BCS Rankings 2011: Predicting the Next Loss for Every BCS Top 25 Team

It might be fun to be a part of the initial BCS rankings, but chances are if you are there at the beginning, you probably won't be there at the end. 

For the vast majority of the currently ranked teams, that will hold true. No. 25 today will be unranked before you know it.

The teams in the Top 10 will be fighting for their championship lives over the next few weeks. Some will stay, some will go.

Here's a list of the teams that will be on the first flight out of the BCS Top 25 along with their approximate departure dates. 

25. Washington Huskies

October 22 @ Stanford

The Huskies will have shortest stay in the BCS Top 25 after Stanford takes them down this weekend. 

It was a surprise they made the rankings in the first place. Too bad they couldn't stay awhile longer. 

24. Texas Longhorns

Nov. 12 @ Missouri

The Longhorns haven't looked like Texas the last couple of seasons. The team is young and still trying to find its way. In mid-November, Texas will find its way to Columbia, Mo. where it will lose its the third game of the season. 

No. 23 Illinois Fighting Illini

Oct. 29 @ Penn State

Ron Zook and Company will experience their second loss of the season a week from Saturday at Beaver Stadium. Sure, Penn State has had its own issues offensively, but Ohio State showed the rest of the Big Ten how to beat the Illini last weekend—with strong defense and a running game. 

No. 22 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Oct. 22 @ Miami

It was about time for a Georgia Tech collapse anyway. It might as well continue this weekend. Miami seems to be finally getting things together just in time for the Yellow Jackets to come calling. 

Georgia Tech has a real chance at finishing the season in the exact opposite fashion as it started.

No. 21 Penn State Nittany Lions

Nov. 26 @ Wisconsin

You heard it here first. Penn State will continue winning boring games with just enough offense combined with a stellar defense. Along the way, the Nittany Lions must dispatch Northwestern, Illinois, Nebraska and Ohio State before getting blown out of Camp Randall by Wisconsin on the final weekend of the regular season. 

No. 20 Auburn Tigers

Oct. 22 @ LSU

The Tigers' stay in the Top 25 will be short-lived as Auburn goes on the road to mighty LSU this weekend. The young Tigers have played above their heads all season long, but it would take a ridiculous effort to knock LSU off in Baton Rouge. 

No. 19 Houston Cougars

Houston will not lose this season. 

The Cougars have blasted or outlast every team on their schedule to this point. They get SMU at home and the only potential on-the-road block is a tested Tulsa team in the final week of the regular season. 

No. 18 Michigan Wolverines

Nov. 12 @ Illinois

Michigan lost its first real road test of the season last weekend at Michigan State. Rivalry factor notwithstanding, this Michigan team's issues have been disguised by an easy schedule to this point. Just as the Wolverines' stay in the Top 15 was short-lived, its Top 25 stay in 2011 will be a thing of the past by the end of November. 

No. 17 Texas A&M Aggies

Nov. 5 @ Oklahoma

After a nearly month-long reprieve from issues with second-half collapses, the Aggies will travel to Norman, Okla. in what will be hyped as a competitive game with the Oklahoma Sooners. 

Reality will settle in before halftime and the Sooners will bid a rude farewell to Texas A&M.

No. 16 Michigan State Spartans

Oct. 22 vs. Wisconsin

The Badgers have revenge on their mind and the talent at hand to make sure the Spartans remember they are a second-tier Big Ten team. 

Michigan State is riding high after a victory of in-state rival Michigan, but this Wisconsin team is nothing like Michigan—not at all. 

No. 15 West Virginia Mountaineers

Dec. 1 @ South Florida

Four of the Mountaineers' final six games are on the road. The final game of the season is where it will finally catch up to them. South Florida will be past its current funk and the Bulls will be ready to show what they're made of in front of a Thursday night national television audience.

No. 14 South Carolina

Nov. 5 @ Arkansas

The Gamecocks should be able to limp into Knoxville and take care of a similarly battered Tennessee team following this week's bye. But the following week at Arkansas will be a much different story. 

The Razorbacks would win the SEC East in runaway fashion this season, but will finish third in the SEC West. This one won't be close. 

No. 13 Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nov. 12 @ Penn State

Nebraska has been anything but impressive in a handful of their five wins. The 'Huskers' next three games are all winnable which will set up a cross-division showdown at Beaver Stadium with Penn State. 

The Nittany Lions will stifle the 'Huskers, which seriously hamper Nebraska's chances of winning the Big Ten Legends division this season. 

No. 12 Virginia Tech Hokies

Virginia Tech will win out setting up a rematch showdown with Clemson in the ACC title game. 

The Hokies still have to face Georgia Tech, but I fully expect the Yellow Jackets to be in full letdown mode following their third straight loss. 

No. 11 Kansas State Wildcats

Oct. 29 vs. Oklahoma

It was fun while it lasted, Kansas State. Thanks for playing. Bill Snyder has the Wildcats in position as the feel-good story of the year right now, but consecutive games against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Texas will erase any fuzzy feeling you may have about Kansas State being in the BCS Top 15. 

No. 10 Oregon Ducks

Nov. 8 @ Stanford

Oregon is facing some adversity right now on the injury front, and while some of those injured players are expected to be back before the Stanford game, it just feels like a change is about to take place in the Pac-12. 

That change happens on Nov. 8. 

No. 9 Arkansas Razorbacks

Nov. 25 @ LSU

There's a chance the winner of this game will finish second in the SEC West and become the second SEC team in the BCS. 

With all of that on the line, Arkansas will come up just short and LSU will either be on its way to the BCS National Championship game or to another BCS bowl. 

No. 8 Stanford Cardinal

Jan. 2 vs. Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl

The Cardinal are about to take that next step into national prominence. A win over the Oregon Ducks will land Stanford inside the Top Five teams, but a lot still has to happen for Andrew Luck to get a shot at a national title in January. 

Settling for a spot in the Rose Bowl isn't all that bad. 

No. 7 Clemson Tigers

Dec. 3 vs. Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game

The Tigers have surprised a lot of people by staying undefeated this long. And it's usually around that time when the unexpected happens and you lose a game you should win. Clemson knows all about that. 

But Clemson makes it through the regular season unscathed setting up a rematch with Virginia Tech in the ACC title game. The Hokies will win and claim the ACC's spot in the BCS. 

No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers

The Badgers will not lose this season.

Wisconsin is on fire and should have little trouble winning the Big Ten. Unfortunately, not enough teams in front of them will lose, forcing Wisconsin to settle for a second consecutive Rose Bowl appearance.

This time they'll win it. 

No. 5 Boise State Broncos

Jan. 3 vs. LSU in the Sugar Bowl

Boise State will win out in the regular season and will look dominant in doing so. But LSU will disrupt any feeling of euphoria quickly in New Orleans. The Tigers usually dismantle opponents in New Orleans. That won't change this year.

4. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Dec. 3 vs. Oklahoma

The Cowboys and Sooners will meet in the most hyped Bedlam in recent memory. That's saying something since most of the ones recently have been hyped to the max. 

But this one will end in much the same fashion that most games in the series have—with an Oklahoma win. 

No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners

Jan. 9 vs. Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game

Oklahoma is just too good and too complete to lose in the regular season. The Sooners will ride their undefeated record into New Orleans where they'll meet the vaunted Crimson Tide. 

The Sooners will fall just short as Alabama will win another national championship.

No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama will not lose this season. 

This is the best Crimson Tide team since the 1992 team that defeated Miami in the Sugar Bowl to win the national championship. 

This team is even better than the 'Bama team that won it all just two seasons ago. No one will stop the Tide. Not even Oklahoma.

No. 1 LSU Tigers

Nov. 5 @ Alabama

As good as the Tigers have looked to this point, Alabama has been that much better. The only reason for LSU's higher ranking is higher-profile wins over Oregon and West Virginia. 

The game will be a slobberknocker for sure, but the Tide will come out on top.