BCS Rankings Week 8: Michigan, Georgia Tech and Baylor Suffer Hits to BCS Hopes

If ever there were a bad time for a surprising college football team—like, say, Michigan, Baylor or Georgia Tech—to lose, it'd be Saturday of Week 7. The BCS Rankings are due for release on Sunday and won't likely smile on those squads that suffered upsets amidst the specter of computerized judgment.

Michigan

Perhaps no team in the country was in greater need of a quality win to validate its place in the college football hierarchy than No. 11 Michigan.

The Wolverines came into the week with nary a blemish on their record, albeit with one of the least impressive resumes of any team in the Top 25. Their best win to date? A narrow home victory over Notre Dame in Week 2.

Hence, a win over a ranked Michigan State team would've gone a long way toward strengthening Michigan's case not only in the Big Ten race, but also in the chase for a BCS bowl berth.

Instead, the Spartans stuffed their in-state rivals in a 28-14 decision, tripping up Denard Robinson by his shoelaces and dropping the Maize and Blue back into the thick of things in the Legends Division.

Georgia Tech

Like Michigan, No. 12 Georgia Tech came into the weekend with a fairly high ranking but without a quality win to its name. Beating Virginia wouldn't have changed that, though losing to the Cavaliers, 24-21, in Charlottesville will send the Ramblin' Wreck reeling in the wrong direction in the eyes of the BCS.

Tevin Washington's inability to complete passes on a consistent basis came back to bite the Yellow Jackets, as did their lack of scoring in the ground game. UVA deserves plenty of credit for shutting down one of the most potent offenses in the nation, but the real story here has to be how pathetically unproductive Tech's passing game was on Saturday, with just 24 yards on two completions.

The Yellow Jackets' loss leaves the door wide open for Virginia Tech to jump back into contention in the ACC Coastal Division, with the winner of their November 10th tussle in Atlanta likely to move on to the conference championship game.

Baylor

The thin ice beneath No. 20 Baylor's footing in pursuit of a BCS berth cracked considerably in the aftermath of an embarrassing 55-28 defeat at No. 21 Texas A&M.

Robert Griffin III was once again fantastic, throwing for 430 yards and three touchdowns. Unfortunately, he could do little to help out the Bears' moribund defense, which Ryan Tannehill picked apart for six touchdown passes.

As if Baylor's unlikely hopes of BCS success weren't badly battered enough, they'll get their comeuppance once again next week with a trip to Stillwater to take on the high-flying Oklahoma State Cowboys.