, the Tide took their third loss of the year and drop further back in the rankings.
15. Virginia Tech Hokies
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The Hokies are on a tear with eight straight wins since dropping their first two to start the season.
With the ACC title only one win away, they continue to move on up in the rankings.
14. Missouri Tigers
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The Tigers stay at No. 14 after taking down an unranked Kansas team with a 35-7 win.
The Border War was all Tigers this year. Sadly, they're out of the Big 12 title race with Nebraska winning the Big 12 North tiebreaker.
13. Oklahoma State Cowboys
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The Sooners and Cowboys play for the right to compete in the Big 12 title match.
At the half, the Sooners have the lead with one more half to play, 24-17.
If Oklahoma State does fall, the Sooners will surely jump over them in the standings.
12. Nebraska Cornhuskers
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Nebraska rolled off a whopping 45 points against the Colorado Buffaloes this week.
With the Big 12 North locked up, they just need a win against Oklahoma or Oklahoma State to win the Big 12 title.
11. Oklahoma Sooners
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Their last shot at competing for the Big 12 title will be in this Saturday's game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Assuming they win, bigger things could be ahead in their future, such as a BCS bowl bid and a higher spot in the BCS rankings.
10. LSU Tigers
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After only one loss all season, the Tigers ultimately fell to the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday.
That loss was definitely surprising and shakes up the BCS rankings.
After being ranked No. 5 in last week's rankings, they'll surely drop in the standings, possibly all the way to No. 10.
9. Arkansas Razorbacks
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The Razorbacks possibly just earned themselves more BCS bowl considerations with a big win against the LSU Tigers on Saturday.
And more likely than not, a spot in the top 10 in the BCS polls.
8. Michigan State Spartans
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The Spartans managed to hold off the Penn State Nittany Lions in the fourth quarter of this Saturday's game.
As a result, the Big Ten title will end in a three-way tie between Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Michigan State will surely get a lift from the LSU upset this week.
7. Boise State Broncos
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The Broncos were ranked at No. 4 heading into this week of action.
But a big fall against the No. 19 Nevada Wolfpack will see them take a dip.
After that upset, their hopes for a national championship have come to an end.
6. Ohio State Buckeyes
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The co-Big Ten title winners also get a boost by the Boise State and LSU losses.
While a Rose Bowl may not be in their future with Wisconsin ranked even higher, the Buckeyes could still qualify for another BCS bowl spot as an at-large qualifier.
5. Wisconsin Badgers
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With the Badgers dominance against the Wildcats by scoring 70 points, they've pretty much separated themselves as the best of the other Big Ten co-champions this year.
A Rose Bowl berth is surely in their future, and this Sunday will probably be the time for Wisconsin to crack the top 5 of BCS rankings.
4. Stanford Cardinal
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The Cardinal must be loving this week's turn of events. As a result of the Boise State and LSU losses, they'll likely find themselves breaking into the nation's top 5.
3. TCU Horned Frogs
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The Horned Frogs are the last non-BCS team standing. With the Boise State loss, only the Horned Frogs still have a remote possibility of making it to the national title game.
With one more week to play, an Oregon Ducks upset or an Auburn failure in the SEC title game could somehow catapult the Horned Frogs into history.
2. Oregon Ducks
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The Ducks continued to win and took down a top 25 Pac-10 opponent in the Arizona Wildcats.
Although they didn't take down the former national champions like the Tigers did this week, they should fall back to the No. 2 spot on Sunday's rankings.
All the Ducks have faced have been Arizona and Stanford this season while the Tigers have managed to go undefeated facing the nation's best by playing out of the SEC.
1. Auburn Tigers
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What!? The Tigers are No. 1!?
After that tremendous come-from-behind win against Alabama in the Iron Bowl, the Tigers earned themselves a spot as the nation's best.
They need to jump up to No. 1 this week in order to give themselves a little room for error in case their SEC title game gives them problems against the Gamecocks next weekend.
Why? They've played through a much tougher schedule than the Ducks and they deserve to be the No. 1 team heading into the final week of the regular season.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
